New 12v owner
 

I picked up a 95 3500 yesterday and of course want to kick it up a bit.

I don't want to get crazy with this truck (unlike my 98). I don't plan on putting guages on it. Want to keep it fairly cheap (under $250)

Was thinking doing a 3000 or 4000 gov spring kit and maybe kick up the timing a bit. Don't know a whole lot about 12v mods, so am I on the right track?

I have noticied that it has a bit of stumble when the engine is brought up from idle to WOT, worse when the motor hasn't fully warmed up (smoke alot then too)... ideas on what's going on with that?

Well if you want to keep it under 250$, grab yourself a fuel plate and boost elbow for 30$ and a gsk. If you can do timing yourself, by all means go ahead and do that. Tuner your afc (its free minus the $1 washer you might have to buy), and tune the starwheel and smoke screw for free. A bhaf intake could be had for 20-50$ used, and a straight pipe would cost you like 50$ maybe 100$ depending on your local shops. I'm assuming this is an auto? You can expect your auto to not last long doing those mods mentioned.

5 speed.

I will probably just block off the wastegate. I had the HX35 like that on my 98 and it would push 35psi and that was about it.

Might put a BHAF, probbaly will just swiss cheese the stock airbox though. Supports 400hp just fine.

Muffler is coming off today, it's pretty much falling off... as the tailpipe did at some point.


4k gov spring worth it? I know I'd need to put 60lb valve springs, but they are pretty cheap.

I take it fuel plate is this?
http://www.sourceautomotive.biz/shop...ins-316-3.html
How far can I go without really needing gauges?

Get gauges before you touch the pump. You will save money in the long run. :pca1:

just slide the plate a little bit you should be fine, but it is a good idea to get gauges,
sliding the plate should get you 60-70 horse, get a boost elbow to increase boost

I was thinking more along the lines of this:
Dodge Cummins Diesel Fuel Torque Plate # 5 : eBay Motors (item 270547130328 end time Mar-21-10 14:54:30 PDT)

Blocking off the wastegate can be bad and you can overboost VERY easily. I would do teh boost elbow then tune the boost elbow to 35psi (but this can only accurately be done with a boost gauge).

The stock air box might be "good enough" to 400hp sure, but you will get a few mpg better w/ the bhaf (ask how I know this..) and the turbo will sound badass. Spend the 20-50$ and get better mileage and more power and be done with it.

Delete the muffler AND cat.. there is a lot to be had in terms of mileage and power w/ deleting the cat and muffler.

the 4k gsk doesn't NEEED 60lb springs, just BE SURE to shift by about 3200rpms. The difference between the 3k and 4k is the 4k is MUCH touchier and more responsive, but keep in mind easier to float your valves without using 60lb springs. Keep in mind 5spds are plenty touchy and responsive in the first place, you might be happy w/ only a 3kgsk

Also, when messing with the fuel like this its advisable to get a pyro in there to make sure those egt's are under control.

Never made a difference on my 98. Never sucked down the filter minder either.

Forgot that some of these trucks had cats too. If there is one, that is coming off as well.


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As long as I keep it mild, no need for gauges. Truck is just an old beater with lots of miles so I'm not spending too much time/money on it.

This is my other truck BTW... I'm not new to turning wrenches or Cummins engines, just haven't played around with the P pump.

Well if you dont want an easy 3+mpg, keep the stock air box. No bigs.

Anytime you mess with your boost, YES you need a boostgauge. Otherwise your turbo might be pushing 40+psi trying to make up for the extra fuel and you would never know it otherwise until that little hairdryer goes pop. As far as egts, start messing with fuel and yes your egts are going to go up. Another important thing to keep an eye on. Again, if you dont mind melted pistons (or the possibility of them..) dont do pyro.

:jump::jump: Thanks for the laugh, I needed it this morning!

Gauges are great when you are really bumping up the juice, but if I kick it up 50-60hp, there isn't a need.

3mpg for an air filter... yeah... sure... and if I dump in a bottle of Duralube I get another 5mpg right? :w2:

50-60hp? What? Last I looked, a good fuel plate was worth 140hp, plus afc tuning, intake and exahust your probably looking close to 370hp and 700-750 lbs of torque. A gsk would help even more. Not quite near 50-60hp.

