What mods would you do???? Power, economy, Towing

[MAshley]

So… I’m the proud owner of a 06, Dully, 4x4, 5sp, Completely stock CTD with just a hair over 100K miles now. When I bought the truck “Mile 5” it was a 100% work – business truck with a few drivers besides myself so mods, tricks, ETC well were just not needed… I needed my truck to haul equipment and dealing with breakdowns just wasn’t what I needed to deal with… Well fast forward and now … It’s my 5th wheel RV hauler, trash, brush hauling and the occasional commute truck but it honestly sits behind the fence parked for weeks now…



There are a few mods I’m going to do.



AMP power steps Side ones.

AMP rear and side Step. ----- need a new rear bumper ---- ideas? Also maybe a front but the rear needs to be close to the body to clear the 5th wheel.

Ball joints replacement??? ----- need recommendations thinking maybe Carli but 800 seems a little high.

Front wheel bearings ------- need recommendations



Tempted to do a larger tank… ----- Ideas

filling up with a 5th wheel and no pacific pride now sucks.



So one thing I have always been annoyed with is economy, I do pretty well but not nearly as well as some. With being pretty much a hauling truck now with the 5th wheel. . honestly this truck has always been used to haul impressive loads. . with Diesel going to $5 a gallon I’m looking for ways to save on millage. I wouldn’t say no to more power and TQ but I also don’t want to be explaining to the wife why I broke X just after installing Y. So power might be cool when empty to get going quicker I’m not exactly a metal to the floor guy when pulling a trailer don’t need to rip the hitch off the trailer



So I’m looking for the collective wisdom and experience VS marketing hype.



Tuner?

Maybe a turbo upgrade but seems excessive but I’m willing to learn-listen.

Maybe injectors see above.

Air Dog vs Air dog 2 Vs ??? not against better fuel filtering, also on stock pump.

IP tweaking? I’m thinking it’s all computer now.



Thank you

David

 

[cerberusiam]

Ball joints - the Carli's and DynnTracs are nice units and rebuildable but unless oyu spend a lot of time whooping it across the desert not sure they are needed. I replaced all mine with Raybestos Professional grade units from Rock Auto. Definitely a better joint than OE and cost effective for normal driving and some offroading. They are rebranded McQuay Norris units.



Tuner - Smarty Sr hands down, easy and effective for power and efficiency. If you feel like playing and really digging for the best setup either the new Smarty UDC or EFI live is worth a look.



Turbo - a good turbo is an upgrade. Hard to quantify without other mods though.



Rather than a trubo I would seriously consider a cam change. More bang for the buck there and allows the OE turbo to work better in its range. The camm is probably going to be your biggest efficiency changer. Couple that with some timing and tuning changes and you should be happy.



At 100k miles and the power levels you want I would wait on injectors and add filtration first. You can always change out tips if you want to try something new, a 40-60 HP tips is said to be a good choice for all around increase.



An AD or FASS with the entrained air removal is an option in the over all search for efficiency. You have to really do the cannister at the same time, get the bets effect. Adding a secondary fuel heater at the pump is not a bad idea either if one is searching for optimal efficiency.