Cougsfan

OK, you guys have me pumped to do something. As soon as payday rolls around I will order the gauges. I will have to do some reading up, 'cause I don't know what they should read, nor do I know what it means if they don't read that. But it seems logical that they are good indicators of whats going on under the hood.

I will order the GSK at the same time. Looks like together, the guages and gsk should be well under $300. (That qualifies for far less than a wheelbarrow full of money)

Clayton, you suggest to check the fuel pressure to determine if the lift pump is worn out. I will also figure out how to do that.

Sounds like a #10 fuel plate grind is the way to go. Seems really wierd to me as i read about it. You just kind of sketch a profile that looks sort of likewhat the profile looks like in a picture and grind it kind of close. Seems strange that it isn't more exact. I also need to figure out just what that plate does. Once I do, I am sure it will make more sense. I also read about people sliding the plate back and forth. I don't know what that does either.

What is the cost and difficulty of changing the valve body? Will it do much on it's own without the torque converter replacement? The tranny shifts sort of crappy as it is, would it fix that?

Well, I am off this weekend with my buddy's and my own dirt bikes in the back of the Dodge and the camper in tow for a fun weekend of trail riding in Washington State's Cascade Mountains. It will be my first real camping trip with this set-up. I am sure I will be contemplating truck mods as my truck is doing 50 mph up the hill to the mountains.
Thanks for giving me so much to think about.
Cougsfan

Box5

Gauges

EGT(pyro) gauge - Cruising around my EGT's are anywhere from 350-600 degrees F, if I get on it alittle bit, they can get up to about 750, if I'm hard on it, They get to about 950. I don't push nearly as much fuel as alot of people here, so my EGT's stay low, but the highest EGT u should safely run constantly is about 1200 or so. People touch 1500-1600 degrees F for short burst's, but that is pretty hot for the engine to sustain any period of time.

Boost - The stock 35 turbo should push 34-35 psi and be efficient. Anything more and it's just pushing hot air. You can adjust the boost in different ways so once u get gauges come back with what number ur seeing at WOT.

The fuel plate doesn't have to be exact by any means, all it is, is a guide for the Governer arm to slide up and determine how hard the pump fuels. So the deeper u cut the plate, the more fuel it will push in that range. So if u slide the plate forward also, the gov arm has to travel deeper to reach the plate so it fuels harder. Hope that clears it up.

kas83

Get the GSK to take full advantage of the rpm for using Drive/direct at more than 55 mph. Once that is done, you'll know right away if your torque converter is slipping. If so, get a good replacement, then mod it. Why put a plate in, if your tranny won't put the extra power to the ground? I think if you can take advantage of the extra RPM with the GSK, and then get the tranny to put ALL the power to the ground, you'd be surprised. Putting a plate in makes a world of difference for sure, whole different truck, when combined with a GSK. Just my .02 though.