Hi Guys,

I'm new to all this diesel stuff. I've been reading a lot trying to get up to speed and think I have enough basic info to begin figuring out what I need/want to do with my truck.

I drove a 3/4 ton Duramax for a couple of years but it was a company vehicle so mods were out of the question. I used (abused?) that truck for all my heavy trailer towing so when I changed employers earlier this year and lost the use of that truck, I was forced to go ahead and spring for my own tow/haul rig.

The timing was good since the dealers are falling all over themselves to get anything that sucks fuel off their lots and I got an incredible deal on the '08 3500 Mega Cab.

Anyway, I'm happy with the truck but of course have learned what most of you already know: It could be better! So I'm looking for advice/opinions/recommendations on upgrades and mods. Several times a year I move loads of hay with a load typically being 12-15k and also pull a fifth wheel RV pretty regularly. I also live in a remote, mountainous area and was thinking I'd like to lift it 4-6" to help a bit when the snow gets a little deep and we haven't had a chance to clear the road.

I'm not really looking to do anything real radical or extreme. This truck is also my daily driver so I'm not interested in setting it up as a flame throwing hot rod or carrying a step ladder to get in the cab. Just need a good solid tow rig with decent off road capability so  I can get where I need to go when the weather gets crappy.

Thanks in advance!

-Mike  

Cummins have historically been good trucks in terms of durability and reliability. The major downside to the new 6.7s is all the emissions equipment. If it's a work truck, I'm imagining you don't want to void the warranty. So you're not going to get the ultimate power potential out of the 6.7 as you would be out of a 5.9, because of the emissions stuff. There's already some plug & play stuff for the 6.7.  

Yeah...I neglected to mention that I'd like to keep the warranty intact. I've got free access to all the red diesel my truck can drink but have declined due to warranty issues. A guy I know lost the warranty on his Powerstroke over running fuel he was getting from the rig.

I know someone recently posted on another thread that you have to basically forget about the warranty if you want to do anything with your truck but it seems like that's a huge financial risk to take with your day to day transportation.

Is there any definitive guide from Dodge to tell you which engine or drive train mods will revoke the warranty?  

i would be guessing that other guy in that thread is me haha, Yeah I did the deletes to my truck and they added great power, and truck has been running better than ever,(probably cuz my intake manifold had a 1/4 thick layer of soot in it as well as my EGR cooler)and my truck still doesn't even smoke at all(period). Plus I still have all the parts And i can still reinstall all the stuff if i ever did have a problem. which would put my warranty back intack. It may take me  4-5hrs to do that. but I have gained a good 5-6MPG easily.I'm getting 23MPG at 75mph. plus I recomend getting a Edge Juice with attitude cuz it is a great product and you can go from Extreme to stock in a matter of seconds plus it has many safety features.  

In terms of warranty claims, it really varies dealer-to-dealer. Some are real hard-@$$es about it, and will try to void your warranty for just having an intake or exhaust, while others are pretty lenient.

You can expect to get some moderate power gains out of the 6.7 with a programmer, intake & exhaust, but not the huge gains you'd get with an older 5.9, or even an '07 5.9. You're not completely SOL, but if you want to keep your warranty intact, you're going to have to stick with the basic bolt-ons and programmers.