I've been lurking here for years. I joined many months ago, although I never posted so I'm not sure why. Maybe to use the search? Alas, my memory fails me. Regardless, I've learned a lot and solved a host of issues simply by nosing around here quiet as a mouse, which has been expressly satisfying. Great site! I got tired of the "Please post something!" banner, so today I decided to introduce myself for whoever has the fortitude (and boredom) to plow through it, and hopefully offer me some advice. I post it here because my situation is somewhat unique, and the background may well be relevant to the nature of your response(s?).

So: I drive a 1998 short cab, long bed Ram 2500 SLT 4WD with the awesome 12V and the crappy Chrystler slushbox. It has an 88gal bulk tank and a toolbox. I took possession of it several years ago with 130,000 bone stock miles on it, to moonlight plowing snow for my uncle (the owner) to supplement my income. I quickly fell in love with the purr of the diesel, the fuel mileage that put my 5.0 Mustangs to shame, and the amazing turn radius! I plowed two winters with it, and that April was offered a full time position with his decent size paving/landscaping company (@40 full timers, two full paving crews, 30something pickups, four triaxles, two tractors, a plethora of loaders, excavators, skid steers, etc) and I accepted under the condition that I be able to keep this truck.
My job is difficult to describe, but a majority of it is spent driving this truck to the tune of @50K miles a year, which I'm quite happy with. It's the oldest, slowest, but cleanest, best kept truck in his fleet. We have two full time mechanics, but I do the service myself every 5K- oil change and filter, fuel filter, rotate tires, lube the front end) so that it gets done on time. I don't like other people screwing with it anyway. It's my company vehicle, it's my personal vehicle. Unloaded it gives me 17-19mpg under normal driving. I drive it home every night, the boss pays for everything necessary for maintenance. I put my own fuel in it when I use it for my own purposes, which happens regularly; and when I prefer something better than what he provides (better wiper blades, headlight bulbs, etc) I buy them for it myself. It's a pretty good wrap, small price to pay for the use of a great little truck. Anyway...

I posted this in the aftermarket forum, because I have some issues I'm not sure how I want to address. The truck currently has just over 230K on it. I bought an Autometer Boost gauge, and I've got a Fleet Guard BHAF on it, but that's all. A huge portion of my driving is with a 14,000GVW tilt trailer, moving 4-5 ton skid steers, with the occasional 6 ton mini excavator. I love towing, but on the highway this auto just plain sucks and I'm under the distinct impression that turning my Cummins up too much will only further jeopardize the fragile tranny. It didn't take long to realize that while pulling 10K lbs. down the highway, if I wasn't doing 80mph at the bottom of the hill I'd be doing 50 at the top. This situation is unacceptable, if for no better reason than that the brakes on this gen Dodge probably aren't safe pulling that trailer at any speed, never mind obliterating the speed limit like that. I would love to be able to simply maintain 65-70 with a trailer without dragonflying my way down the highway (dragging *** up the hill, flying down the back). I bought the boost gauge because I was frustrated with this towing issue, and wanted to get an idea what the engine was doing. It pegs around 27psi and pulls great right up to about 60mph, then it shifts into 4th and falls on it's face, lucky to get over 10psi out of it. Tranny then. Shortly after that I found this site, which would have told me as much. Oh well. Better late than never, eh?

Last winter our mechanic decided to put a Jasper tranny cooler on it to help, but there was a faulty check valve in the kit which grenaded the tranny on it's maiden voyage with the new cooler. For some reason the guy also hacked the secondary cooler (down on the block) out of the system. We had a brand new Chrystler tranny installed at the dealer, complete with all new coolers and lines as per OEM setup. Further building of this transmission, unfortunately, is out of the question. The kicker here is that this is not actually my truck, and while my uncle/boss has given me a pretty free hand in what I do with it, there are times when someone else in the company needs to drive it for something. I work with a bunch of ******** who love to beat on and brake things, so I'm going to have to be very careful in how I mod this truck. Because I'm just about the only one who cares about the company vehicles, mine in particular is a target for molestation. Money is also a factor, because obviously my boss wants to spend as little as possible on his oldest, least important truck, regardless of how well I take care of it or how much money it saves him with it's stellar mileage, or how much more he'd save if the mileage was improved. I'm not afraid to drop the tranny pan and tweek it, but I hesitate to do things that would compromise the reliability in the odd event that a dumbass is behind the wheel. It's rare, but it happens. So I'm stuck with simple engine mods to improve my situation, and obviously I have to be just as selective there since I don't want to tear up this tranny.
It's due for emissions, and I learned when I tried to take it through a few days ago that they won't test it without a tailpipe. Incidentally, it rusted at the muffler over a year ago, and since it seemed unnecessary anyway I just pulled it off and chucked it without replacing it. Apparently, sticking the sniffer right in the muffler isn't something they're willing to do, and since the muffler is shot as well and it's nearly the same price to replace them both as to upgrade the whole thing, I have an MBRP 4" turbo back straight pipe setup ordered that should show up any day. So I'll have a BHAF and open exhaust, but that's it for mods. I'm not sure where to go from here. I know this is a popular platform because everything is mechanical, power can be made easily and if not for free then with simple elbow grease, knowledge and relatively cheap parts, but as I've explained, I can't do anything too extreme because if I do, somebody will whup on it and brake something. To this end, after hours of research here, I'm leaning towards a 3K GSK. Not a 4K, because I know the boss will never approve the money to build the truck to take advantage of it, and as I said, when one of our yahoos gets in it and realizes that it will rev to 4K, that's exactly what they'll do whether it's a good idea or not. I'm not sure how big a difference this will make in the bigger scheme of things, so I'm just throwing it up here. I've also considered a boost elbow, adding a torque plate or just cranking the star wheel, but not sure what would be most appropriate given the tow duty the truck often does. I suppose I should get a pyro and trans temp gauge in there first, but I'm sure I'm the only one who will look at them. 99% of the time I'm the only one driving it, but still, for the sake of that last 1% it's better if the mods are... conservative.
In light of my rather delicate situation, any positive input on where to go from here is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading, and all the help you guys didn't even know you've already given me over the last couple years. Just lurking here has gotten me out of more jambs then I can remember!

