The Urban Assault Vehicle Buildup

Mr_DIY

New Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2005
Location
Smithfield, NC
I just got this truck Thursday night:
Black 96 Dodge 3500 X-Cab
4wd
auto, loaded with all power
gooseneck/tagalong hitches
rhinolined bed/gooseneck tailgate and brand new simulators/caps
best of all..... 84k original miles and clean as a whistle.
looking for suggestions on tranny upgrades, exhaust, fuel plate mod, etc.. etc....
PICS:
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4" exhaust with a hi-flow muffler is all I can suggest. A straight pipe sounds nice, but are loud. My PSD has a silverline muffler and still sounds nice (not a big fan of straight piped PSD's, but the Cummins sound good-although alot louder).
Either way, that is a NICE truck, 84K miles for a 96' is unheard of. Mine is a 99' and I just tripped 80K and thought I was doing good :eek:
 
Wow, that is a clean truck. Good job getting rid of those running boards...
That being said, a straightpiped but otherwise stock ctd definitely isn't "loud". I guess it's all relative though.
I would suggest joining tdr, buying an fsm from genosgarage and reading as much as you can.
 
I would've kept the running boards on. Its a black truck....chrome and polished aluminum with lots of lights are where its at :huggy:
 
thanks guys, I just couldn't stomach all those amber lights though. I have been on the ctd forums for HOURS and here's what I got....rough draft if you will

egt, boost, tranny temp, fuel psi guages
bump timing up (researching)
KDP repair kit (might as well)
upgraded valve body for auto and synthetics all around (Rotella 15w-40 in motor)
3kgsk with #10 fuel plate (maybe an 8?)
afc kit
big honkin air filter or just drill out my restrictive stock box and see what the K&N does?
4" hi-flow exhaust with a 5" single tip
gut the cat
and doing some research on the oil guard bypass filter???

this (I'm told) should net me around 275hp and gobs of torque (mid 600's I think) and get me 1-2 mpg better

am I learning fast or am I getting bad advice from e-guru's? thanks
 
Mr_DIY said:
thanks guys, I just couldn't stomach all those amber lights though. I have been on the ctd forums for HOURS and here's what I got....rough draft if you will

egt, boost, tranny temp, fuel psi guages
bump timing up (researching)
KDP repair kit (might as well)
upgraded valve body for auto and synthetics all around (Rotella 15w-40 in motor)
3kgsk with #10 fuel plate (maybe an 8?)
afc kit
big honkin air filter or just drill out my restrictive stock box and see what the K&N does?
4" hi-flow exhaust with a 5" single tip
gut the cat
and doing some research on the oil guard bypass filter???

this (I'm told) should net me around 275hp and gobs of torque (mid 600's I think) and get me 1-2 mpg better

am I learning fast or am I getting bad advice from e-guru's? thanks
Click to expand...


Better plan on a built transmission as well.
 
Depending on the mods you do to the truck, and the overall condition of the tranny, you could get by with a valve body and torque converter. If you go much farther than a fuel plate and a GSK kit, you're gonna need to build the tranny. Look into modifying your fuel plate before you buy one. Save you some $$$. I have a 94 and I just cut it off straight so it's basically a 0 plate.
 
Mr_DIY said:
big honkin air filter or just drill out my restrictive stock box and see what the K&N does?
Click to expand...

No K&N - use a good paper BHAF, or keep the stock filter. In an engine you want to last a long time, the K&N lets in too much dirt.
 
gauges first, trust me on that, then do a fuel plate and the gsk 3K kit, you can do all this for less than $500, also you can get a fuel plate off ebay for $99, no sure I would grind on my own, and re install the running boards, worth at least 50 ft lbs of torque!
 
Mr_DIY said:
thanks guys, I just couldn't stomach all those amber lights though. I have been on the ctd forums for HOURS and here's what I got....rough draft if you will

gut the cat

am I learning fast or am I getting bad advice from e-guru's? thanks
Click to expand...

:shaking:

No cat to gut, That's not a cat you are looking at better start reading more.
Why not leave it stock and run it to make sure it is A OK for now, It would suck to spend a lot of money and then find things wrong you need to fix and be short on money to do it.
YOu check all the ball joints and the track bar, a lot of stuff like that went out on my 96 at those miles........

Just thinking...
 
Definatly guages first- egt, boost, and tranny temp. Since someone said your building a buggy i bet that means you will be using the truck. You need to monitor all these, even though its stock that doesnt mean you cant burn something up.

Fuel plate is easy, do it yourself. Someone on Diesel Truck Resource has the diagram showing how to grind your own plate. Did it myself to my '95 CTD and didnt have a problem.

Do the governer spring mod. Also on DTR. A few washers and a liitle time and it will rev over 3,000 rpm. Search DTR and you will find both of these.

I also installed 370 marine injectors. I found them used for $250 but new they are around $400. The best mod i did. Woke my truck up. Now granted i didnt install a bigger turbo so the EGT's ran high with #0 plate. I towed a lot i just never let the egt's get over 1100*. They are very easy to do.

