bighogleg dodge

i have a 98.5 2500 with the 24v and 5 speed that is completely stock except for a boost gauge i just installed and a fuel pressure gauge that is coming in wednesday. to clarify what i am looking to do i should say that this truck is an everyday driver and i dont haul anything heavy on a regular basis so im not currently looking for huge hp gains although i plan on it one day. im looking to finely tune what i have and maybe do a little additional addons to make driving a little more fun for now until i go all out on this thing. any suggestions other than what i have asked about are welcomed. i am completely new to diesel upgrading and dont know all of the things i can change on this rig.

i talked to a guy from around where i bought the truck and he said there were things that could be tweaked on my truck that would give me a couple extra horses but more importantly help with gas milage and i wouldnt have to upgrade anything. is this true and if it is what do i have to tweak?

i am only registering about 7 psi boost when i am cruising on level interstate and when i punch it i get about 17. is that lower than it shoud be. if that is how it is supposed to be stock i read on another post that some guys are turning thier turbos up to 45 psi or so on a "stock " motor. i am wanting to turn mine up but not that much. i dont want more than 30. is that too much for a truely stock motor? and how do i turn the turbo up? i was told that there is a screw under a sticker that says "do not remove" that i can turn to up the boost. i have also heard about stopping up the wastegate tube comming off the turbo will help get the boost up as well althouth the guy that suggested that will suggest anything without any proof of whether it works or not or could even be bad for the motor. i just dont want to hurt my motor or cut down drastically on its life.

IronHorse

There's not really anything you can "tweak" on a stock 24V motor. Everything is electronic and you'll have to look into boxes like an Edge EZ to increase timing, or a TST Powermax to add fuel.

The best bang for your buck is probably an in-cab adjustable Edge Comp box. It adds both timing and fuel. It comes with a boost elbow that will let your turbo hit around 32psi. If you get too crazy, you're gonna need a clutch upgrade. And you've gotta get a pyrometer if you're gonna start adding fuel to be safe.

On the turbo, I promise you that no one is getting 45psi out of a stock Cummins. Your wastegate is set around 20psi on your turbo, and if you're only hitting 17psi, you probably won't see much of a gain by messing with the wastegate. Extra boost won't give you any more power anyway. The stock HX35 turbos are efficient up to about 32psi and safe to around 35psi. It usually takes a pretty good size injector and a timing/fueling box to get up to around 32-35psi.

Oh, and listen to some good advice and don't go and drop $400 on a fancy air intake. They do nothing to stock engines. Put your money elsewhere. The stock drop-in filter unit will do fine for most power levels.

Good luck!