Hey guys just joined the forum I just bought my first diesel rig a 2011 Ram 2500 Crew Cab 4x4 Long Bed. Are there any upgrades I can do now in order to gain more MPG's and HP's???? I was thinking of a K&N cold air intake for now. I have a while before my warrenty runs out. Thanx in advance for everyones help.

 

Not much you can do except work the truck from time to time and keep your speeds down. Please don't put that junky K&N intake on your truck. It won't filter for crap and you will gain nothing as far a mpg. Just an empty pocket.

 

Work the living crap out of your truck with a good load on it.. like Spooler said keep your speeds to the speed limit or lower. anything under 2000 rpm will give you best milage.. Now depends on your gearing also.. My 04 has 410's and does great milage with 305/70/17's on it... with the factory tires it was horrible milage....
I also agree stay away from K&N...

 

So are cold air intakes useless for diesels??? I am not sure what gear set I have but I will find out. As far as rims and tires I am going to go for 20s and 35 I dont wanna go to big because of stock suspension. Also whats the story with Banks products are they worth the money or not. Ive already decided that I am going with the H&S Black Maxx tuner along with the full EGR delete when warrentys expired. I havent decided on exhaust I am still researching that area any ideas????

 

Banks is high priced and does not perform as well as other devices. Stay away from it. Stock intake is good for around 400 rwhp. Unless you are going over that I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Like others have said, work it like a dog - it gets better, and better with each tow. I could write a book about K&N, but I'll just say - don't go there. Plus it will void your warrenty.

I've made three hard round trip tows with my Ram now, 250, 650, 700 miles and have 6700 total miles on the truck. Today I was seeing 16mpg on the EVIC after I reset everything after filling up. I hope this is real!

You did'nt say if this is a new truck or what your mileage is, but changing the oil is a very important thing. I'd suggest that until you decide to do the deleat thing, you change it on a 5000 mile schedule. Oil in a diesel takes a beating.

 

you can get the dpf delete pipe and downpipe from h&s for about $236. that is going to be the cheapest route to take as you already have 4" turbo back and the stock muffler is a flow thru design so restriction is not in the equation. make sure you do the transmission tune too with H&S.

Welcome to DTR and ask away.

 

Yes it's a new truck I have 1600 something miles on it. If I do exhaust upgrades will it void my powertrain warranty??? I have been researching my upgrade options and seems H&S is the way to go!! I have a manual trans so would I still need the trans tune??? Iam a little irratated because I want to start working on my truck but I have a hundred thousand miles to go before I can touch anything with out voiding my warrenties. I haven't decided if I will wait that long yet but I will be doing rims and a lift kit in the near future which brings me to another question I've noticed that on the fabtech kits it says they are for auto trans only. Is this true if so what does the trans have to do with a suspension lift???

 

no you won't need the trans tune but you will need a clutch soon. yes they can and will void warranty.

lifting it will also void some warranties also.

get a smarty jr and run the "S" software, keep the emissions stuff in tact. remove the smarty when taking it into the dealer. still playing poker that they find it or not as doing anything to these trucks is risky if you are worried about warranty

 

Hello once again I was speaking to a local diesel mechanic recently and he recomended to me that I run a single quart of ATF with every tank of diesel that i put in my truck. He says it will lube my injectors and prolong there life. Also ive been reading alot about the diesel additives what the deal with these products??????

 

the only additive I would EVER put in a DPF-equipped truck is one that is labeled as safe for ULSD engines.

 

First Diesel-Iw ould not put to much fuel additives in your fuel with your emmissions stuff still installed. This will clog your dpf and cause your truck to go into more regan modes. I also would not put ATF in your fuel either. Some truckers have years ago but with ATF it has alot of additives that dont burn off completly. If and when you do remove your emmission then you could run additives to help lube your fuel from the ULSD being little dry. I also have run 2-cycle oil in my Cummins for a long time and have had good experience with it.

 

Its always funny how a Diesel Mechanic is the first to offer ATF for an additive.... Hmm, wonder why? Is his shop empty at the time?

That ATF trick was for 1960 engines, not automotive high pressure rail injected engines. Unless you have $5-7K sitting in your pocket and like having no warranty, then add the ATF. If not, then stick to something that is rated for the fuel you use, not the transmission.

 

Just these new emission loaded up diesels. My diesel oil is clean for 12000km's, been wondering why I change the oil. Its nearly as clean as when the oil goes in. H&S turns off the fourth post (emission cleaning) injection event, this keeps oil cleaner. Not sure if smarty does the same.

 

Smarty does all of that. The EGR is really the culprit for black oil. The 4th injection event is more the cause of the fuel dilution in the oil.