dpoolman

Downsizing business and Sold my 06 1 ton diesel and I just bought a 01 Ram 2500 and i would like to play with the mighty God of Diesel power and frankly i do not know where to start???? Would be nice to add an extra 100-150 HP just for driving pleasure. I am not pulling anything so i might consider this as a small project truck.The vehicle has been lady driven since new and only has 130,000km so i figure there must be a lots of life left into it. It is a 4 X 4 ext cab with an 8 ft Box.
Any suggestion anyone?? Any input will be more than welcome.

Thanks

Crazydave

If you only want 100-150 hp more (won't be long before you want more) I would get gauges and an upgraded lift pump first before you mod anything. Next an air box and 4'' exhaust. I think for a good budget build in that HP range, a set of rv275's cheap injectors that give a good mileage bump as well as about 40 hp by themselfs and then a fueling box, quad, edge tst etc. I made 380 rear wheel hp with those injectors and a box with a stock turbo. The classifieds are a good place to find reasonably priced parts.

babyjoe

I have a set of RV275's I'll sell you for $200.00 PM me...

dpoolman

So from your vast experience do you suggest that i aim higher in the HP world right off the start instead of small increment and i wont have to redo it again and again???

nickg

its best to decide what your end goal will be, wild or mild and work towards it.
I went about it kinda backwards, for example I bought an edge EZ (550$) then gauges (another 300$) then edventually got an Edge J/A (700$) so in the long run I paid twice what I should have. heres a quick run down

1) you need a fuel pressure gauge at a min!
2) fuel gauge is gonna tell ya you need a new LP
2a) stock pump is almost 300$ (in Canada) dont waste your money on it
2b) you can fab up your own fuel pump system(carter/holley pumps) with bigger fuel lines (300$ or less plus lots of time if you do it yourself)
2c) I got an Airdog shipped to my door for around 550$ but that was when the dollar was at par, lifetime warranty, never have to buy another pump,
2d) Disclaimer if your truck does not see lots of use or travel too far from home 2c might be an over kill, if thats the case choose 2b

3) If you go with an Edge J/A it comes with all gauges and allows you to set parameters and alerts should you exceed safe operating levels, J/A is 120 extra hp, vice the EZ which is 60hp (adreline is another option)

4) then there are injectors from 40hp (RV275) to 250hp

5) too big an injector leads to a bigger turbo or twin turbos

6) any of the above if your hard on the throttle is going to require tranny or a clutch upgrades.

if you go with a box/chip go with something that has built in gauges, that way you kill two birds with one stone. adr is considered the most aggressive (hp wise) and tuneable. the J/A has preset power levels and you cannot custom tune. I'm a bit bias as I have and like the J/A and I see too many posts about adr issues, again do a search and decide for yourself. note adr and edge both have excellent customer service

No matter what you do, you will need gauges/a liftpump/ and a good box/chip.

Decide how far you want to go and buy stuff that will add to each other as you go along instead of re-buying the same stuff again.
good luck

Crazydave

Depends on your budget, I started small and did more mods as i was willing to spend the money. ^Nick has some good advice^

RowJ

Welcome the this site!

You don't list which tranny you have? A lot depends on that. If manual, you can add some hp before worrying about the clutch upgrade...say 350 hp (total).
If an automatic... the factory unit will start to complain after 60-70 added HP.

Basics covered well by 'nickg', above.... with one exception. I would buy a Smarty now.... while you decide how far you may want to go in the future.
It will give you lots of fun with no problems on either tranny, and can be used in a stacked setup down the road!

My next step (after the Smarty and after addressing the tranny) would be injectors.
Factory injectors can be well worn at 100,000 miles and new ones would eliminate a search area down the road, if something feels out of wack.
This is probably the area most people start too small. I recommend F-1 injectors (not the cheapest but worth the money), and would go straight to Mach 4's... unless you have decided on 600+ hp.
In that case ....go with Mach 6's! (and get a new turbo fast)

Good luck!

hamilton71801

1-guages (fuel and EGT at a min)
2-upgrade fuel system (vulcan big line relocation kit) I still use a stock pump
3-upgrade tranny if auto (VB and torque conv)
4-Stage 3 nozzles/or Rv 275 injectors
5-Quadzilla XZT+

With this set-up you don't have to worry about upgrading the airbox and exhaust because temps are not a problem...unless you want them to be.

coon-dog7070

on my 02 2500 4x4, i have the a 4" turbo back and k/n air filter and im havin farm boys diesel put me on a a/d 100 monday. i want to put on a pyro and boost gauges, then a new VB and then a EZ. would a good next step after that be RV 275 injectors? What numbers do you guys think my truck would put down roughly?

RowJ

With an EZ and RV275 injectors.... 300 hp, with the valve body to put more hp to the ground. Maybe a bit less with the 285 tires.
The 275's are nice.... but an intermidate step for most members.... depending on your HP goal!

RJ

coon-dog7070

i thought it mould be closer to 350 HP? im wanting to get some 305/75/16 tires-would that change anything?

RowJ

EZ = +60 hp
RV275's = +40 hp
The after market VB should transfer an additional 20 to 30 HP to the ground.
But you can't just say A plus B plus C = ABC

The bigger the tires the lower the number on the dyno. not a lot but maybe 5% lower.
Got a turnbuckle on your wastegate? Will help. You'll want to wire it shut till your get over 30 psi boost.

RJ

coon-dog7070

could you elaborte a little more?

Red3quarter

dpoolman, There are alot of different combinations you can do for power. I would do the gauges, lift pump and trans work before putting alot of power to it.

For the gauges you should get boost,pyro,FP and trans temp(if its an auto and you do towing). The Lift pump upgrade, I like the Airdog system. I've installed a few for friends and they seem to be doing pretty well for them. For an Intake you can buy a fancy kit or you can do a BHAF (Big Honkin Air Filter) do a search on this site, you'll find alot of info. You can go a paper BHAF or a nanofiber (Amsoil) BHAF. I have the Amsoil one with a prefilter on it. It makes the turbo very loud. I do need to fab up the heat shield for it in the future. For exhaust I have a 4 inch straight pipe, its a very generic looking kit but it works well for me. I also am running a Quad XZT+ with the 3k tune, it give about 65 hp. It's nice for driving. I plan on upgrading my auto trans soon, my original stocker has 154K miles on it. After that I plan on injectors, turbo, fueling box and so on... or i'll just P-pump it.

Western Rammer

Mostly, I agree with Nick but I would think about better injectors than the RV 275s (I'm running them right now) if you have the budget to spare. For the horsepower you're looking for, I wouldn't go overboard on them but look at F1 Mach 1.6s or the 100 hp sticks from DDP. Either of those should give you better performance than the RV 275s with less smoke and the same or lower EGTs.

If your truck is a manual, you'll want to get a boost elbow for the waste gate line. If it's an auto, you'll want to upgrade the turbo after you beef the tranny up to take all that extra power. The HE 351 upgrade looks like a great project for a mild 2nd. gen motor!

Have fun! Randy.