I have been hauling with a 1999 f250 superduty 7.3 diesel for 6 years. Had pillar ga's (egt,tt,turbo boost) and a TST +80hp chip. I traded for this new Dodge 3500 4x4 cummins quad (grin). I am used to having a real beast and I am going to modify this truck. I know that I will go for guages first. I learned a good lesson after I smoked the tranny in the ford @30k mi. What mod after the guages do you think I should do first?
I also have noticed the short comings on fuel milage. Started out with 11mpg and now am @ 13mpg just shy of 1000 mi. I understand that the new series diesel is using a short burst of fuel just before top dead center to lessen piston noise and make the engine quieter. I am guessing that this leads to lesser fuel economy since that fuel would be wasted. Does any body know which of the chip guys addresses this part of the injection? I think the guys over at TST do but I have not spoken with them yet.
Glad to be on the road with a Cummins :-)

 

Do guages first... Autometer makes a guage pod that fits in the space below your radio.. which is what I plan on getting. As far as the mileage... Just wait it out for a few tanks.. Ive run mine through 3 tanks of gas, and I average 15.5 mpg city, and 20 mpg highway, and thats about what I expect.... If your 3500 is a dually, its going to get 1-2 mpg less than a single rear wheel will.
Scott

 

Want better mileage and performance? Go tow something heavy a hundred or so miles. Fuel economy will increase and so will power as the rings will seat in. Next step depends on your self control. If you don't have any stay with something mild, like maybe a VA pressure box. If you do have control, there are a lot of higher performing boxes out there but the control comes in when your waiting to upgrade all the other things it takes to support the power so you have reliability with the enhancement.

 

OT-OF-Here gives good advice.
Driving it around empty it can take up to 15k to finally break it in.

 

Infidel makes a good point. At 20,000 miles, my rig was getting 16mpg overall. After a couple of months of hauling our camper up and back to Stevens Pass ski area every weekend, my overall mileage jumped to 18mpg.