I am new at this so bare with me.. Is there any chip that you reccommend for 5.9IL6 2003 3500? Do I need big exhaust and filkters for it to weork? Or If I bought the truck of the lot and added a chip would that be fine..

Thanks

 

There are a number of after market electronics options that provide power enhancements, and yes, you can add one at any time. At least nine that I know of, not counting all the times when one box is re-branded. (diesel dynamics and BD re-badge the Edge EZ, for example). see my recent post about fueling box summary.

This is for the 03-04 trucks. check with the mfgs on suitability for the new 2004.5 trucks. information changes rapidly in this space and I'm not up to the latest for 04.5. some are available and some are not.

I recommend that you do some thread searching to get you started. you'll want to know or discover your own goals re: available power, warranty, etc. almost any box is going to yield close to 100 HP; the smallest HP gain I've seen is 65 (see Van Aaken).

A rule of thumb is to never power enhance without installing an exhaust gas temperature gauge, and then use it -- on the safe side, don't allow exhaust manifold temps to exceed 1350 degrees F. Especially on the 03-04 RAMs, there isn't much room to grow (power wise) without having to change the air system in some way. minimally, consider a RAM AIR III or an AFE Pro-guard 7, or other intake enhancement. You might find an exhaust replacement, or simply a muffler replacement might give benefits too. no, you don't have to change to big exhaust but it will allow you to enjoy more usable HP from the fueling box without raising temps to dangerous levels.

some guys throw on a box and drive by the gauge without changing anything else, but to be truthful you can't use 100% of the power of any box (say, in a towing situation) without at least intake and exhaust upgrades.

Take some time and study the Diesel Dynamics web page. that will give you a feel for the nature of upgrades you may want to consider. you can get by with a 100HP box with an otherwise stock truck but odds are you won't use all of that power or if you do, only when empty and for short periods of time.

There are a lot of guys here that can help ask away!

 

Thank you for the detailed reply. Im very thankful.