So about 2 weeks ago I bought a 91 IC Dodge Cummins 5-speed without a bed. Well the last few weeks I've put a nice flat bed on it and decided I wanted to put some performance upgrades on it. Now I don't want to go to crazy right now but I was thinking for starting out I'm going to put a nice air filter on it. Run 4in exhaust pipe from the Turbo back to a 5 in stack behind the passenger side. Maybe put a fuel pin in the pump? Has anyone done any guages in the cab? I know I should put a pyrometer in so I know my exhaust temps. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Or have done the things I want to do and have some tips for me? Any ideas and input would be greatly appreciated!

 

Congrats on the truck, looks good! Sounds like you have a good start.

For power, all you need is fuel and air, the more/better quality you get the faster you go. So without spending a ton, get a good cold air intake, do your exhaust, fuel pin, and get some better filtration (FASS/Airdog) and go!

As for your gauge pods... there are a couple options that I found for you to use. If you want to put them in your A-Pillar, XDP has a dual and a single
Dual: https://www.xtremediesel.com/automet...epod15198.aspx
Single: https://www.xtremediesel.com/automet...epod15199.aspx
As you already said, get a pyro, but I would also go ahead and get boost as well.

 

Any suggestion on what brand of gauges to go with? And have you plumbed any in?

 

I like my Autometer Phantom IIs, never had any trouble with them at all!

I did my gauges myself. The hardest part is drilling into the intake for the boost and the exhaust manifold for the pyrometer

 

Gauges are easy, I would go with autometer. Stay away from glowshift, the price looks good but you get what you pay for with them.

 

Maybe Glowshift has gone downhill lately, but the 3 in 1 gauge I bought works great. Autometer lost my respect when I tried to other a full set of gauges, and couldn't get a matching set with a diesel tach. I was going to spend over 2k and they couldn't print a matching face and slap it on the gauge. Liverosi made a set to order, exactly what I wanted. Autometer was rude and arrogant, Liverosi was more than willing to earn my money. I emailed Glowshift before I bought the gauge, they replied quickly with a phone number, and were very polite and friendly. I hate bad customer service, so autometer lost the chance at getting my business again, I would run that Eqquis (oreilly's cheap brand) junk first.

 

No offense, Devil, but that's terrible advice.

An engine is an air pump and when it comes to diesels, always remember "lean is mean". The goal is to get a complete burn, not quench the fire by dumping fuel in the cylinder right off the bat. Black smoke is power loss. We'll talk about gray or brown haze another time. A "cold air intake" and an exhaust that flows well are important, but a fuel pin is definitely not your next step. You're not even close to ready for a FASS system yet. You want to wake that truck up without spending a ton of jack? Start with your gauges (boost, egt, trans temp if automatic; fuel pressure is handy), exhaust and build your own air box. Google "BC847 stock pot cold air box", click the first link. That's the write-up. That guy has a '93 XC 4x4 W250 that puts out well over 400hp and runs 12 second E/Ts (mid-7s in the 1/8th) launching in second gear on 33s with no nitrous, no 14mm pump head or any of that other black magic that internet forums claim are necessary.
Next, you want to remedy the VE top-end anemia issue. A 3200rpm governor spring is inexpensive and safe. If you pay more than $20, you were overcharged. A fuel pin is no good if your lift pump can't keep up. Get a second gen piston lift pump and order the 15# pressure spring from Hungry Diesel ($50). This will give you all of the volume you can handle, even at the top end of your new RPM range, without blowing the seals out of your rotary pump. Now, a lot of people will tell you to turn your pump 1/8th of an inch toward the head, effectively changing your timing. That's all well and good for the top end, but your bottom end might suffer (we'll come back to that). Changing your static timing is easy and free, but widening your dynamic timing range with an M&H spacer is the ticket. Your pump timing is set up for low-end torque. That's what the truck was made for. Adjusting the stock static timing may very well help you on the top end of the RPM range, but it may as equally well hurt you on the low end. The spacer, which fits between the pump housing and the KSB, allows the plunger that adjusts timing as case pressures rise to have more travel, allowing more timing advance at higher RPMs.

Once you have all of this done, then worry about static timing fine tuning, turning your fuel up with tuning or pins or more/colder air.

 

Oh, and buy Isspro gauges.

 

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