Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) looking for advice

[rugerblast]

Im looking for some advice on upgrades on my 01.

She has been rotting in my driveway for a couple of years. Having newer trucks as daily driver company vehicles I finally decided to get the body restored, now its time for performance goodies.
Im thinking maybe a edge juice with CTS monitor, 75HP injectors, fass or air dog? i haven't kept up with up grade options for a couple of years as I was concentrating on building my business. Does any one have suggestions?
I may be crazy wanting to upgrade a 01 but I love the noise and violence of these trucks. I love my 12 but hate the pollution stupidity on it and the lack of noise just dosen't bring that grin to my face like the old 24V.

thanks in advance for any advice on performance upgrades. I would also love opinions on steering and break upgrades. the old girl never really tracked right no matter how many alignments i gave it.

Thanks

 

[samsonite01]

Love my 01. My boss says it sounds like a school bus. I says it sounds like a mans truck. He owns a prettyboy dirtymax he would know anything about what a diesel should be. Needless to say he received some smoke after that.

Upgrade it all. I have the edge JWA and love it. Easy to install. Easy to use. Makes hudge difference from stock even on level 1! Injectors are cheaper for the 24v so get em. Turbo is preference, and usually injectors should be chosen it complement turbo or vice versa. Most important is to upgrade fuel system and transmission. Lift pump relo/big line kit is a must along with a fuel psi gauge. You should ask your self what you intend on using the truck for. Im going with the mach 4 injectors and a fleece 63mm turbo (aka cheetah). This will setup will keep truck drivable and reliable.

 

[Bob4x4]

Love my 01. My boss says it sounds like a school bus. I says it sounds like a mans truck. He owns a prettyboy dirtymax he would know anything about what a diesel should be. Needless to say he received some smoke after that.

Upgrade it all. I have the edge JWA and love it. Easy to install. Easy to use. Makes hudge difference from stock even on level 1! Injectors are cheaper for the 24v so get em. Turbo is preference, and usually injectors should be chosen it complement turbo or vice versa. Most important is to upgrade fuel system and transmission. Lift pump relo/big line kit is a must along with a fuel psi gauge. You should ask your self what you intend on using the truck for. Im going with the mach 4 injectors and a fleece 63mm turbo (aka cheetah). This will setup will keep truck drivable and reliable.

..........................and fail the Cali smog test

 

[Bob4x4]

The 98-02 24 valves make great daily drivers /rv tow rigs at the 300hp level,above that the price goes way up and will take considerable time and work every 2 years for a smog test

 

[Doubleclutch]

and fail the Cali smog test

And it's not just Cali anymore! Sure had me sweating strawberries every time that came up! New truck, and stock. Happy sleeping! <G>

 

[rugerblast]

I'm actually in Quebec Canada so we don't have a smog inspection.
I want to up the power a little higher than my 12 work truck. The 01 is just going to be a toy. If I need it for material runs one I a blue mood who cares. I would just like to wake it up, make it able to push me back in the set a little and tighten up the sloppy steering.

I'm leaning towards a edge and injectors. Is changing the turbo really work it?

Any one know a good mail-order store in Canada?

 

[rugerblast]

I'm actually in Quebec Canada so we don't have a smog inspection.
I want to up the power a little higher than my 12 work truck. The 01 is just going to be a toy. If I need it for material runs one I a blue mood who cares. I would just like to wake it up, make it able to push me back in the set a little and tighten up the sloppy steering.

I'm leaning towards a edge and injectors. Is changing the turbo really work it?

Any one know a good mail-order store in Canada?

 

[NIsaacs]

Any one know a good mail-order store in Canada?

BD Power is in BC and will have anything you want.

I like how the Edge Juice w/attitude works with RV injectors and my stock turbo, HX35. Do you have an auto or standard? I can tow hard on level 4, 34 psi boost and 1350 degrees pre, 1000 degrees post as long as I stay between 1700-2200. Any higher or lower and EGT's will climb in a sustained pull. Short burst's are fine even on level 5. I only play empty with level 6 (Hot Unlock).

I haul with my brother-in-law to the truck pulls towing the same weight and his '12 will fade in the background on a 6% pull and gets 3 mpg less.

Nick

 

[samsonite01]

Yes smog in cali sucks. I play the cali smog game every 2 years. Funny how most of the engine upgrades help run lower emissons than stock. With my tuner pumped up i see better fuel milage granted i can blow a little smoke. With great power comes great resposibility! The truck falls on its face tryin to pull a 5k load without the tuner.

If just a little power is all your after then start with the edge. Thats how i started....then i got the bug! The 24v is much cheaper to upgrade than the 3rd gens and way cheaper than ford and chevy. I have stock turbo and injectors and she hauls balls with just the tuner and other things in my sig. Night and day difference. I wouldnt do only injectors. Injectors and turbos should be done at same time. Over fueled under spooled leads to high egts. You could get away with some 25 or 50hp injectors but waste of money in my opinion. That money would be better spent on a big air filter and 4in turbo back exaust. Those items with the tuner will work well and need to be done first anyway. Then do injectors and turbo if you want more. AND you will...you have the bug!

