Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) need advice on which performance box

[MSalvatore]

Hi all,

I am new here and this is my first post. I have an 02 ram ctd w/automatic.

I would like a bit (alot) more power what would be a good starting point? I assume exhaust which one? ,and a perf. box but which one also ? there are alot of them. Any adfvice would be great .





thanks ,

Marc S,

 

[jrandol]

Welcome to the site!! You came to the right place for information and more..... congrats, you are about to get bombitis



I have an 02 Auto like you (see mods below) if I was starting from square 1 again I would do the transmission right off the bat. You'd be amazed how much power you can pull just out of the transmission. If yours is still low miles and in good shape you can probably save some bucks and wont need the whole setup. Then power is your choice from there.



Jeff

 

[TIngram]

first thing you need is gauges, always good to know were you are starting at, then i would go with a comp box from edge because it is adjustable. since you have an automatic you wouldnt want to turn it all the way up, then once you finish your auto upgrades you can turn it on up and play harder, then maybee go with a stff set of injectors.

 

[MSalvatore]

my friend lived in greely, CO. (chris lomonico)my truck has 39k on it. Trans upgrade, Yours is an ATS ,would you say stick with them? I looked at power boxes from bully dog and edge ,is there a big diff. ? in them or is a different one recomended for upgradeability? If I do injectors will I need to do anything along with them? Sorry for all the Q's but I am new to diesels. I own a 4wd store and get banks and bully dog easilly are they good or just for the mass market.



Marc S.

 

[jrandol]

Wow, small world eh? Where do you live?



I think there are a handful of good diesel transmission builders out therre, research the benefit of each and talk to people that have them and make your decision. Personally I really like my ATS setup but I know there are a few other good builders that make a nice transmission too.



The boxes do the same thing and at the same time they dont. Some have timing and fueling, some are just fueling, some are just timing. Each one serves their purpose, just find the one that serves your purpose. On injectors, it really depends on what size you get, 275's work great on a stock truck and no other mod is required (gauges though are a really good idea) Go bigger than that and you will need a boost fooler and a way to open up that HY-35 to let a little more boost come in, at that point gauges are a must.



Bully Dog is good stuff in my opinion, Banks... . well some guys like it.

Hope this helps a little.



Jeff

 

[Casey Ray]

Which Box?

Marc,



I have an EZ on my '02, nice bang for the $. However you can get an Edge Comp for a little bit more and not connect the pump wire, the Comp will then perform like the EZ and if you get bit by the bomb bug, once you address your transmission, you can hook up the pump wire. If you don't plan on ever connecting the pump wire, save the $ for something else for your truck.



There are a bunch of boxes out there that are rebadged Edge EZ's. It all depends on what you have planned for your truck, do searchs on " EZ*" or, "injector" or, "comp" "Raptor" "Power Puck" lots of reading, can maybe save you a few $ by doing it right the first time, but as jrandol mentioned, get your transmission upgraded. I ran the EZ without any upgrades for over a year, towing my trailer, with no problems. If you plan on going more than an EZ or such, the transmission upgrade would be a wish decision.



Welcome to the TDR, you will learn alot about the potential of your truck, as they say "Bombing is a slippery slope" Good luck!



Casey

 

[TIngram]

Marc,

if you put in injectors you dont necisarilly have to run a box i ran 275s for a long time without a problem they are a good upgrade if you are looking for good fuel milage, i am going to change to a stiffer injector i just dont know what yet. it is cheaper to determine now what hp range you want to be in and then buy the necessary parts that will put you there. that way you wont have to spend money on parts you will not need later.

tad ingram

 

[RustyJC]

If I were planning to do injectors AND a box, I would ensure they were designed to work with each other. Let me cite my own situation to illustrate this.



If you check my signature, I added the Edge EZ first and ran for 2 years towing our 5th wheel RV. Within the last month or so, I added the Diesel Dynamics Stage 2 injectors.



