looking for upgrades for my 04 3500 auto quad cab that would pick up power / torque but still keep the reliability any suggestions would be well appreciated thank you

 

Smarty Jr, it will increase power, driveability, mpgs, and decrease EGT's.

Its a great product.

 

First, let it breath. Stock cats on 03-04.5 are VERY (necks down to 2 1/2" internally) restrictive. Change out the stock cat for a 4" high flow unit. Leave the rest of the exhaust alone. Hole saw to the bottom of the airbox. Remove the baffles in the intake tube. Second, I went w/ EDGE Juice w/ Attitude w/ boost elbow. Could NOT beat the price (Craigs List), NO $$ spent for gauges as the monitor provides that function, excellent user adjustable safety parameters, adjustable on the fly. Allow 2 hour minimum time frame to do a CLEAN, SANITARY install for the EDGE. Oh, and don't go cheap with the tap required for the EGT probe. Buy a good one to start with.

 

Do most of what's in my signature.....

 

Is it a 04 or 04.5?

 

it is a 2004 3500 2wd drw quad cab auto

 

SO or HO?

 

Does not have a CAT.

 

it is HO

 

The 305/555 motors seem to react well to the Smarty Jr, and since its an early 04 you wont have any smoke issue... My vote stays with the SJR. Since the 48RE is the same 04-04.5 you should be fine on SW1 or SW2 without trans mods, but I would still consider them.. A Valve body and torque converter can do a lot for a trans life and power handling.

Like Dodgezilla said look at his sig. The 04.5+ turbo is a cheap easy upgrade, try to find a 04.5+ intake hose (filter to turbo) and replace the center section with a Airaid MIT.

Good luck, let us know what you decide.

 

I am the king of cheap! I want it all but I don't want to spend a fortune. I really don't feel like trying to make the big power anymore but I did want to make my truck just a bit better. Performance mods I have done CHEAP are
2nd gen intake manifold
BHAF air cleaner (I have not pulled the baffles out of the big intake tube but I will one day)
HE351 turbo (Stock turbo from any 600 series 5.9 CTD
4"inx4"out Turbo elbow for any 600 series CTD
4" Downpipe from any 600 series 5.9 CTD
4" custom exhaust that I fabricated myself
And I'd also add some type of moderate power adder. I went with a Van Aaken Duration box because the price was right. If you don't want to beef up your trans then keep it on the lower settings.

My truck runs great and gets great mileage. With this setup I am getting 16+ mpg running around town as long as I don't spend too much time in stop & go. Highway mileage is in the low to mid 20s. Towing my trailer I can get as high as 13-14 mpg. I also pulled 18000lb not too long ago and the truck pulled it easily except for the torque converter stalling a bit too high. No biggie though...

 

Ditto on the muffler. Mine was choked down to 3" inside. The HO turbo is also terrible. I did the muffler first and then the turbo and the turbo turned it into a completely different truck - better acceleration and more top end power. I already had gauges so I got a Predator (one of the cheapest and best tuners for the 03-04.4s) and the 100hp is perfect for towing with the turbo/muffler mods to keep egt low but it might be a little much for a stock auto. Gauges really aren't necessary with the Pred 100hp cuz it only hits 1225 egt, wot towing. I got the Puck to play with stack tunes but I don't leave it stacked for fear of overworking the fuel system. I've been using the Puck on 50hp (by itself) to see what it does for mpg. I haven't fueled up yet but it looks like the mpg is going to be VERY good and it's a very noticable improvement for zip and driveability. The Puck was $165 delivered. On the Pred 100hp (performance/economy tune) my absolute worst mpg is 18.3 city/summer driving with the AC never shut off and that's with a 4.10. I get up to 19.8 the short and rare times I'm on the hiway not towing but that's always mixed with some city driving. Craig

 

I wouldn't waste any money on the down pipe, unless you tow a lot and are looking for lower EGT's. It is not that restrictive. Mod your own airbox and don't waste money on a fancy aftermarket one.

 

That's incorrect. I didn't have my gauges yet when I put this DP on but when I did it in my old 03 truck my EGTs immediately dropped 100 degrees. I would consider that worthwhile.......

 

Read my post.