New Guy, first Dodge, been reading but have questions

[Northfork]

Hi,

I am new to the Dodge Cummins but not new to diesel pickups. I just bought the truck in my sig, an 07 Quad Cab 3500 Dually 4x4 5.9 six speed long bed dually. This was a garage stored one owner truck, had less than 40k on it when we made the purchase. We have a 35 ft. fifth wheel that this will be the tow vehicle for. I've read up on it for the past week or two and have
purchased and installed a Baldwin FP7977 fuel filter and will add additional filtration soon. Have Mobil Delvac 50 enroute for the transmission. I removed a basic gooseneck and, with some help, installed the B&W turnover ball and a Companion 5'er hitch. I've also installed a set of Pillar gauges, Pyro, boost and fuel pressure.
I have a Jake Brake enroute.
At this point I have gone through my "allowance" for the next month (and then some), but am researching Cat-Back exhaust systems. I am stuck in California, (at least it is Northern California) so the Cat must stay, but I would like to add a stainless Cat back. I am just as interested in what NOT to buy as what works, I don't plan on massive mods to the engine, and don't want a straight pipe deal, just a nice sounding system with no drone.
Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[lpennock]

Save some money and do a muffler delete pipe with a FTE resonator right at the CAT outlet. You could skip the FTE but you will probably have drone starting at 2000-2200 which is right at your towing rpm.

 

[6speed]

I see you have the manual trans. Word of advice, DO NOT tow in 6th, it will get way to hot. I was amazed that that I saw 235 and up. I installed a Gear Vendors so that I
could use 5th and overdrive it. I also installed numerous gauges and that was one of them. With the trans in 5th and in overdrive I am at about 68-70 mph and 2100-2200
rpms and it does just fine.

 

[Motorhead]

You have, in my opinion, one of the best pre DPF trucks. I would caution you about putting a noisier exhaust on it especially when towing. You will not like the noise. I have the identical truck but mine is a short bed. I have towed with mine and used 6th gear with no problems. I DO have the Delvac 50 in my G56 with a extra quart. The only thing you need to watch in 6th gear is to not try to head up every hill wide open it 6th. I watch my boost gauge and when my boost gets to 15-18 psi pulling a long grade, I back out and put it in fifth gear. Fifth is DIRECT meaning the trans is locked 1 to 1 with engine speed. You can apply all the power your stock engine has to pull the hill. ONE Very good modification that I will HIGHLY recommend for your 5.9 is having your stock turbo modified by Turbo Resource in Lake Havasu AZ. http://www.turboresource.com/ Tom does a light modification by keeping the stock compressor wheel and modifying the exhaust turbine housing to accept the 6.7 stock Holset turbine wheel. I did this on my 5.9 and the towing difference was unbelievable! NO MORE over temperature EGT issues and better power. It has a slightly noisier exhaust note, even with my stock exhaust. If you DON'T have an EGT gauge, I would highly recommend it especially for towing. I have a SPA Tecnique EGT/Boost combo digital gauge and the egt probe is mounted pre-turbo.

 

[Northfork]

Thanks for the info guys.

Motorhead I appreciate that info on 6th gear, and the Delvac will go in as soon as it arrives. I am good friends with a good friend of Tom's and will look into that mod next spring. You are not the first person to suggest it. Already have EGT, this is my first Dodge but not my first diesel.
Thanks for the towing tips, this is a different animal than my old truck.

 

[RVTRKN]

Check into my trans cooler I developed, my trans never gets over 180* now. Heat will soften the cast aluminum, and pulling your 5ver will heat a G56 up regardless what gear your in.

 

[Motorhead]

Northfork, Look on your drivers door and see what month your truck was built. On the advice of members here, I was able to find a LATE December 2006 built 5.9, G56. The last couple of weeks of December 2006, they ran out of the early G56 and they installed the later G56 that was set up for the 6.7 engine that came out Jan 2007. If you have the early G56, you will actually benefit from a towing standpoint because you will have the .79, 6th gear and not the .74 that I have. A previous post suggesting the Gear Vendor OD really wouldn't help you other than your 6 speed would be in 5th (direct) and the Gear Vendor would be your .78 OD. One MAJOR drawback to the GV OD unit is that it cannot be used with an exhaust brake while it is in the OD mode. They are not built to hold deceleration loads. If you have the early, .79, 6th then you will also have less gap in gearing between 5th and 6th. My 5th wheel weighs in loaded at about 10,000 pounds. Driving in Calif with 55 mph speed limit is not real easy for me to be in 6th. I have to drive about 62-63 mph to be comfortable in 6th. Get out of state where the towing speed limits are the same as cars then I can run 65-70 real easy.
Another mod that has been worth every penny for us G56 towers was putting the free spin hubs on the front axle. The greatest asset of the hubs other than disconnecting the front differential and driveline from spinning all the time is having the ability to put my truck in 4wd low range, with the front hubs disconnected and to have 2wd LOW range for trailer parking and positioning. I can practically idle in reverse and slowly move my 5th wheel around without slipping the clutch. PM me if I can be of any help and I will give you my phone contact number

 

[CToney]

I would suggest a smarty Jr. to program your truck. With the modded stock turbo you will really like it. A modded stock air box and a Cool Hose helps too. The dual mass flywheel can be problematic on the G56. If it starts to act up change it. Enjoy your ride.

