summerfun

Hey everyone, I'm new to all of this and need your advice. I have a 2000 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins with auto tranny. It's totally stock right now with about 95,000 miles. Wife gave the go ahead for performance upgrades and I'm like a kid in a candy store. I was thinking about AFE stage 2 intake, MBRP 4" exhaust, edge juice with attitude, Mag-Hytec tranny pan and diff covers and Rancho RS9000 shocks. Would appreciate any input on other mods or whether these are good choices. Also, do I need to address and fuel pump issues? Thanks for the help.

RowJ

Welcome to the DTR!
That's a nice list, but more info would help. Fill in signature with tranny also, please!

Edge Juice is new and early reports are apparently good. I prefer the Smarty for timing instead of the timing offered from Edge products. Smarty and a set of bigger injectors would be my choice...but your list is not a mistake...just different!
Scotty II will give as good or better air and save some money for other stuff. Your choice.... both are excellent.

If manual tranny...will need clutch if playing hard with the Juice. If an auto... will need a bigger turbo and some trans support!
AND...First step is always GAUGES! Always...if your smart.

Edit: just saw the Mag Hy-Tec Tranny pan...so it's an Automatic, right? Juice will raise Heck with torque convertor (on higher settings) and your small turbo (smaller than the manuals) will cause high EGT's.
Good Luck!

RJ

hotdram

Welcome aboard.
I would get gauges before you do anything (does the Edge J/A have gauges built in?)
I would then take care of the intake/exhaust as you have outlined.
Then go for the power mods.

~Rob

srt20

Im pretty sure 00's had the hx35 on them yet. At least mine does. I think they put the little ones on in 01.

But gauges before anything and then real small upgrades til you get tranny work done. JMO Bret

HOHN

Lots of good advice on this forum. We like it here

My dos pesos:

Don't waste money on an air intake, because your stock system is NOT the limiting factor. Your stock air filter will flow all that the weenie stock turbo you have can demand. Save the money for other goodies.

I'm partial to the Smarty, but the Edge has a lot of features. Edge doesn't have the best track record for reliability, but they *do* have great customer service and will swap out any bad units with no harassment. I personally wouldn't go that big on HP with the stock automatic trans.

In fact, I wouldn't do anything more than a Smarty with the stock tranny. The Smarty is all the power the trans can handle.

The larger exhaust isn't really necessary either, but it will knock EGT down some. MBRP is good, but Rip Rook has a house system that's also good and low cost.

You SHOULD upgrade your fuel delivery, even on a stock truck. At the minimum, install one of Scotty's Smart Fuel line kits from the DTR store. I have one and it works great-- and doesn't cost as much as other options. My fuel pressure is plenty and stable.

The Mag-hytec pans look cool, but they are powder coated, which reduces their cooling effectiveness. For better cooling at LOWER cost, try a PML pan from Mark at DPP.

Finally, I'd avoid the Ranchos for a shock like the Bilstein 5100s. Get the 5100s with the HD valving. They are the best shock going for the money.


JMO

summerfun

Yeah, the new edge juice with attitude has all the gauges you'll need built right into it!

summerfun

It's an auto all right. What kind of upgrades would you suggest for the transmission to support some performance mods?

HOHN

It depends on how far you are going. If you have plans for big power, then a full boogie tranny is what you need, and it will run north of $6K for all the billet goodies.

For mild upgrades, a torque converter and valve body upgrade should suffice. I prefer DTT, but there are other good tranny companies: Suncoast, Goerend, etc will do you right.

A deeper pan (like the uncoated PML or Double Deep Mag-hytec) is always a good idea, as is some kind of aux tranny cooling. I recommend the Tru Cool H7B cooler for the trans-- it's the highest quality (made by dana/spicer).

JMO

wcjp

I never ran Bilstein's. I did like the adjustability of the Rancho's on my 2nd gen. A friend with a 99' also enjoys his Rancho's. www.samsoffroad.com usually has the best price on Rancho's. I think their buy 3, 4th free sale is coming up very soon. I'd also add the Dss. It's a steering brace for the steering box.

I had the Scotty II on my 96'. It cooled EGT's when towing by about 100deg. The Scotty II does increase interior noise when towing. I added the TAG which didn't increase power but did decrease the turbo noise to acceptable levels. This means it made the wife happy.


Tag- http://www.dieselpowerproducts.com/
Dss- http://www.solidsteel.biz/

RowJ

Bret is correct. Your turbo is not the smaller HY-35 that was added to the 01 & 02 autos...so you have some room to play with on cool air.

A good DTT valve body will support up to 350 +/- HP for some time and costs around $400, I believe. It's a place to start!

RJ

KAyers

The most important guage for a 24 valve is a fuel pressure guage, which I don't believe any aftermarket modules feature.

On a 24 valve truck, the FP guage is mandatory.

taken5875

not to knock any one but I have been running a tapped comp for 40,000 miles and my tranny is still here to talk about it probably not for another 40,000 but it is still holding together ok. all I am saying is don't scare the new guy... when I first started reading here you guys had me thinking my tranny was going to get up and walk out the minute I added any power to it maybe Ive been lucky. but on the other hand most of these guys here 99.9* of them are more experianced and more know a heck of a lot more then I do. just my 2 pennys

Ph4tty

J/A has a FP guage

RowJ

Good point..... On the other hand, the scare tactic worked with you
A few yrs back, guys were adding Edge Comps...setting them on 5x5...and slipping torque convertors the second day out! You obviously exercised some caution and worked your way up to what your tranny could take! Also, factory trannys vary greatly...you may have a stronger than average 47RE? Big Blue has been torturing his for 5 yrs and it's still going at 400 HP! Mine had towed heavy and been worked hard...looked old at 3o,ooo miles when I had the DTT rebuild done.

All we're saying, I think, is be aware of possible problems. Because it's been said so often, we are probably saying it too bluntly...so thanks!

RJ

Bart Timothy

Scare tactics!

Contrary to popular thought, the majority of VP44 problems are not necessarily related to fuel pressure issues. The 0216 code can be caused by several different factors, including electrical, and most folks have no idea where their 0216 code came from. A fuel pressure guage is certainly not a life and death type of got-to-have it.