Hey there, I'm new to the board. I don't own a truck but I will soon I hope. I'm really wanting a Dodge 2500 w/ a diesel and manual tranny...4x4 ext. cab and short bed so prolly a '99+. Right now I'm running a '97 Volvo 850 R, u can see it here. I live in KY but I'm attending Hope College in Holland, MI...so w/ 75 inches of snow per year, and being a snowboarder, and doing a lot of camping and fishing, the Volvo doesn't work for me. I don't know a whole lot about trucks and diesels, so hopefully I'll be able to pick some stuff up from this board. I also registered w/ dieselram.com. I'm just wondering about a few things...how much do these cost (general idea):

- exhaust w/ dual stacks
- 4-8" lift kit
- wheel spacers
- torque plate
- v-chip

I'm wanting to do that stuff to my truck when I get it and hopefully make 600+ lb/ft to the wheels. Any advice on what to do for super cheap would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone knows of any good places to look for a truck to buy, that'd be sweet too. Thanks!

~Kentucky

 

One thing to look at is price. You wont play cheap thats for sure.

 

Hey Lee,

Welcome to the board. You will find a lot of great informaiton here, and a lot of great people, too. If you are looking for a '99 (which I have) you won't be using a torque plate, as they are for 12-valve engines. From the middle of the '98 model year on, the Cummins is a computer-controled 24-valve engine. You can get fueling/boost boxes (add-on computers) that do the same thing.

I see that you are at Hope College. My daughter goes to Grand Valley, and I'm from the Grand Rapids area currently living in Leelanau County. I'll be moving back to the Hudsonville/Jenison area this summer. Welcome to winter! It could be worse, though. We get around 200 inches a year here.

DeWain

 

Yes I'm at Hope College...I really love it but there's some drawbacks. I got written up for sending some guy on my hall a text message. He went and showed it to our RAs and asked them to write me up, then today he tried to tell me one of the RAs happened to have his phone when I sent it...too much drama up here, everyone is hella sheltered and one little thing makes them gasp. U push a kid and he cries...it's different when u grow up in KY and have been around when guys pull shotguns on each other. It's tough for me sometimes, u look at someone wrong and they go tell on u...kinda gets old after awhile. It's cool tho, great school. I'm diggin' all the snow.

Concerning the Dodge...I specifically do not want a longbed, but I want a quad cab w/ the diesel, so it's '98.5 or later...'98 and earlier didn't have the quad cab/short bed w/ the diesel. Kinda sux, but it's the world we live in. I'm hoping I can get a '98.5 or '99 for a reasonable price and put some cool stuff on it. I really want a brush guard, stacks, spacers, 700 lb./ft, and a clutch to hold it. I'll eventually throw on a lift kit. But I figure:

24-valve Cummins has 460 lb./ft stock
5" stacked exhaust adds another 80 lb./ft or so - maybe $800 for that?
Chip (certain ones) add 200 lb./ft - around $700

So I'm up to 740 lb./ft of torque, I'm guessing I'll need a better clutch to hold that? So another $300-400 I'm guessing, all that installed is $2K, and then I've got a Edit diesel putting out 700+ lb./ft. Well, maybe not Edit compared to some, but it'd be enough for me. My total goal for this truck over the next 6 years or so would be a 6-8" total lift, bigger wheels w/ 34-36" tires spaced WAAAAAAY out, brush guard, stacks, step rails, taillight guards, and 1000+ lb./ft of torque. I'll put some kind of system in it as well, I love music.

~Kentucky

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Whiplash makes a 10 inch suspension lift. A solid clutch is alot more than 400.00 a southbend con ofe is probably what you would want. I sell these parts for a living so I cant post the price of one but it is way more than 400.00 I'm sure someone else will chime in shortly.

 

Well again, I'm not real knowledgeable about diesels. How much torque could a stock one hold anyway?

~Kentucky

 

not much more than stock ..... sorry

 

Shady...well I guess a stronger clutch will be a main priority.

~Kentucky

 

try to find a 98 12v like mine very hard to find and if you do find one they usually start out around $17,000, but it's well worth the price to have a quad cab 12v. i've owned a 24v and got rid of it 6months later and will never buy anything else after owning a 12v. get a 5 speed dodges autos are junk. my stock clutch held up fine with a #6 plate full foward and my truck has a 215 pump. i just installed a set of injectors and now i can slip it but i was very impressed with the stock clutch

 

I've heard the 12-valves are better engines overall. I really want the shortbed tho, like super bad, and w/ a quad cab, and that's only 24-valve engines. What kind of torque are u pushing on that?

~Kentucky

 

The 1998 was the first year for a 12 valve Quad Cab Short or Long Bed - see signature. In 98.5 the switch was made to the overvalved engine.

John (DH)

 

mines a quad cab short bed 12v look at my photo gallery

 

NICE! I'll definitely be looking for one of those. How hard is it gonna be to find? Pretty hard I imagine.

~Kentucky

 

if you look on www.autotrader.com you can find some make sure you look at the vin # if its a 12v the 8th digit in it wiil be a "d" if its something else its a 24v

 

heres some 98 quad cab 5speeds remember to loo for the d in the 8th digit