My husband has a 2003 2500 Cummins. We tow our off-road Jeep a lot, sometimes long distance trips. I wanted to get him an upgrade to the truck to help performance and to extend the life of the truck. I was thinking of an aftermarket trans pan that adds more fluid capacity and therefore reduces trans temps.

If anyone has any info or leads for me in this area, I need some help.

Also, if you think that there is a better upgrade at this point, please let me know that also. He has not had any upgrades done to his truck. He does have an aftermarket muffler I believe and his exhaust ends right after it under the truck. I am looking to spend at the most $300 at this time so computers and such are out. I am afraid to get guages at this time in case down the road we decide to get a whole computer package. Any thoughts?

 

I'd just get a gauge. they are not much, a single tranny temp gauge is about 50$ then the pillar from the Dealer is about 40$ as well.
If you choose to get something else down the road you've only spent 100$ and sell it to a friend.

 

A good performance addition in your price range is Quad's XZT towing box. You should be able to get it for under 300 right here on DTR's shopping center. And your husband will GREATLY appreciate the added performance and fuel savings (if he can keep his foot out of it)...

If you really want a trans pan, PML makes a nice one at a reasonable price.

 

Thanks for your input.


Trik396 - what do you mean if he can keep his foot out of it?

 

dirtybluejeepet,

Wow what a wife, truck toys!!!! You are to me commended!! Check out the PML pans, bets value, same temp reduction as the high priced ones and they look great too. They are approx 1/3 of your budget so alos get him a single gauge mount like the steering column mount and a tran temp gauge. Those three things will total around your $300.00 mark and will cover his trans from the cooling and monitoring sides etc.

Mark @ DPPI

 

Okay, so that now I am totally confused as to what to get my husband!

Towing Box - will that help him daily or only gain him benefits while towing?

Trans Pan - is transmission temperatures something that is reaching critical stage often and therefore the trans pan would definetly help the life of the trans?

Pyrometer - measuring the exhaust temperature, is this something that is reaching critical stage and should be montired daily. He does do a lot of running around in his truck and therefore is shutting it off frequently.

I need some direction as to where to go first. And maybe as said before, a combination of a couple of things would be good.

 

I vote for the towing Box. What he mans by "if he can keep his foot out of it" ,is it will increase power and engine response. So your husband (and maybe you?) might have a tendency to be accessing that additional power more often, which will offset the fuel savings the box was giving. I reccomend not worring about the fuel savings, and go ahead and enjoy the power, as it is SSOOOoooooooo MUCH FUN!! I garantee the Quadzilla XZT Box will be the biggest hit by far. Trust me. For you too if you drive the truck.

 

Good luck with whatever you choose to get him. There is so much to learn about these trucks and our lingo (keep your foot out of it...LOL......means with the extra power he will be flooring it every opportunity). You would have to spend hours and hours reading on here about all the possibilities of things to do for his truck.

Back to your original question.....the Bigger Transmission Pan is a nice edition. I have a Mag Hy-tec Double Deep pan and it holds 4 quarts of fluid over stock. Also, it has a place to mount a probe for a temperature sensor if he later wants a transmission temp gauge.


Here is a link for a place to get one.

http://www.genosgarage.com/prodinfo....=MH-727DD-9803

You can also look around Genos website and find alot of nice gift ideas. He is a lucky man to have a wife like you!

 

Oh believe me, I love driving the truck as much as he does! We also have a really built up off-road Jeep that we trailer quite often, so I get to drive while trailering as well! We just installed the steering stabilizer the other day so I am curious to feel the difference with that while towing this weekend. I emphasize "WE INSTALLED"

Well, i think I am leaning towards the Towing Box since that will be nice when we tow down to NC this summer.

Thank you everyone for your help!

 

The Quad Tow box will certainly make a nice gift. But beware of using this or any other box on these trucks without some gauges. Particularly the Exhaust Gas Temperature gauge.

You should never run a box without gauges, ESPECIALLY if you are towing.

 

dirtybluejeepet,

If you're thinking down the road about a performance box then skip all the ideas and get him a full set of gauges NOW! He will need them when he adds HP and tow that Jeep for you. He needs a pyro, boost, fuel pressure and trans temp gauge. This is the safest and smartest 1st move for anyone that's going to add HP now or later. You'll be glad that you did, they aren't flashy or make the truck go faster but they will protect the expensive Cummins under the hood and make it last!

Mark @ DPPI

 

OK, so now I feel like an ***! I said we have a 2003, it's not, it's a 2002. Quad doesn't make the tow box in the 2002 yet!

So now I am leaning towards guages! Where is a good place to get the 3 guage module? If it goes on the column it has to have the opening for the speaker. Or would on the dash be better? Thoughts?