The Edge EZ is programmed to optimize performance with stock injectors, and it does a fine job. Diesel Dynamics, however, sells a version of the Edge EZ that has programming optimized for their larger injectors. The DD version has less timing advance, and it has a "timing/no additional fueling" setting to minimize smoke - the Edge EZ does not have this setting.



If you choose to purchase the Edge Comp-type box, Diesel Dynamics also sells its own version of this box with their specific programming.



Moral of this story - plan ahead! And by all means, get gauges before you start down the BOMBing path!



Rusty

 

[MSalvatore]

Thanks,

I would like around 350 rwhp I am more concerned with towing my jeeps.

I f any of you are familiar with rt80 through pocons. I would like more power to tow. So should I do a box and injectors together?





Marc S.

 

[MPBerk]

Box, injectors..etc..etc

Marc,

Welcome to the finest club of diesel owners on the planet. All are correct. Rusty and TIngram said it best "by all means, get gauges before you start down the BOMBing path!" and "first thing you need is gauges". And I will tell you again, get some gauges first. A helpful hint that was given to me... Your bomb threshold is dependent upon your reality of the expectations of your trucks abilities and longevity... . and your checkbook . You are starting right, ask lots of questions and confirm... . one wrong bomb could cost ya... :--)



Have fun and enjoy!



Mark

 

[RustyJC]

You could get darned close to that with the EZ-type box (or Comp-type without tapping the pump wire) and DD2's. One thing to consider, though, is that your automatic has a smaller HY-35/9 turbocharger. I don't have any EGT problems with my setup, but my truck has the larger HX-35/12 turbo. Maybe some guys with your setup and the EZ/DD2 combo will come along and comment.



Rusty

 

[c-hawk]

With my comp box on level 1 (ez power level) i can't get egt's over 1100 -1150. I still have the stock hy35 with a turnbuckle on the wastegate. If i turn the box up to the higher settings, egt's get high and do it quick.



One other thing. If your looking to get close to 350rwhp, you are definitely going to need a transmission. Unless you have a freak stock transmission, i don't think there is anyway it would hold an ez and injector, even if it was just 275's. Especially not towing. I think for what your looking for, I would definitely address the transmission first. I love my DTT. , but there are lots of choices and opinions on transmission's. The get your injectors. One other thing. I would reccomend getting the comp box over the ez. That way when (not if) you decide it's time for even more power, you can hook up the pump wire.



Good luck,

CHris

 

[pwr2tow]

Like most have said,, Gauges, gauges, gauges first.



If you are going over 260 RWHP you will without any doubt need transmission upgrades if you want your transmission to live long. Some have stated they have gone over the 260 RWHP mark while towing but ultimately they have had to do transmission upgrades. I can think of several guys right off hand but I will not mention their names, they can do that if they want.



If your looking for 350 Hp see my signature. By all means though you really do not need more than 270-300 RWHP for good towing performance. I rarely tow with more power than 300 RWHP and that is with the max weights in my signature. The truck will tow fine in moderate grades in OD at that Hp with 23,680 combined weight in tow. Going up steep grades I can always down shift to 3rd gear lockup and there is nothing so far that has slowed me down.



This is the order in which I would do it

1. gauges

2. transmission upgrade

3. injector upgrade

4. fueling box

5. 4" exhaust

6. better flowing air filter



Some would put the exhaust and air filter on before the fueling box or step #4, I have not seen any time I needed either one to keep E. G. T. 's in check as long as I do not run over 300 Hp.





P. S. I and alot of other people prefer a transmission that tows heavy weights up hill in O. D. to keep the transmission temperatures down and plants all the HP to the ground instead of being lost because it is not in lockup. Lockup is like a manual transmission, 100% power to the ground. Non lockup is spinning fluid around wasteing Hp and not putting it to the ground. Fluid coupleing is fluid coupling, it is not lockup and it is not putting 100% Hp to the ground. Do your home work, some transmissions do one thing and others do something else, but they are all designed basically the same way, they all incorporate better fluid coupleing than stock and most use the same ratio of fluid coupleing. The manufactures just change the perimeters in the way they do it.