Also maybe think about a turbo housing upgrade. I know your thinking turbos are expensive but a company called high tech turbos has just the housing upgrades which is less expensive. Do the exhaust housing first and then the compressor side.

Now the exhaust is really your preference. Straight pipe sounds good but can get annoying. Someone said your a truck driver so you already have to listen to it all day, do you want to when you get home? I drive a KW all day with 7" straight pipes and it can get annoying to hear all the time.

The trans can be done with just a good torque converter and valve body. You dont nessesarily have to spend $5000 on a tranny for it to work for you. If you dont have a lot power that will work great. I have rode and worked on a few with just the tc and vb and they do very good.

Bumping the timing up will help a lot. Also the bhaf works and definatly the KDP, cheap fix for something that can be expensive.

Now this is just mostly my opinion but it is stuff that i know works so its up to you what to do.
 
After reading all this stuff I don't know how I did it for all those years from 96 to 03 with my old truck. I towed anything I wanted got killer MPG, was never broke on the side of the road, the trans is still going strong today for the guy I sold it to, and was never replaced or rebuilt. With all the mods he is being told to do, it would sound like he has a 5HP B&S under the hood.:rolleyes:
 
I appreciate all the info.
1- I'm building the Dodge after the buggy is done
2- I'm building the tranny/guages first
3-BHAF is my route, K/N never impressed me
4-I don't wanna grind anything on my truck.. I'll drop $100 first
5-I am not gonna build a 7k # dragtruck.. I just want to wake it up a bit.
6-I'm a truckdriver and I am not straightpiping the ctd... I hate loud exhaust. deep and grumbly is just fine with me.

Thanks for all the suggestions, input and facts guys. I hand washed the truck today in 28* temps.... I love my CTD!!!!
 
MR. GADGET said:
After reading all this stuff I don't know how I did it for all those years from 96 to 03 with my old truck. I towed anything I wanted got killer MPG, was never broke on the side of the road, the trans is still going strong today for the guy I sold it to, and was never replaced or rebuilt. With all the mods he is being told to do, it would sound like he has a 5HP B&S under the hood.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
I was just suggesting anything he could do at a low price to help out that i know works. It sucks trying to read through and search all the websites to find stuff.

Shoot my cousin has an '01 CTD and only tows a 16' landscaping trailer w/ 2 mowers and other landscaping stuff (not heavy at all) and is very meticulous with service and has already put a tranny in his truck so anything can happen with them. For me its better to be safe than sorry.
 
I almost have this thing "aesthetically" where I want it. I'm blacking it out mostly. It is starting to look good to me.

pics as soon as I finish some trim painting, install new 235/85/16 AT's and wash it. :driver:
 
I had the same pump in my '98 as your '96, and with the #10 / 3K GSK / 4" exhaust / opened up intake / 16° timing setup, it was a GREAT tow rig.. Really had to work it to get the pyro hot.. put down 300/700 at the wheels, and I could tow at any speed I wanted, even with 13k in tow.

No need really for the AFC kit, or the fuel pressure gauge. If/when the lift pump fails, you'll know it, but it's not going to damage the pump.. That's a 24v thing..

Towing went downhill with the HTT turbo upgrade and new injectors.. I wouldn't do that again, anything bigger than the factory 215's and you'll need a much larger turbo, which is $$ and has plenty of downsides.

The #10 can put a hurting on the stock torque converter in a hurry, it makes a ton of low end torque. TC & VB should hold it fine though assuming your trans internals are OK.

The full exhaust will take care of the Cat, too :) And yes, up to the early 98's had a cat.
 
Rich said:
I had the same pump in my '98 as your '96, and with the #10 / 3K GSK / 4" exhaust / opened up intake / 16° timing setup, it was a GREAT tow rig.. Really had to work it to get the pyro hot.. put down 300/700 at the wheels, and I could tow at any speed I wanted, even with 13k in tow.

No need really for the AFC kit, or the fuel pressure gauge. If/when the lift pump fails, you'll know it, but it's not going to damage the pump.. That's a 24v thing..

Towing went downhill with the HTT turbo upgrade and new injectors.. I wouldn't do that again, anything bigger than the factory 215's and you'll need a much larger turbo, which is $$ and has plenty of downsides.

The #10 can put a hurting on the stock torque converter in a hurry, it makes a ton of low end torque. TC & VB should hold it fine though assuming your trans internals are OK.

The full exhaust will take care of the Cat, too :) And yes, up to the early 98's had a cat.
Click to expand...

thanks for all the input rich... those mods + a BHAF are exactly what I have planned minus the turbo, injectors and fuel psi guage.

I have 4.10's in mine.. what did yours have? I am putting 235/85/16's on it as soon as these wear out (not long)... I only tagged the truck for 7,000lbs.... so I should be otay.
 
I had 3.55's..

With 4.10's, you'll probably want a taller tire to get your effective gearing down to 3.73 unless you're gonna tow 2 rigs all the time.. (You'll need spacers for the duals)
 
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