dodgeguy71

I plan on doing a muffler delete for now, the muffler shop said $100 installed but I want the three gauge setup as well. But, the monthly payment is in my hands.....working my bunghole off doing other things besides making money for the owner of the company I work for. What would you guys do first? It's all stock, but I would really like to know what my boost/fuel/pyro are doing, good diagnostics, but also want some noise. So, a) gauges b) exhaust??

I would actually like to go to a 4" turbo back instead of the muffler delete. So do the gauges and save for the exhaust???

Your thoughts......

CarlJensen

Exaust won't do you much good if the engine is slagged!! GAUGES FIRST!!

Ridiculous

exhaust in my opinion. that's what i did first and i love it. i just wanted some noise first. but the guages would be sweet.

just my $0.02

Dusty Ratcliff

I'd do exhaust, never made much sense to pick a bomb that was gonna tell me my truck was runnin hot before a bomb that was gonna cool it down??? but that's just my opinion, Dusty

Eradan

I can see the point, but on the same token, you are going to get more bang for the buck w/ other mods such as a box / plate.

So it really makes more sense (IMHO) to get gauages, then start the bombing, whatever order as SOME people's driving habbits don't get them into the danger zone unless they are towing or showing off. SOOO ... it's pretty much personal preference, but it's like a checking account that you can't ever look at, yeah, you have to throw money in it ... but it's critical that you are able to see the balance, not to mention, it would be nice to know the effect the exhaust makes, if you do the gauages second you'll never know.

Just my .02

coalburner400

...really a catch-22

Depends on where you plan to go with the truck. Some boxes have monitor options/gauge packages that can save money in the long run.

I think a fuel gauge would be a good idea as a first upgrade... but I'm still using an underhood, should practice what I preach.

STACKED

I would go with the gauges, i made the mistake of doing my bombing first and found out later once i got gauges that i had been running on low fuel pressure. if you don't want to get a full set of gauges then atleast get a FP gauge

dodgeguy71

I like the idea of all three gauges, boost/fuel/pyro over just a fuel gauge. You can get a lot of info from having these and I plan on pulling. Most places seem to offer on their three gauge kits boost/pyro/trans. I know I found some on here....somewhere that had a real good price for what I was wanting. Still searching for where I found it...thought I bookmarked it???

Abbynormal

Well, I've just bitten by the modding bug too, but I decided to go with the Exhaust first, just to add a little more fun and maybe help mpg, then do the tranny work, then get guages before I get too tempted to start fueling it up . As long as you have not started messing with additional fuel I really don't see the need for guages yet. My theory was to start solving/pre-empting problems (EGT and Tranny ) before I started creating problems ! Either way you decide it sure won't hurt to get the guages first, but a good exhaust and timing and valve tune up is going to be my first steps. Good Luck !

coalburner400

Sounds like you're gonna want to do the gauges first then... You'll probably save the most with a kit... 99% chance that the kit you get will require - if not included - a 4" exhaust and performance air intake as well.

Better save your nickles... With 1 assistant we have installed all gauges, exhaust, ebrake, and a box in 1 day. Even on a 7.3 ford where we had to remove the entire front end and the turbo (major PITA) compared to the Dodge.

high country

THERE IS NO CONTEST....GUAGES!!!!! I wish I had a buck for every guy that comes on here and starts tossing money at fuel and boxes and big this and more that.......then next week is cryin' cause he just puked a pump. I personally would do the 4" absolutely last. If you are gonna go 4" straight for the sound then go, but if you are thinking it is gonna do something special for your truck....well not unless you are always hooked to a trailer. I see HOT d maxes with stock weenine exhaust all the time, not that it is ok but it must work.

I have a very nice truck set up very well and super clean, if you are going to spend any money on anything other then guages, make sure it addresses the fuel system first. a big line kit w/relo, a pusher, fass, anything is better then nothing. a BHAF is a great buy and worth the cost, but any performance type enhancements might cost you big money if you don't have guages first.

a friend of mine bought a used truck, it ran very hard but showed no sign of a box, he then bought a superchips and guages.....he was red hot with just the programmer, he had a drag comp coming! he could have bought a piston and never knew it, we later realized that truck had 150hp injectors in it.

get guages first!

HOHN

I agree. Gauges all the way.

I still have stock exhaust-- no NEED for 4".

Stock exhaust will support power levels WELL into the danger zone where you should have gauges.

Stock exhaust can support 375 with no real loss of performance or EGT problem. If you have high EGTs, your exhaust is NOT the cause of it.