Ron

 

[Big-D]

ronsram1999,



Nice post. Can you list the mods you have made by name? I have the very same truck with the except of 4X2 and tow often enough to do upgrades to the engine. The transmission was done a few years back by Bill K. and works great. My thougts are DDII's with Edge EZ. Any feelings or comments on this setup?



I am installing a pusher pump next to the tank this weekend.

Thanks.

Dave

 

[RowJ]

Marc

Gauges are nice to give you a base line-allow you to see results of future changes.

If in a hurry - Box first. Edge EZ or Edge Comp (if you don't mind adding on inside cab.

I would do transmission first but you can survive with box only for a while.

For transmission, I think DTT is best by far-and expensive. See dieseltrans.com

I love my set up (see below). I don't tow but haul at 9000 lb often. Lots of Power under all conditions.

Starting at web site mentioned above will give you lots of starting info.

Do your homework to find what's right for you-and Enjoy! Good Luck!

 

[pwr2tow]

Dave,

If you have a 99 you might get by with the DD 2's and an EZ without running into E. G. T. problems but you would be on the edge. Your truck is rated at 215 Hp while the newer trucks are rated at 235 and the 235 Hp trucks would more than likely run into E. G. T. problems especially pulling in the mountains unless you do something with the exhaust and better flowing air filter.



Glad to hear you upgraded the transmission before adding the Hp. If after you add more power and the transmission does not shift the way you want it to just call the original installer and they can advise you on what to do, it is an easy cure. They can also advise you on how much Hp you can go to for what you use the truck for.



Edge comp

stage 1 injectors

isspro gauges

www.bd-power.com transmission



I like the idea of bigger injectors first because it is easier on the injection pump and then secondly a fueling box. For towing I do not like too big of an injector due to smoke and EGT getting out of control. The stage 2's and a comp box would work nice together as it has the boost fooler built in and you can turn the box off to keep EGT's down and still have use of the boost fooler, of course other boxes that have a boost fooler would do the same but with the comp you can turn off the fueling from inside the cab but with the ez you have to do it manually from under the hood.

 

[TractorNut]

Check out this chart...

Chart

 

[Big-D]

ronsram1999,



You have most of what I desire in my truck, but I'm on the fence regarding the purchase of an EZ or Comp box. My plan is the II's with a box and 4" exhaust shortly behind those two items. If I'm going to hook up the pump wire why bother with the comp?



My four gauge's have been installed since the transmission modification, so I have a good baseline to determine what is happening during heavy mountain tows and big demands. My stock horsepower is only 170 at the wheels and my turbo, although stock is still larger than the new versions. Thus my thinking the DD II's will work just fine coupled with the proper box.



My Carter pusher pump came in today from NAPA and I hope to install it this weekend. I will look into the Stanadyne fuel filter (80 gph capacity) prior to install with the thoughts of removing my OEM filter completely. Never liked the location of the stock filter and feel having one near the fuel tank along the frame rail would make for easy changing as well. After an inspection for routing of the fuel line to VP44 and info on the Stanadyne, I'll finish making up my mind. I know of a couple of guys who are running both pumps and I may just to that for awhile also. Do you know of anyone who relocated the stock filter to the frame rail near the fuel tank?

Dave

 

[pwr2tow]

Your question of why the comp if not going to hook up the pump wire?



The only thing I can think of is about the same as everyone has advised others, once you have power you always want more. For a few bucks more (unless you can find a good deal on a used EZ) you can install the comp and then when the urge arises for more power you can hook up the pump wire. Another thing is in cab adjustability which the EZ does not have, for smoke control or when you want the extra fueling to come in.



There are a few members that have moved there fuel filters down by the fuel tank, just start another thread asking how they have done it or do a search. The only thing I can think of that would be a disadvantage about doing this would be fuel gelling in cold climates unless you could use the filter heater some how which I think a few have done.



Ron