 

[Northfork]

CToney thanks. I plan to enjoy it! As I am stuck in California where the smog stuff is very restrictive I may look at a Smarty later on... I also need to find a stock airbox to fiddle with and retain mine sa is.

Motorhead I replied again to your PM...please look at my ?

The build date on the truck is 8-06, so it appears I have the closer ratio G56. I am going to hook it up to the 5th wheel today. I am hoping I will be able to relocate the axles back to their original location, my prior truck needed them flipped to level everything out.

 

[RVTRKN]

EFILive is available for your truck as well, its like night and day with my 07 C&C 6.7. You can also install a switch that will give you 5 different tunes you can change on the fly. It works well with my Smog intact and I'm in Comifornia as well. You can also data log with most parameters, however have an experienced tuner tune it for you.

 

[gapayne]

MBRP Exhaust

Regarding your exhaust question, I have the MBRP stainless exhaust and I love it. I have the cat-back version and am very happy with the sound and do not find it annoying at all. Although I occasionally tow my RV, my trailer's gross weight is about 4800 lbs, so my truck almost never has to work very hard. .

I have one comment to share. I had my mechanic install it for me. .Before he retired a few years ago, he ran a small local, old style, shop and generally did great work. For some reason installing the very snug fitting exhaust tip befuddled him and there were no instructions included with the kit, so he slotted the end and used a clamp. It looks much better if the end is heated to enlarge it a bit, until it will slip over the end of the pipe. When it cools it will clamp very snugly. Being stainless any discoloration from the heating can be removed easily.

 

[Northfork]

Thanks for all the feedback, I still like the sound of an engine enough that I will probably do the exhaust at some point. I ordered the Geno's Trans cooler and have the Delvac. When this next
storm leaves I will do that swap and then the next step is improving fuel filtration, Leaning towards the GDP deal that bolts under the air horn. Want to do that before we hook up and take off with the 5'er. My wife has 4 weeks of vacation coming and I think we are going to head south for two of them. No real itinerary, just go.

I am leaning towards a Smarty Jr next summer. I have to admit I know next to nothing about EFI Live as it relates to the Cummins.. I used DPtuner for my Ford for years, had it live-tuned a few years ago but it, being a 1997, was smog exempt. I have some catching up to do.

 

[Motorhead]

I have the Glacier diesel optional fuel filtration put on my truck early on. The filters on them only need to be changed out every 30,000 miles or more. I have a primary fuel pressure sender after both filters so I can read when the secondary filter is needing to be changed. The PRIMARY, the one the truck came with should be changed no longer than 15,000 miles.
I can take some pictures of my install if you need some.

 

[jgillott]

Here's the GDP filter as mentioned above.

 

[Northfork]

Motorhead if you could send me info on that dual sender setup I would appreciate it. I have the sender in the bottom of the factory filter housing now. I have been looking at the Glacier set up and like it but will need to call him as we are going to install a Jacobs Brake on it next week, it appears the pump for the Jake requires a different filter mount.
Jgilllot thanks for that pic!

Very thankful for all the support here...

 

[Motorhead]

Northfork, If you already have a sending unit in the STOCK filter then I would cap it off and move the sender to the outlet side of the Glacier filter. I have the digital SPA Technique DUAL gauge set up.
http://www.spatechnique.com/store/itemDetail.cfm?prodID=608&catID=27 - http://www.spatechnique.com/store/itemDetail.cfm?prodID=746&catID=27 This is the extra sender.
It reads EGT and BOOST. I had an extra pressure sender and used it at the outlet of the Glacier filter. I ran the wiring from the fuel pressure sender to a mini, ON-ON toggle switch. The boost side of the dual gauge hooked to the center terminal of the mini toggle and each sender hooked to one of the two outer terminals of the mini toggle switch. I mounted the mini toggle on the pillar post cover next to the gauge. With the switch flipped forward, I am measuring boost. When I flip the switch back toward me in the seat, I am reading primary fuel pressure. Even though the gauge face reads BOOST, it is just a simple pressure gauge. I'll post some pictures tomorrow of my set-up. I've been on the run all day and the old body is dragging. I know you are going with the Jake Brake.... I do think you would be happier with the PRXB Pacbrake.... Just say'in.