Shop truck project

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I bought a truck back in 08 to replace my Savanna van as a daily driver - 99 2WD dodge w/Cummins, it had 20K miles on it. After driving it for a few months I sold it cuz I couldn't get used to the noise of the diesel at the intersections, so much louder then a gas vehicle. It was a torque monster though, would haul a house! DId you get lucky enough not to have a dash cap all cracked to bits?
 
Nothing like em, I have 2 a 98 & 03, both 4wd, best thing in the world to drive especially on a trip, can`t hear the wife, ha ha. Would not own another gas truck.
 
Lol.. I should like it then, new exhaust should arrive tomorrow, also going to pull the turbo silencer of.. :)
 
Oh yea, both of mine have 4" with dual tailpipes & 5" tips. Add either a s&b or afe air intake if it doesn`t already have something. I personally like the Superchip tuners, don`t know anyone running a smarty, have done alot of research, all basically the same looks like to me.
 
Stock filter, i was wondering if a aftermarket one would make a difference.

Tuners make me nervous, i hate to mess anything up. Still up in the air on this.
 
Chad.S;914 said:
Stock filter, i was wondering if a aftermarket one would make a difference.

Tuners make me nervous, i hate to mess anything up. Still up in the air on this.
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I didn't notice a huge difference but the advice was to put the filter in as part of the 'package' on my '04 PT Cruiser Turbo. This is my third Chrysler product with a turbo and I have yet to have a problem with the turbo itself. I put the air cleaner, free flow exhaust, external blow-off valve and Stage 1 computer in the PT. The combination made a huge difference and makes getting on I-95 a whole lot less dramatic (for me -- seems to scare the crap out of the guy I pass getting on the road).

For added security with a turbo, a lot of folks put an oil accumulator in the turbo oil line so it spools down with oil still flowing. Also, Turbos have really tight tolerances so they like clean oil.
 
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I have not seen any problems caused by a tuner only improvement, I run a mechanical repair shop & see a lot of diesels, most have tuners. We never set them up in the high performance level, always economy or tow safe. Brother has been running superchip on a 99 for 5 years with no problems. I can see where it might be a problem set on high perf. & being dogged out all the time, nothing will survive that. The air cleaner will help, they need a lot of air flow.
 
Maybe I will consider adding one then after i finish it up, i would like to drive it as is for a while.. so far most of the advice I have got was to run a smarty tuner..
I do have to say it will be hard for me not to set it for performance.. I mean, that is what it's all about!! RIGHT? :)

Anyways, the rusty pipe eliminator kit has arrived.
I wanted to go stainless, but budget is the whole idea behind this project, so far so good.

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Smarty will give you lower egt's, better fuel economy, and crisper throttle responce. I currently have mine set on economy and am goin to put it back on tow. I havent seen a big difference in fuel economy between the 2 settings, but I do like the giddy up and go of tow level.
 
Chad.S;936 said:
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Unless those are 4x4 tiles on the floor, those are some B I G pipes. 'Cept for that little teeny reducer -- what's that, 3-inch? Gotta love those mandrel bending machines.
 
4" pipe, but ya, it does reduce down quite a bit, I didn't expect that, seems to me that it would just choke it way down there.
But either way, i guess with the loss of the muffler and cat it should be a bit more free flowing.
 
That will look good when done. I like the green. I will be looking for a project like this soon. Reg cab, long box though.
Nice work.
 
Chad.S;955 said:
What about all the other settings that they have?
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I have the Smarty Jr on my 06. It has 3 main settings, then fine tuning inside those perimeters. I havent messed with that part of it, the main default settings work fine for me.
 
Oh ok,, i didn't realize they had more than one.. I will probably opt for the regular one then, If i get one....
Not that i would leave it on all the time but for the occasional smoke show it would be neat.. :)
either way, i will definitely wait and see how it is without doing anything first.
 
If you put an CAI on it, research it. A lot of the CAI's dont filter very well in an attempt to get increased flow. Also many are open to teh enngine compartment and pull in hot air.
I went with S&B.
 
Just looked at the S&B, they look really nice. But I still have to wonder what the big advantage of that is vs. just putting in a good filter..
The factory one has a snorkel that goes through the fender, so it's getting as cold of air as possible. The filter is like 1ft square.
The only real advantage i see is that the tube going from the filter box to the turbo is smoother. Is that going to be my only advantage, besides the fact that it looks much better?

They also offer a intake elbow. I've heard that those help quite a bit also. But once again i just look at it and don't see a big difference..

We all do the cold air intake because it's a fairly cheap upgrade, but it's still $300.00, and i wonder if I would really get $300.00 worth of performance out of it.
I would almost think the intake elbow for about the same money would give more performance.

Personally I would guess that exhaust, and turbo upgrade would be your best upgrades, and also maybe a tuner.

But i really don't know much of anything about diesels. So i'm just guessing at this point. Once I get it on the road i might start doing a little more research on it, and possibly some upgrades.
 
The S&B for my '06 draws cold air from the same location as oem, and from the bottom of the box which has an optional snorkle intake that locates up by the fornt bumper. The "cai kit" from S&B included the intake elbow as well as the new air box and filter.
Did it do anything other than look cool?
Well it made the turbo whine more audible, and gave me a washable filter. Other than that who knows?
 
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