Seriosly need trans work done to handle just the power of tuner. Better clutch if manual or full build auto. Cant stress that enough! As i said before lift pump relo/big line kit a must as well. Got to keep that vp44 happy! I put a trans temp gauge and fuel psi gauge in along with my edge cts. The readings for those on the cts are inaccurate. If upgrading turbo, head bolts are good insurance. Cummin stock head bolts clamping force is good up to 30 psi. After that your gambling. Lotts of guys go over that, i dont recommend. Clamp that wastegate shut and tune the tuner to back down around 30psi. I have mine clamped shut and can reach as high as 35psi. I even seen 40psi on some hot runs.

Conc. Get big air filter, exaust, tuner, fuel upgrade, trans upgrade to start with. Truck will wake up good and drive very nice.

 

[klcammie]

On my 01 I put a BHAF RV 275 injectors boost elbow and boost fooler. Great setup and not that much money. Set boost to 28 lbs the EGT stays under 1300 pre trubo. Unloaded and foot off throttle 17mpg daily driver 14.5 pulling my 6k 30 ft TT.

 

[rugerblast]

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate the advice.
It has a auto trany so I fully expect to have it replaced in the near future. It's not a daily driver so I figure I will just run it to failure then get a built one. I already have a AFE air raid.
So I think I'm in the market for a edge juice cts, air dog or FASS with the line replacement kit and some 75 hp injectors. If a new turbo becomes nesassary I will cross that bridge when I get there.

Has any one tried the bogen steering boxes and shafts? Does any one have improvements for breaks, brembo doesn't seem to like our trucks.
Thanks again for the help!

 

[samsonite01]

Steering is a whole nother beast. You have to do your own research on that. Start with 3rd gen brake upgrage and 2010 hd steering upgrade. Borgenson makes good box brace. There are culum upgrades as well. If your truck has many miles on it, replace the upper and lower ball joints. While your ther inspect wheel bearings. Call me crazy but i would replace inner and outter diff seals on long shaft side (center dissconnect side) while i have it apart. Call me crazyer but i would have the whole freakin axle assembly out for a complete overhaule. Then agian i love wrenchin on my sh#!. Dont ask me to wrench on yours! I also belive in doin stuff right the first time and i have the experiece and proper space to do so.

 

[JR]

If your Trans is stock it will not handle many power upgrades especially if it has any miles on it.

If you don't want to be stranded on the side of the road the supporting mods must be done first. Upgraded trans/TC, Lift pump, fuel pressure gauge, Trans temp, pyro, boost. I'd go with a Smarty over an Edge hands down. They fuel harder down low which is where you need the power for towing and everyday driving and they have proven to be more reliable over the years. As Edge programmers age problems develop with the sensors and harnesses, Smarty is downloaded into the OBD port. Nothing to deteoriate or suffer the effects of heat cycles and weather. I've had mine over the span of 2 trucks and about 250k miles and not one problem. If you are looking to get a programmer/monitor combo check out the Smarty touch. Aside from the tuning capabilities and gauges it has the ability to read diagnostic codes, adjust the abs sensor to correct the speedometer for larger tire sizes, and enables the high idle/ 3 cylinder idle if it hasn't been programmed into your ecm.

I'd have one in my truck if I didn't already have an S03 and all the gauges I need.

http://madselectronics.com/SmartyTouch.html

 

[rugerblast]

Thanks JR the smarty looks good. I'm not sure if it has the ability to adjust on the fly like the Edge. What do you use for a lift pump replacement?
I completely agree about the TC and the Trans. Like I said it's not a daily driver and I think it would be immature fun to.see how long it takes to fail.

 

[JR]

No adjust on the fly capabilities for the 2nd gens. It is honestly a non issue to me, in all the years of owning a Smarty Ive never had the need/desire to tune on the fly. I played with it a little when i first got it but once I found a tune I liked Ive not had the desire to change it.

Following the MADS (Smarty) website they've been promising something big in terms of performance tunes for the 2nd gen trucks for a while so hopefully we will see something in the near future. Whatever they come out with will supposedly be free to current Smarty owners in the form of a software update to their tuner.

I've got an Air Dog 100 but only because the base was given to me and I used the motor off of a Raptor to make a Frankenstein pump. I've got lots of spare parts to boot so I'll likely have it for some time to come. Their reliability has not been good at all the last few years so if I was to buy something new it would probably be a FASS or a Fuel Lab pump. The Fuel Labs are the only pump I'm aware of on the market that has a brushless motor which has always been a weak link on the Air Dogs. The only draw back with them is the last I checked their systems only come with a water seperator filter which would leave me with having to buy a separate filtration system to maintain 3-5 micron filtration. I know some will say the injectors on a 24 valve engine don't need that fine of filtration and they probably don't but I'm more concerned about my VP. The more filters the fuel has to run through the less chance of contaminants and water making it through the system.