johnnyboy_10138

Hello all. I am new to Dodge and the world of Diesel.

I am buying my first Dodge in a month or two and have decided to go with the 3rd gen Ram. I have driven a friends a few times and have gotten hooked. His is completely stock. I am looking to get a little more oomph out of the engine while having the option of increasing mpg. I also want to liven up the exhaust a bit.

I am not looking at building a stump pulling monster, but would like the option of getting more power for when i want to open her up or for the few times that I tow.

I have spent the past two days searching on the forum and doing some google research.
I have found that a lot of people do not like banks, but it sounds like it is because they are costly.

I like the idea of the banks stinger system because it comes with the programmer, chip, exhaust and intake.

Anyone have experience with this kit.

Does anyone have any other suggestions on other kits that i should look at.

Thank you.
John

Zeus1987

how much is the kit ? and what are the gains it claims to make ?

FishingFather

Welcome the forum. This is a great place to start.

Usually for the price of the Banks stuff you can make as much or more power cheaper.

BTW, you are already buying a "a stump pulling monster." :-)

johnnyboy_10138

Alex from Banks Power quoted me $2400 shipped. Here is the link to the kit that was quoted. Stinger System 75+ hp and 175+ torque advertised. All it say for mpg is increased economy.

I would be happy to get another kit or piece together my own, but this one is just put together already.

I am really looking for the intake exhaust and programmer. I would be happy to hear what other people have, and their stories. Thanks for the replies.

xtoyz17

Way to much money. You won't need an exhaust, an intake is nice but isn't really needed for reasonable amounts of power, and a good 5-700 dollar chip + gauges will get you more power for less money.

Shawn

johnnyboy_10138

I was more going for the exhaust for the sound rather than performance.

What chip and gauges do you prefer?

andywells

I have an Edge Juice with Attitude monitor. Supposedly a 100 HP gain on level 5. You can adjust it on the fly from stock to level 5. On 1 and 2 it was good for approximatly 2 MPG. My truck has a service bed and weighs 11000Lbs. It comes with a boost elbow for the waste gate and produces 39 PSI at full load. I did this first and really liked it. If you stay in the throttle too long the EGT's will climb, but the chip starts to back off fuel at preset EGT limit. Then I added the AFE ProGuard 7 stage II intake. Helped with the EGT's a little, but not much. The turbo seemed to spool faster and was definatly louder. Then I got a tank of water with a little bit of fuel in it and got to buy injectors. So I put some 60 HP injectors and Pro-Flo 5" exhuast on. Fuel mieage went back down and the noise went throught the roof. Really anoing at 60 MPH (about 2100 RPM on my truck). The power is amaizing now. I have to be careful when the roads are wet, at 60-65 MPH it will break the tires loose passing. Sometimes I will hit the paint stripes and it gets squirelly. I had to put in a better clutch as the stock one started to slip when I would floor it. Hope some of this helps.

xtoyz17

I really like my Isspros. I had an Edge Juice/Attitude but wasn't a big fan. Economically, they're the best choice but personally I'm shopping for a Smarty and put my Isspros in a week ago or so and love them. I have the Banks dual exhaust and it's turbo back. Not too much louder at idle and not too bad wide open throttle. Sounds pretty good, and is good at cruising speeds. Came with the truck though, so I can't comment on the price. Same for the rest of the banks stuff. Will say that I LOVE my banks intake. Just cleaned it the other night for the first time since I bought the truck and noticed a significant mileage increase.

Shawn

johnnyboy_10138

Thanks for the replies. I have heard from a few other threads around the site that the Edge Juice w/ attitude hasnt really helped them with mpg. Did you use hand calcs or claimed mpg increase?

I like the Banks kit because it comes with the option of using the PDA which will let you check you EGTs and other readouts directly there.

And what did the boost elbow come with, the chip?

xtoyz17

My Edge did not help my mileage regardless of power level, others see an increase. Hit or miss I guess?

andywells

I had to hand calculate mpg, after the Edge was put the truck would show 30 MPG one day and 10 the next. The boost elbow comes with the Edge and in the instructions it shows it as an optional install.

ratsun

Hey John welcome aboard!
Here's my opinion (since you asked LOL) in order of importance and I honestly feel 1 on the list is necessary on a un-modified truck. I really don't feel there is any value in #5 on a mildly built truck either but most gust buy one anyway.

1) A upgraded fuel system with a minimum 3 micron filtering take your pick your flavor from the many routes AD,Fass, etc they are all good.
2) Gauges ~ Analogue or digital is your preference as long as you can monitor EGTs, FP, and trans temp. Boost is nice for diagnosing a problem but is at the bottom of the list for gauges in a mildly bomded truck IMO.
3) Programmer ~ Smarty takes the majority of the votes on this board for good reason but you will be happy with the others vs a stock truck so.....
4) Exhaust mods
03-04.5 ~ 4" pipe and good muffler from the turbo to the stock tail pipe.
04.5 ~ up a kittyectomy and a good muffler
5) CAI of the flavor you like, all filter media is not created equal so do some research here and you can decide for yourself.
Personally I think mods to the stock air box and a good drop-in is sufficient in most cases with a stock turbo.

The rest is candy and really costs big money for ridiculessly small gains.
All of my trucks have been laden with candy but this is my hobby and I understand the gains I got from the $$$ spent and knew the levels I wanted to attain for power.
Hope this helps.

johnnyboy_10138

Thanks for all the replies. I just have to find a Ram for sale in my area and in my price range. I will be spending a lot of time on here in the near future.

TAS05CTD610

All depends on what you want to do. I have a cat back muffler system (maybe 500 bucks it cost) and I went with the TST chip, which has the potential to add a ton of HP (just like many other chips) Only reason I mention the TST is I believe you can now get it with a palm as well. Dollar for dollar I'd get the TST over the banks anyday ; )

johnnyboy_10138

Did you notice any gain in millage with the TST, if so what kind of gains did you notice? Thank you.