Who all is into performance mods on their TV ?

"Since the hijack is in full force, lol, what kind of needle is that?"

It's a Stewart-Warner Mfg by Alemite Division

I ground the tip down to the OD of the opening.

My so called mods include:

Zoodad mod
Slotted and drilled rotors
Larger tires and wheels
Blue Spring
Light bar with 4 lights
Removed cat and muffler

Other goodies

Isspro 3 gauges
Scangauge II

I spend a lot of time looking at those gauges when pulling. Sometimes I think ignorance is bliss but it is nice to see what is going on.

Had a tuner for a bit but it was way crazy in the highest level. No need to be doing 800 mph. Someday maybe a tuner with custom tunes.

Paul Clancy wrote:
The argument is pretty simple and spend enough time on the tuner sites you will see the broken crank, melted piston guys are running the tuned trucks. There is no unlimited magic pile of cash for me so I need an affordable and reliable rig for mountain towing. Pushing anything past its design limits = $$$ and downtime. Also there is no guarantee parts from any after market supplier are superior to stock.

If you don't want/can't afford to modify your vehicle that's your choice, my argument comes from your suggestion that because you haven't modified it, that it's somehow more reliable. More affordable maybe, more reliable, not necessarily.

All the early Ford Superduties/Excursions I've owned had problems with the rotors warping fairly easily. So by your logic I should have just kept putting OEM rotors on every 30k miles.

Instead, with a little research, it was obvious that some quality slotted rotors and performance friction pads would be a better solution. Improved stopping power, 100k miles before turning the rotors, only $10 more per rotor than OEM and no more warping win/win/win/win.

The same process applies to transmission upgrades, cooling upgrades, tunner, intake, exhaust, suspension, the list goes on and on. My philosophy is why replace a worn part with the same OEM part if there is a better option out there? Makes no sense.

2006 Dodge ram 2500 quad cab.
Industrial Injection Fatshaft / S474 compounds
Twin pumps
Fire hose injectors
Hamilton cam
ARP head studs
Garmon Transmission
Aluminum drive shaft
EFI live custom tuning
ATS intercooler, and Intake
2 piece exhaust manifold
Pacbrake inline exhaust brake
5" downpipe split to 4" duals
660hp 1000ftlbs torque daily driver
750+hp 1300+lbstq dragstrip play toy
Powerslot rotors with Yellow stuff EBC brake pads

Truck was converted to a dually for tow duty. Rolled 4500 rear axle, 3.83 gears, with overload springs underneath to carry the pin weight of the Carrilite, still put airbags under it.

Then I bought a real truck to tow our Carrilite

My main tow vehicle...
2000 F-350 Crew Cab Dually long bed with matching Bigfoot graphics, 4R100 w/PTO, Banks Stinger Plus System, Riffraff wheel, Ford Blue Fuel PSI Regulator Spring, PHP Hydra 16 pos Chip, Banks Automind Prog., Trans Boost Pyro Pod Gauges, 6.0 Trans Cooler, Ford AIS Airbox, Firestone Airbags w/pump, Extended Height Cap, 55W HID projectors, prodigy P3 brake ctrlr.

The lesser tow vehicle.....
1999 LS Tahoe 4X4 four door, 3.73, 4l60e, NVG 246 EAU, 140 amp overdrive alt, Vmax intake spacer, MPFI spider upgrade, 0411 PCM swap, Scorpion 1.6 roller rockers, EFI Live and BB Tune, ported t-body, MagHytec trans pan w/temp ga, MagHytec Diff Cover, wideband O2 ga, added tow haul mode to PCM , K&N drop in, Stainless long tube headers ceramic , custom 3" exh Flowmaster 50 series, 05 E-fans, 180 thermostat, Optima, 20's, Denali 120 mph gauges, slotted wave Rabestos rotors, Hawk pads, Rancho RS5000's, 30F A/C cycle switch, Big 3 wire upgrade, Ultra-Gauge , 7" DVD NAV, prodigy P3 brake ctrlr, rear air bags.

Most tuners these days have de-fueling settings that help avoid melted pistons, cooked transmissions and the like.

My truck can produce roughly 50% more HP and torque than stock but that doesn't mean I drive it with my foot to the floor or set the cruise in the mountains and expect it to take it all in stride.

Modifications don't necessarily reduce reliability nor does a lack of modifications increase reliability. Mostly, it's the nut behind the wheel that has an impact on "reliability."

Running EFI live tune on mine from Black Bear Performance, very happy with it. On my 69 Truck, pretty stock 350 260HP crate but has 4 Barrel Carb, GM Ram headers, and upgraded GM cam. Estimated only 325HP but never dynode. I drive both very easy anyway...

The argument is pretty simple and spend enough time on the tuner sites you will see the broken crank, melted piston guys are running the tuned trucks.

Thats not what all I saw on the several Dodge/Cummins webs I was a member of.

Now if were talking about those hot rod types who want mega hp/torque numbers and say to drive it like you stole it with clouds of "moron looking" black smoke then your point has some credit.

However I see other diesel truck owners with older model diesels which were down on power who are looking for a bit of help with towing duties and are using products for that purpose with great results.

I've have a Edge programmer on my '03 Dodge/Cummins 305/555 HO since it was new. This Edge was their first out for the new HPCR engines and has no adjustments and was advertised for about 40-45 hp and 85 + ft lbs. Perfect for waking the '03/'04 HPCR Cummins up in the 1800-2000 rpm range.
With 292k miles on the Cummins I've had no issues with Blackstone or non of the mechanical problems being posted by some.

I've also added a Westach dual boost/egt gage at that time. Great trouble shooting device when needed.

The AFE PRO 7 air filter added before the Edge box actually lowered EGTs when towing.

The Jacobs exhaust brake installed by the Dodge dealer through Dodge Businesslink program at the time the truck was purchased. Great feature with my NV5600 manual tranny.

For those that are looking for help in modifying their trucks suspension to safely carry more weight check out our truck camper forum.