Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) What is the best power mod... I can make

[ob1kobi]

I would suggest an Edge box or a Catcher ECM as the first mods. Until you know how far your going to go, I wouldn't put money into a transmission yet.

 

[Hohn]

I would suggest an Edge box or a Catcher ECM as the first mods. Until you know how far your going to go, I wouldn't put money into a transmission yet.

Wouldn't the ECM alone be enough to nuke the transmission?

 

[ob1kobi]

You might be right Justin, but so would the Comp. No matter what he does he would need to adjust his driving technique just to be safe. My opinion is that a Comp would probably be best, so that he could turn it off, but thats just my opinion. I don't have any experience with any of the other boxes.

 

[DWest]

Stock trany

I've posted this before in answer to similar post, the stock transmission was not available behind the HO engine. Only ten more horsepower and twenty foot pounds of torque. They were admitting their stock trany was at the very limit of its power range in the standard output engine. In other words they would be open to massive transmission failures under heavy use, which is what most people buy a heavy duty diesel truck for. I know most people want to get to the high horsepower mods first, but it is only a matter of time before big trouble comes a knockin. DW

 

[blackram99]

Thanks for all of the replies... ... Sorry I did'nt get back too you all sooner... We have had a death in the family and have'nt been on here till now..... I bought my truck back in 2001 it had only 31,610 mile's on it with 1 owner... . It is an automatic transmission ( which was completly rebuilt when I bought it) I had to wait till it was rebuilt before I could bring it home, I bought it from a dealer, but I called the man who owned it before and he told me there has never been any mods done to it, all he had done to it was normal maintance oil filter etc... . I love the truck just wanted to get alittle extra power on the hill's when pulling my boat or when I pulling a utility trailer loaded with quads and bikes..... thanks..... sorry again for the late reply back

 

[Mad Bomber]

Sorry for your loss.



On the 99's the injection pumps tend to be a little weaker if you tap the pump it has a bigger chance of going south right away.

 

[klaybus]

Adding ANY power mods to a stock auto is playing "Russian Roulette" IMHO! At 89k miles my stock transmission went South with absolutely no mods. I've since went with DTT & have no trans worries. If I were in your shoes & wanted more power with the stock transmission I would SERIOUSLY look at a used EZ & adjust it to the lowest setting. My brother in law added just an EZ & his trans was showing significant wear in less than 15k miles when he had it broke down for the DTT upgrade.

FWIW, maybe a used set of 275's or just an EZ for the small increase in power your looking for. Don't do BOTH or your really be begging for problems. Just my humble opinion from a JR. Bomber.



Clay

 

[Hohn]

This is the single biggest reason that i opted for the 6-speed. Not because I wanted the HO engine, so much. It was because I would have to spend mega $$ before I could Bomb anything more than just some mild hop ups.



With the 5600, just bomb it till the clutch dies, then put in a South Bend and you're done. Doesn't get much better than that, transmission-wise.



jh

 

[klaybus]

Yep.....

If I had bought new that was my plan! I bought used though, saved bout $17k only paying $18k allowing me to spend the $4k on my trans. As a daily driver commuting through Seattle traffic I'm glad I bought the auto trans though..... Now if I had the 4. 10s I would have it all!



Clay

 

[R-N-R]

I definitely agree with the gauges then trans approach. This is by far the most expensive single piece of equipment that I have added to date, but it certainly has provided the most bang for my buck as well.



I suspect the hard part is that people need to build belief via incremental small expense (relatively speaking) upgrades before they commit to putting down the $$ for a trans upgrade. Unfortunately the trans is not perceived to be nearly as "cool" as changing the exhaust or the air intake. And of course it does not take long to figure out that a lot of fun can be attained with new sticks and a turbo.

 

[klaybus]

My order of power upgrades

Here's the upgrade approach I took following the advice of others.

1st Guages. . A-Pillar & Fuel Pressure in the cubby

2nd DTT Transmission

3rd Edge EZ

4th DD II Injectors

5th Rips 4" Exhaust

6th PG7 Intake & Filter

7th Upgraded my fuel lines & got rid of the banjo bolts



After pulling our 5vr & fighting EGT issues I downgraded to 275s. I'm running 3. 5s & 285 tires & that put me too high geared for pulling our 5vr over the passes FWIW.



Clay :-laf

 

[blackram99]

Thank you all for your help, right now I'm leaning more towards the transmission upgrades right now and going to see what that does then I will go from there, I dont want to break any speed records or anything like that, like I said before I just would like to have alittle more power on the hills. We took the boat out today and it seemed to do well on one hill then the next one that's not much different it lugs, kind of has me thinking it has an attitude of it's owne. "One other thing" it seems like it doesn't matter after a certain weight it pulls the same speed wether it is my 575lb utility trailer empty, or my 5200lb boat, dont get me wrong there is ailttle difference but not much, I have 4:10 gears and I'm thinking that has something to do with it(maybe I'm wrong) Seems like over drive isn't enough and shutting it off is to much have to back out of the throttle to keep the rpm's down, seems like a no win situation... ... I dont know if that helps anyone to understand what I mean or not..... thanks for all the help and I will check back later on to read any replies that I may get... ... Thanks again you have all been GREAT!!!!!!..... Don

 

[JoshPeters]

