Diesel gurus, 5.9l 12v Cummins

[KFhunter]

You should get more whistle with that ring out and your big honking air filter 

I can show you a real nice BHAF build involving a soup pot, rain gutter and pop rivet gun



I think I'm running S&B on mine, I like it because it installs easy, looks fatory'ish, and it has a pre-filter keeping the dust and junk out of the air filter itself.

[baker5150]

Wow.  Big air filter last longer.  Filters better.  Plenty or air if needed.  Way cheaper then fancy kits, so ya its a great mod.  Stock exhaust is crap and does improve things.  $300 kit easy to bolt on.  KF did you read my truck trend link I posted for him?  You need to.  Baker your claims refer to newer trucks and is correct but not true on older diesels.  I forgot gauges which are VERY important-EGT mostly!

Yes, newer trucks are more prone to dusting cylinders, BUT, even older rigs can see premature turbo failure and scoring from faulty filters.
If it were me I just wouldn't take the risk.  Turbos aren't cheap, and the benefit just isn't there.
It's no wonder you see K&N filters on sale at all the Diesel performance sites.  No one buys them. 

[Mudman]

These filters are made for semi's and have some of the best filtration $ can buy.  Inlet size is mostly the same as a diesel truck so clamp directly on and cost just a little bit less.  So, you get a filter that last 3x's as long as stock, lets enough air in to run a 500 cat engine and filters better than most everything else for 40-50 dollars.  Hmm, only an ignoramous or idiot wouldn't use one imop. https://www.amazon.com/6637-NAPA-Gold-Air-Filter/dp/B00K24KSDS   K N is crap.  Turbo whine is louder as KF said.  Prefilter allows longer intervals.

[KFhunter]

Don't forget the cost of the soup pot

https://www.amazon.com/Excelsteel-Quart-Stainless-Stockpot-Encapsulated/dp/B0030T1KR0



You're right, this is fun 

[Mudman]

Great mod, ready to cook at hunt camp!  Glass lid might be an issue?

[KFhunter]

Good on you for seeing the humor,  I'm just not going to get all bowed up over which filter is better than the other.  Not worth my time or effort, I got bigger fish to fry

[dyhardhuntr]

A lot of good info in the thread with everyone's budget opinion. theleo if you have never owned a diesel then all of this will be a learning curve for you. With all the mods out there the only limit is the amount of cash you want to spend. In my opinion and it's mine only, I would save up a few grand and do your research and piece your mods together. Each one is a puzzle piece. You won't get the added effect unless you put them together. Say for more HP. More air and more fuel equate to more power but if there is no place for the heat to go then bad things happen. Heat and dirt will smoke your engine faster than you can say oh sh$&t! Read up on how diesels work and if your unsure then pick a reputable technicians brain about it. I've done slot of mods on cummins, duramax, powerstroke,cat and detroits and all I can say is you won't get the performance your looking for unless you factor in the variables. Your truck will only be as good as your weakest link which is unfortunately the auto trans. If your not interested in spending a fair amount to beef that thing up then I wouldn't put too much into the motor. Trying to get HP on budget might get your pocket book in the end. Do your reasearch, buy your parts as you can afford them and then do it all at once. Injectors, turbo , intercooler, exhaust, bump your timing. And then of course your trans. Lol. Good luck!


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[theleo]

Got my hands on the truck for a couple of days to be able to haul wedding stuff. Being able to have my hands on it and a little research shows me it's a 91.5 (manufacture date of 9-91) with a 518 automatic transmission with O/D. With an empty 4 horse goose neck trailer it wasn't to hard to get it to 75 mph on flat ground (still sucked up diesel in a hurry though) and riding around with the trailer off 75-80 mph is pretty easy.

I appreciate all the advice you guys have given me. Looks like the first steps will be getting the KDP dealt with, adding gauges, and switching out the exhaust when funds and timing allows. It has an intercooler so I'll skip that step and go on to injectors and probably leave it at that.