 

holy moley what a long post. did your fingers hurt afterwords?

interesting situation

as for the engine

-I WOULD- in your situation

-slide the stock fuel plate FF
-install a 3k gov spring kit
-get a boost elbow and make sure it is in the 32lbs of boost area
thats about it nothing to crazy just a little more

unfortunatly the trans part is expensive. you REALLY REALLY need a good VB an torque converter. these trannys dont suck the hydrolic system does. upgrade that and you will be very happy with it. you can get a shift kit for transgo ect ect and upgrade the VB by yourself in an afternoon. save several hundred $'s but the TC is still gonna cost a chunk of change and take some time to install. unless the boss will dedicate you and a fellow worker or 2 to get it done in a day. which by all means is doable.

this is about as far as i would go for a strictly work truck in your situation. it wont break itself. you will be adding approx and im gonna guess and say 50ish hp and 100ish lbs of torque to the ground, maybe a fuzz more. you need a pyro and boost gauge, really a tranny too if your pullin in the hills, expesially if you have a totally bone stock tranny.

 

Thanks a lot! Yeah, my figertips are a tad sensitive, but I figured getting it all out at once would be better in the long run now that the proverbial ice is broken. So I was... sort of on the right track then. Good to know. As for the labor, anything I can do I will, on my own time if necessary, so the cost to the boss is only the parts I talk him into. The TC is the main thing I don't see him going for, as it is a relatively big chunk of change that in his mind he just spent when we put the fresh tranny in. In retrospect, I wish I'd spoken up at the time and tried to talk him into putting something good in back then instead of the OEM slip and bog. I was still pretty new then, and the shop guys pretty much sent it off to the dealer in a whirlwind. I'm not so easily pushed around in the decisions these days, thankfully; but as for this tranny it's a bit too little too late.


*edit: also, this sounds like a stupid question, because in all the reading I've done here on governor springs I don't think it's ever been mentioned; but when I started poking around online looking for good prices on a GSK, there were a proliferation of them specified as for 5 speeds. Is this something I should concern myself with?

 

i still would recommend a vb if you feel comfortable doing a shift kit. pretty self explanitory the kits come with good directions. this will get the pressures up to snuff. there isnt enough friction material in the stock TC to hold for long. i also would highly recommend staying out of OD if your loaded with anything to promote longevity of the TC. 1700ish rpms is the sweet spot for fuel milage. so if you cruise under those rpm's you can just push your switch, save some fuel and a little bit more of the tranny.

 

That situation would be easier to keep an eye on with a dedicated temp gauge too I'm sure. Right now I have to rely on the stock engine temp gauge in the cluster, and I can feel the tranny stop transferring power while towing on the highway long before it starts to swing past 190*, or the trans temp idiot light comes on for that matter.

I haven't read much on tranny mods, knowing I wasn't likely to go there. I should have. The tranny doesn't need to be pulled to do the VB/shift kit, right?

 

no take the pan off disconnect the linkages. the electronics and the bolts that holt the vb in. and vwala.

 

you can get a good billet single disk for $300 that would help alot! if your limiting yourself to minor mods. and a dtt or transgo shift kit for 200. 500 isnt bad for the difference it makes.

 

I can definitely understand that the TC is the weakest link in this chain, but unless this one bakes it isn't likely. Which is stupid, but that's the hand I've been dealt.

But what will a shift kit do for me that a valvebody wouldn't, or just bumping the line pressure and shift points for that matter? Honest question. I know the stock TC can barely hold itself, but the rest of the tranny mods I'm not very clear on.

 

a shift kit is essentially a VB that you would buy from somebody. thats why they want your core! it will just have your name on it not BD or who ever.

 

In other words, it's exactly the same except I'm building it myself instead of swapping them out.