But whether or not you believe me on 3mpg or not, I dont really give a shit. I'm just telling you what I have personally seen out of MY trucks with that mod (bhaf or 6637). Note, I didn't say just a filter. I said an intake. The stock design on our 2nd gens is one of the WORST designs implemented. Take it or leave it.

ive never seen a truck that picked up 3 mpg from air filter, mabey 1

my truck was pegging the filter minder before i switched to the afe intake.

if all you want is 50 - 60 horse just slide the stock plate all the way ahead and back 1/8 inch, give the star wheel 20 clix and call it good, at that

Like I said, I'm speaking from experience here. Believe me or dont. Or just try it out for yourself ;) hehe

You got a few things to learn fella.

Thats a rather bold statement to make without any further elaboration

Got the exhaust pulled off. Truck did have a cat and it was pretty much 100% plugged (260,000 miles). Muffler was about ready to fall off too, really rusty.

Cleaned the truck out too, orginal owner I guess used the glove box as a filing cabinet, even the load paperwork for the truck was in there.

I think I'm going to put a 2" spacer in the front and a small block in the rear. Go up a size or 3 with the tires as well. I can't even get under the truck right now without jacking it up and I'm not a huge guy. Also will help a bit with rpms, 70mph is pretty much all it has.

I got 18mpg out of the first tank I have run through it, not bad at all!

Good to hear!! My truck has 256k miles and I'm almost certain it has the stock cat. So this is good to hear.

As far as 70mph, what happened there? I can cruise at 80-90mph easy in my truck 100% stock :think:

70mph is WOT. I can hit maybe 75 if I really push it hard to the mat, but that's all she wrote.

You have 4.10s and stock gov springs this is normal.

Yup. It's a big difference between this truck and my 24v. I can do well over 100mph no problem with it.

Have a gov spring kit coming. Hard to believe that this thing is bone stock. I'm gonna pop it's cherry hahaha!

ouch that sucks lol

makes sense to me! I have the 3.xx gears (dont remember exactly) which would explain the diff

3.55

Was thinking of putting a set in, though with all the irons I have in the fire, that may never happen. A US Gear Overdrive would be awesome too, but they sell for more than I paid for the truck, so that's not going to happen!

An 8spd would be awesome, but I'm not going to go about doing all that. Maybe if the truck CAME with it though:rocking:

i have bhaf in mine and my boss has three trucks with k&n none of them picked up three mpgs

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you might pick up three mpgs if you did intake exaust and bumped the timing

And run taller skinnier tires.

Changed the oil and fuel filter, was hoping it was just a dirty fuel filter that was causing the rough running when cold, but no still doing it.

Got it to backfire/pop a few times even while reving it. I don't know if the timing is off or something else? I'm going to try and do an overhead on it tomorrow, waiting on the tools to come in for the timing.


Is the dealer the best place to get oil for the NV4500?

wow. 140hp for just a fuel plate? apparently im missing something:ouch:

Nate, go with Amsoil. Its quite a bit cheaper than the Castrol Syntorque.

if its running rough mabey your low on fuel pressure, if you got tools and the time bump your timing

Ya, your OWN fuel plate :lol:

Waiting for the timing kit to come in, should be here tomorrow.


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I did the overhead on it today, everything was in spec, which I was a bit surprised. I don't think the valve covers have been off before and it's got ~100,000 miles.


I slid the fuel plate all the way forward and it made no difference in performance. Stock location was close to all the way forward though. I move it less than 1/8".
The AFC housing is all the way back, does moving that do anything??

It's still stumbling/popping when cold. About the best way I can describe it is if it was carb'd it's acting like it's running way rich and loading up the motor.

Still waiting on the timing tools to come in... what is a good setting to run with??

For a stock truck around 15-16.5 is good. Don't go over 16.5 with increased timing comes higher cylinder pressures and stock bolts tend to stretch and blow the head gasket.

Mine used to stumble and pop all the time with stock timing. I set it at 19* and she runs like a champ. WOT with no load it never pops even at 3800. Well it never used to. I have bigger issues now though.