I have a 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 4wd Cummins, auto trans, with crew cab and 8ft bed. It is my first truck and first diesel. It is pretty much a stock truck right now. I have a Predator programmer, AFE Stage 2 intake and have taken the cat out (but still have the muffler) on a 4" exhaust. The transmission was rebuilt with upgraded parts, Kevlar bands etc. and a 750ftlbs converter. I have added tranny temp, pyro and boost gauges to the pillar. I'm planning on adding a rail pressure and a fuel pressure gauge in the near future. I want the gauges in it so I can see what is going on as I do the performance mods (besides they look cool).
What I would like to find out is this. Is there a somewhat logical build sequence to take? I want to end up with a pretty bad *** truck but unless I win the lotto I can't do it all at once. At what point in a build do you need to put in ARP bolts, or fire ring the head? The rail pressure and fuel pressure gauges should let me know when I need a fuel system upgrade. With out having access to a dyno how do you keep track of the torque and hp? Is it safe to just add up the numbers that the manufacturer gives as you put in different mods? The next things I am planning to do is a 5" exhaust (probably Magnaflow) and a water/methanol kit. Does that make sense? Then I will save up money for the next thing.

 

Do like you said with the gauges. You need to keep track of whats going on inside of that motor. I would honestly start with and Airdog or FASS fuel system right off the bat. It will go out fast when you start moving more fuel. Then I would be looking at a smarty programmer or wait till EFI is out and rolling for those trucks. You will need a bit stronger tq converter cause a 750ft/lb converter won't last long, it doesn't take long to make 750. The head studs won't be all that important until you run a bigger charger, but wouldn't be a bad investment after your programmer. After that you will start needing injectors, bigger flowing cp3s and other supporting mods.......

 

All depends on how much hp you wanna make and what you use your truck for. I'm not an auto guy but you must get it built to make power. Then fuel system (airdog or fass). A diy cp3 upgrade to your stocker is capable of handling 500+hp but if you have the $$ a new upgraded unit is the way to go. Then injectors however big you wanna go. If you have a 04.5 truck then you have the he351 turbo which will support more than the 341. All depend how far you wanna go.

Last time i dyno'd I made 555/1036 on a pretty much mild smarty tune with TNT with whats in my sig and make a fun daily driver.

Thanks for your service BTW