I have a 2004.5 3500 crew, dually 4x4, 6sp manual trans, that does my towing duties. For most trips, it's carrying a large truck camper and pulling a 24' enclosed trailer. Gross combined, I'm 20-22k lbs depending on load and whether the camper is wet or dry.
The truck has 233k miles, and the stock turbo is starting to show it's age. I would like to replace/upgrade it before we start traveling this year. I am looking for a replacement turbo, and would love to have some input from the Hive. For now, the truck is stock except for a 4" MBRP exhaust and gauges (egt, boost, fuel pressure), but I also plan to add a Smarty Jr. in conjunction with the turbo replacement. My priorities (in order) are:
- Reliabilty
- 100% bolt-on (no mods to intake/exhaust)
- Lower egts
- a little more power wouldn't hurt.
Obviously, a stock replacement is the best for 1 & 2, but I'd really like to lower egts for pulling the grades out here in the West, and a little more power would be nice. Some of the turbos I've been looking at are the AFE Bladerunner, the Fleece Cheetah, and I've read good things about "Tater built" turbos, which are modified stock turbos, like the Cheetah, without the huge price tag. Mostly, I'm looking at slightly enlarged turbine housing to drop egts, but nothing extreme. I understand I may loose some spool, but I'm willing to make that tradeoff for the lower egts.
Since the various Dodge/Cummins forums lean toward the flat brim, big lift, rolling coal end of the spectrum, and I'm much more interested in reliable towing performance, and a lot of the info over there is several years old, I thought I'd throw it out here...
Your experience? Input? Suggestions? Good sites for research?
