My 06 with auto is almost stock now. I have 285/75/17 tires & ZXT2 65hp on it. How much is the quad box hurting the life of the truck? Should I take it off for a long life or is it really that hard on the auto trans & engine? I know this amount of hp to many is a joke but I plan to keep my truck for 350,000 miles or more. I don`t drag race it or pull super heavy, but I`m afraid to run it hard because of the minor mods. Don`t laugh, I`ve had many diesels just none that have been moded. Thanks

 

I've run the smarty jr. on 100hp tune for 7-8 months now with 37's and 6 inch lift maybe 15-16k miles. No problems.

 

Well, if you don't use it, what do you have it on for??? If you use it, there certainlly is a good chance it will reduce the life of engine and definitelly effect life of tranny. JMHO

 

I wouldn't think the 65 hp box would affect long term reliability much if at all. But then again I'm no expert.

 

It wasen't designed for it, so it will affect the long-term life. Problem is, we tend to look mostly at our present intrests, desires, and needs, and forget about long-term effects. I would say if you were thinking 200k or so, then run with it. But if it's 350k you desire, get rid of it and be contend with stock. I'm edging up on that goal as we speak...

 

We've replaced 15 Cummins engines in 11 years where I work.


ONE was stock.

 

Anything over stock will decrease the life of both the tranny and engine. I would be more worried about the tranny, but 65hp enough to worry about, in my opinion. Just do all the usual matinence on the truck, and I don't think you should run into any huge problems. You may have to rebuild the tranny before you hit 350K, but you would more than likely have to do that even with a stock engine.

 

This is just my opinion, and it may not even be worth 2 cents..


It's all in how you treat it. If you abuse it every day and don't do regular maintenance then your engine will have a shorter life. Having the 65hp box on it, in and of itself, shouldn't shorten the life much or maybe at all.

I run my truck with the Smarty on 9 and MP-8 on 100 percent every single day. Towing or not. But I don't beat on my truck. It has given me, so far, 104K trouble free miles.......still on the original turbo, cp3 and injectors. I do have a built trans though.

I hope to get 350K or more out of my truck.......even with driving it daily with the capability of putting 500+ hp to rear wheels. That said, I rarely ever use that much power....but it's on tap if I want to.

These engines are very capable of running 1 million miles. So if you only get 950,000 out of it will you be dissappointed? You will probably wear your truck body out before you wear out the engine. I say don't sweat the box, drive it sensibly, and do regular maintenance.

..

 

I say it depends on the pressure box. 65hp is no big deal, but if cruising rail pressures are high, like they are when running an Edge EZ on higher settings, then you'll likely have injector problems down the line.

You'd be better off running a Smarty Jr. and not have to worry about increased rail pressure.

 

J BODY hit the nail on the head.Percentages speak for them selves.

 

Hardly a solid test bed, but I still find the results interesting.....

HOWEVER!! I must add that it's my opinion that quite a few of these people didn't know jack sheet about what they were getting into. Basically "heard from a buddy", "READ IT ON THE NET", "saw it in a magazine" types that simply plugged the box in and away they went....without gauges (or if they had gauges wouldn't know what they were looking at anyways), no clue as to how much exhaust temp that new found low end torque was creating while towing that trailer.... either way you're looking at least a $10K plus repair in most cases.


....and I also find it interesting that NO ONE mentioned in the above posts "GET GAUGES"!

 

Thanks for the replies. No I`m not hard on the truck. Yes I do like the extra power. I don`t need it but I also don`t need 325hp stock. All my other trucks have over 250,ooo miles on the engine but the auto trans. last about 150,000. (FORDS) I have had many diesel trucks, but this is my first Dodge. Also my first that`s not stock.I`m just looking for other owners opinions that have run a small box on their work trucks . Extra thanks to J Body

 

x2. You could have a 600hp and still get a long life out of your motor. Just don't hammer down on it all the time. Roll into the power if you want to use it. Just cause you have 600hp doesn't mean you are using it. Take it easy and you should be fine. Boosted launches, burnouts, ya that will shorten er up a little/lot. lol