Taking off the belt was really easy from underneath the truck. You can hold the tensioner loose with one hand on a half inch drive ratchet and slip the belt off of the pulley just below the tensioner with the other.

I had trouble getting my crank bolts loose. I left the belt on and used two ratchets - one with a breaker bar against the frame to hold one of the bolts while I loosened the other three. Then I switched the breaker bar to another bolt to finish the job. When all were loose I took the belt off. Automatic transmissions don't keep the crank from turning. Used the same trick to install.

Once I figured it out it was really simple. Good luck.

 

Well you guys made me buy this sensor....So I put it on and started the truck. Sounds a little different - better. I tell the spousal unit I have to make a trip into town and off I go. Low end torque and power is definitely more noticiable and my egt's dropped about 100 degrees. Fuel mileage will probably go down since I can't keep from pushing down on the throttle now

Great little mod - thanks fellas

 

Okay...I've just got to do this tone ring mod and see how it affects my truck. I need to change the oil this weekend so I guess that would be a good time to do it. I'll try to take some pictures as I go.

This sounds pretty simple, but has anyone written out any detailed instructions on how to get it done? I have a feeling that it's not going to do much for my truck because I'm already getting the same (or better) mileage than many of you have reported getting AFTER making the mod. But, I'm willing to try it and see.

I do have concerns about high RPM mileage though...like when I'm cruising down the highway at 70 mph. From what I've read, this mod may actually DECREASE mileage when you're cruising empty. Is that right?

Also, I don't have the sophisticated measuring devices that some of you have. Should I just grind enough off to turn it to the bolts or is that too far? I thought someone said that would be about a 2.7 degree advance in the timing.

 

Hoss,
Do a member search for 'SuperDuty'. In this thread he has detail information and measurements for the tone wheel mod.
Yes, there could be a trade off between around town mileage vs. highway. But my thinking there should be zero affect in mileage above the 2k rpm range.
Later this month I should make a run out to the hill country, pulling a trailer.

MikeyB

 

What's the thinking that it would decrease mileage above 2k rpm?

 

If I understand Superduty's diagram correctly, the dowel pin hole has a diameter of 0.24"...basically 1/4" (small hole...I thought we were talking something much larger). It looks like he expanded his slot to have a width of 0.276"...so he shaved off 0.036"...which is a hair over 1/32 of an inch...which gave him a 2.22 degree advance. Correct??

Now, I've heard others say to shave off about 1/16 of an inch...which I think would be approximately a 4 degree advance. Which is it?? I also heard someone say that if you advance it all the way to the bolts then that was a 2.7 degree advance...which would mean that shave off 1/16 of an inch wouldn't do much good unless you enlarge the bolt holes too.

To make it easy, is just advancing it to the bolts too much of an advance?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm just trying to get my head around this thing.

 

Just advance it enough to where the bolt holes hit the bolts and you should be fine. I turned my Quad box off this morning for the drive to work because the overhead is accurate stock. My mileage to work was almost 17.5 mpg with a little over 22 miles so it seems that it may have helped me by 1.5 mpg but I'll go another couple of days and see where it stands. Seems good so far...


No pics but it's stupid simple. Behind the crankshaft dampner there is the tone ring which looks like a big sprocket. You pull the dampner off and the ring comes loose as it's held on by the same 4 bolts. I had to use a long handled ratchet w/ 15mm socket and a 3lb hammer to hit the ratchet to break the bolts loose. Pull the serpentine belt off and remove the bolts. Once it's off you will notice a dowel pin hole which is oblong. Hold the ring so the dowel pin hole is at the very top. All you do is drill or file the counterclockwise (left) side of the dowel pin hole about 1/16th". Now you can advance the ring enough that it actually gives you about 2 degrees of timing advance. It's basically doing what the Rokktech sensor does but for free! There is enough play in the bolt holes that you may even be able to give yourself some extra timing without even taking the ring off. Just loosen the crank bolts and see if you can spin the ring clockwise. Many people have found that theirs was all the way to the wrong side possibly causing poor performance and fuel mileage. This seems to be a part of the engine which is not meticulously assembled by our friends in Mexico. Some guys are even hogging the bolt holes out now so they can get even more timing. This mod is geared more toward stock trucks but being who we are even those of us with fueling boxes have to try this. The beauty is that if it doesn't work for you, you just loosen the bolts and put the ring back to the stock position... Mine seems to be fine so far but I have read about some trucks getting the timing rattle but I think they maybe just went too far.

 

Thanks Dodgezilla. I have the Edge EZ, but it just changes fuel pressure and does a little boost fooling so at least I don't have that to worry about. I'm gonna give this thing a try and see what happens.

When I put it all back together, the torque on the four bolts is 30 lb-ft plus another 60 degrees of turn, correct?

 

My thinking it shouldn't, but several owners reports a decrease in highway fuel economy. One owner used the Rokktech sensor (no other performance mods and hand calculated the fuel economy) did report a lower fuel economy and I told him to install the original sensor and to verify the mileage again (my thinking is bad fuel). He hasn't reported back yet with his findings.
I can see running a performance box that's also doing timing could decrease the fuel economy. One member as a experiment on a 555 increased the timing by 4 degrees and noticed a drop in fuel economy. So he moved the tone wheel back to 2 degrees.

MikeyB

 

That is correct.

MikeyB

 

"If I understand Superduty's diagram correctly, the dowel pin hole has a diameter of 0.24"...basically 1/4" (small hole...I thought we were talking something much larger). It looks like he expanded his slot to have a width of 0.276"...so he shaved off 0.036"...which is a hair over 1/32 of an inch...which gave him a 2.22 degree advance. Correct??"

Yep. Exactly. Except that it is a slot and not a hole.

 

"What's the thinking that it would decrease mileage above 2k rpm?"

a) this is UNCONFIRMED yet

b) the thinking is that at light throttle and high air flow (ie high RPMs) Cummins was able to set the timing at an optimal setting, because NOx isn't a problem. Thus adding 2 degrees of advance makes it too early.

Just a theory at this point. I am unsure if advancing the timing improved my fuel economy at highways speeds at light throttle settings.

 

I'm planning/hoping to do this mod to my truck tomorrow night. I'm supposed to take a trip to Houston next weekend. My truck usually gets 21-22 mpg on that trip. I'll top it off before I leave and when I get back and see what kind of mileage it got and report back here. Of course, that's nearly two weeks away. If you fellas are like me you don't have the patience to wait that long for a report.

 

I did this mod to my truck last night but I thing it developed the timing rattle. With the TST, It rattles noticeably under mild load(accelerating) and @ cruise. Just on a whim I turned the TST off and it STILL rattles! I talked to TST today and they told me that the TST starts advancing the timing @ 4psi boost and the max advance is 12 degrees. they also told me that they tried more advance but it made the truck noisey(timing rattle) but didn't seem to hurt anything. What is your opinion on the max safe timing advance and will the timing rattle hurt my truck?

 

I have rattle too - most noticable before full warm up and at light throttle, but I'm running with the quad on 100HP setting which also advances timing. Not as noticable when fully warm and it runs really good. Too early to tell mileage.

Is there anything bad about the timing rattle other than noise? Sounds more like the earlier cummins and it seems to move! I'm having fun, but don't want to hurt anything in the long term.