Thank you all for your help, right now I'm leaning more towards the transmission upgrades right now and going to see what that does then I will go from there, I dont want to break any speed records or anything like that, like I said before I just would like to have alittle more power on the hills. We took the boat out today and it seemed to do well on one hill then the next one that's not much different it lugs, kind of has me thinking it has an attitude of it's owne. "One other thing" it seems like it doesn't matter after a certain weight it pulls the same speed wether it is my 575lb utility trailer empty, or my 5200lb boat, dont get me wrong there is ailttle difference but not much, I have 4:10 gears and I'm thinking that has something to do with it(maybe I'm wrong) Seems like over drive isn't enough and shutting it off is to much have to back out of the throttle to keep the rpm's down, seems like a no win situation... ... I dont know if that helps anyone to understand what I mean or not..... thanks for all the help and I will check back later on to read any replies that I may get... ... Thanks again you have all been GREAT!!!!!!..... Don

Honestly... . It sounds like on one hill your Torque converter clutch is NOT holding... giving you more RPM... . then the next hill... . it is holding and you are at a "lugging" RPM. If your looking for just a small seat of the pants help... an Edge EZ is pretty cheep. Watch the TDR classifieds for one... they seem to pop up there alot... :-laf :-laf



Josh

 

[Todd T]

I'm gonna show my tail-side here so hang on!



first i'll guarantee his convertor is not slipping, its just unlocking because he is into the throttle so far trying to pull the hill. when it unlocks it allows him a few hundred more RPM's if he stayed in it and speed continued to drop the next thing to happen would be a downshift.



Next and most important, at highway speeds the convertor is locked. PERIOD! (reads; taking the transmission out of the equation) so if its locked then it dont matter if he spent 15K on the best of the best transmission mods its his engine's shortcoming that is pulling his speeds down and not getting him up the hills. the transmission is just trying to compensate and unlocking and/or downshifting.



if he had more power he could climb the hills with LESS throttle pressure keeping the transmission locked up and make the hill due to having enough power and without unlocking the convertor or downshifting.



Now I agree, its a double edged sword. because once he gets too much power (60-90hp over stock) he will begin to pull through the convertor clutch and THEN it will begin to slip. for now, the guy just needs a few more Horespower. GEEEZZZ.

 

[ob1kobi]

The purpose of this thread was to give your opinion, and just cause others don't agree with you, doesn't mean you have to try and convince us. Your really destroying alot of threads around here lately, by always trying to prove that your way is the only way. What are you trying to prove, other then the obvious?

 

[rblomquist]

I've been down this road from exactly 3 years ago. From my experience: Do not put an EZ (or similar) on your truck unless you beef up the transmission, it will go south if it's like 99% of the others out there. Having a good transmission and a controller to go with it is crucial to having the best possible ownership experience on one of these auto trucks.



If you think your stock transmission is low enough miles and feels pretty good then you'd be better off going with some mild injectors rather than a performance box. The boxes are much harsher on transmissions than injectors, and that's right from a respected vendors mouth to me.



If you do decide to upgrade your transmission I'd recommend you contact the respected guys at DTT.

 

[JoshPeters]

If he upgrades his transmission tranferring capabilities- and then later on wants an EZ- or similar he'll be fine... ... ...

OK, being your the expert on everything on the TDR... I'm going to stop posting or replying to any and all threads. It always turns into an Arguement at this point. :-{} Apparently I'm not the only one that has noticed this.

ob1kobi seems to agree.





How about if he had a manual that couldn't hold speed on the hill with the trailer? What would you say? Get an EZ. Without a doubt. Power at lock up is power at lock up... Period. If he needs more power at that point... . then that is what he needs. He's not complaining about getting the load moving. That is where the upgraded transmission will do... well anything. I too recommend trans upgrades... . but after reading his last post... that's not what he wants or needs.

 

[klaybus]

Read your post over.....

I want to give my truck alittle more life when it comes to pulling my boat up some hills, right now I can only get about 55-60 mph. on rt. 22 (not very steep) and the boat only weighs around 5,200 lbs. also when I'm empty if I leave off to go around a curve on a steep hill it doesn't seem to take back off... . I put a new 304 ss. Silver Line exhaust,and I have a K&N air filter on it. Have been thinking of chipping it and don't know weather to go with Banks,TST, or the edge attitude juice system... ... Please help any info would be greatly appreciated..... thanks

OK... . To specifically answer your question all I have experience with is the Edge EZ. It worked for me! Seat of the pants meter was GREAT! Not to tell anyone what to do but if you've got an auto (a 99) I would imagine it has more than a few miles on it. I would suggest a trans upgrade 1st as I did. Just a suggestion as I know many have added fueling boxes and not had an immediate problem while others shortly thereafter had to do transmissions. I held off on getting an EZ personally & still lost my transmission at 90k +- miles.

I was just trying to merely suggest what I felt was right for your wallet. A transmission is a painful purchase but it's even worse if you spend $300-$400 on power upgrades & you lose a transmission & have to pony up the $4000 to have your transmission done. For whatever it's worth... .



Clay

 

[Hohn]

OK, being your the expert on everything on the TDR... I'm going to stop posting or replying to any and all threads. It always turns into an Arguement at this point. :-{} Apparently I'm not the only one that has noticed this.

ob1kobi seems to agree.





How about if he had a manual that couldn't hold speed on the hill with the trailer? What would you say? Get an EZ. Without a doubt. Power at lock up is power at lock up... Period. If he needs more power at that point... . then that is what he needs. He's not complaining about getting the load moving. That is where the upgraded transmission will do... well anything. I too recommend trans upgrades... . but after reading his last post... that's not what he wants or needs.

Well, not too long ago *I* was a newbie. However, I asked questions and tried to learn before I gave out advice. 620+ posts in how many months??



Tell us, RD-- are you blessed with independent wealth whereby you don't have to work?

 

[Hohn]

RD- 6. 23 posts per day.

Me-- 1. 78 posts per day

Josh-- 1. 5 posts/day

OB1-- 0. 39 posts per day



... Looks like someone has a lot on his mind that he wants to share...



jmho