So I am making my first purchase, diesel dodge of course, and was wondering, what are somethings I will need to alter versus driving my s10?

I do live in western mass, so it does hit between 0-10 every winter.

 

These trucks are heavy and take a little longer to stop. Coming from a 4 cylinder you'll be getting faster. The acceleration of a diesel is different than a gasser also. The most noticeable thing will be pressing on the accelerator and waiting just a second before the truck responds. This is really minimal and you'll get used to it very quickly. Getting near 0* you'll probably want to plug in the block heater to aide your cold starts. Diesel fuel is a little different than gasoline. Your suppliers will alter the fuel supply when the weather starts getting cold but you may want to add a fuel conditioner to make sure you don't have any gelling issues. Gelling is what fuel sometimes does when it gets cold. The fuel will thicken and become hard to pump.

 

What about redlining it? I mean I never go past 5 grand on my s10, but then again, im not racing a 2.2 <.<

 

Not likely you'll be going anywhere near there. Stock limiters will hold you under 3500. It's different on the dark side. What model truck are you looking at?

 

I don't know, Whatever commonrail system is best I guess for tuning. I have yet to purchase one, I'm in the investigating stage :]

 

Well, you'll want to spend some time in the 3rd gen section then. I just saw your introduction thread so welcome also. Try out the search feature some also. You can find allot of info using it.

 

Thank you, I shall

 

2003 was the last year before emissions stuff really started to come on the common-rails, but pick any year CR and your programmer limitations are small..you can't go wrong with any year CTD IMO.

 

I second the "brake early" statement. These things are HEAVY. You cant go whipping around traffic, doing jackrabbit starts, and riding up real close on people. Also id suggest getting the stick on convex mirrors if you dont get tow mirros. You just have to realize that its a big truck and you have to be more carefull.

Oh, and youll have to remember to swing wide into parkig spots and backing into them is 10X easier. My g/f laughs at me every time I swing her little car wide...it just becomes a habbit.

 

CT CTD? What are these?

 

where in western ma are ya? I'm in southampton.

 

CTD is cummins turbo diesel

 

CR is common rail engine found in 2003 and up trucks.

 

Don't use the price of fuel to sway your decision to get one. You'll be engaged the first couple days of driving, and married to it after the first fuel mod. Either a programmer or module. They are a PITA in the winter (32 to below 0) to maintain, ie... blending #1 and #2 fuel to prevent gelling, plugging in at least 2 hours before starting, letting it idle 5-10 minutes before driving, and driving easy until the heater starts to blow hot air.

 

One big difference you will notice between a gasser and the diesel is that you do not have to press on the accelerator before letting up on the clutch. The diesel engines have a governor in the fuel pump and will automatically rev up the engine to idle speed when it senses the RPM's dropping. I always let the clutch up fully before accelerating - unless I need to get going really fast. You can also idle it up a steep slope in the right gear without any danger of it stalling.