My new Dodge

[dodge man]

Here is a picture of my new to me 2004 Dodge Ram. Its a 3/4 ton, 305 hp 24 valve 5.9 Cummins. Its an automatic, 4.10 gears, has an Edge Chip and an Air Raid Jr. setup on it. It has also had some kind of exhaust work on it, but I'm not sure what kind. I also think, but I'm not sure, that it has a leveling kit. It has 106,000 miles on it, the interior is in great shape, the exterior is what I would call fair to good, it has a few battle scars. So far I've been happy with it, I've just put a few miles on it, but I'm getting around 20 mpg driving back and forth to work and such. I tried a couple of engine photos, but they came out blurry.

 

[US American]

Great lookin truck. Same color as mine. Looks leveled to me. I think the stock downpipe on that year was 3.5". If your aftermarket is turbo back its probably 4" or bigger.

 

[dodge man]

I took a closer look underneath, and I think the convertor and muffler have both been deleted, thats why its fairly loud.

 

[Dmace]

Good looking truck!

Up here in NH, a turbo is considered a "muffler" so you don't need an actual muffler to pass inspection.

 

[Marveltone]

Sweet looking ride! I've had my '05 CTD for about a year by now, and it continues to impress me daily. You should be very happy with it.

Joe

 

[Diamondpilot]

Nice. I am partial to silver. The 5.9 and 7.3 both sound nice with all the exhaust stuff out of them.

Chris

 

[TnWV]

Very nice looking truck!! I'm a silver only kinda of guy and always keep an eye out for that identical truck. Just haven't found a good enough deal to make me jump. I have no need for a diesel, but man do I love to drive one. One of these days I'll own one just like it.... I hope. Enjoy it, I for one am jealous.

 

[powerstroke444e]

One of my 1st chores is straight piping my 7.3 and 5.9. None of mine have mufflers and can't remember any having cat on them when I bought them.
I like your truck and the mpg gets better more miles you get on them. I have over 400,000 on my 2004 with 4.10 drw and this tranny is best one yet and still can get 19+ @ 55mph and 14.5 loaded

 

[Willl]

Sweet. My 02 the same color.

Catalytic converters came back into play in 03, so it's probably a 'Cat-back' exhaust up-grade. Real easy to check, just crawl under and see.

Got a 4" SS turbo-back on mine.

Edit;
Missed the post where you said you did crawl under to see.
Don't understand the part about "and I think the convertor and muffler have both been deleted".

Are they there or not there ?

 

[dodge man]

I was on me knees at work sneaking a peak. I rolled under it and took a look tonight, it doesn't have anything in terms of a muffler or a cat. The exhaust looks home made. Some of it looks good, but there is a smaller pipe welded in the sytem, probably where the muffler was.

I also pulled a front and rear wheel to peak at the brakes. It will need brakes soon, but not an emergency. I'll have to get used to working on this beast, the wheels and tires are really heavy. The axles are huge compared to a half ton.

One disapointment, I noticed a little rust on the rockers. At first I was a little bummed but I felt better after rolling around under the truck. The doors apear O.K. and I couldn't find any other problems underneath in terms of rust. It looks like there might be a small leak from the steering box.

Thanks for all the comments.

 

[Willl]

I was going to say it was possibly home made, buying a aftermarket turbo back for a truck that has a CC would be next to impossible.

How much smaller is this 'nix' tube ?

 

[dodge man]

It looks like most of the exhaust is 4"? The nix tube is either 1/2' or 1" smaller. Its welded in and doesn't look like a great job.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Not starting a brand war but rust around the wheel wells and inside of the door bottoms of Dodge trucks is common in my parts. Both my 03 2500 Hemi and my work Dakota had rust after the third winter.

Chris

 

[RobertN]

Coming from central California(born and always lived here), What is it that you guys get, that we dont, that causes the rust?

We have major rain, snow as you get in the upper foothils and into the Sierra(Truckee, Lake Tahoe). Truckee is the coldest spot in the lower 48 frequently, and the Sierra's get tons of snow.

But rust...?

Not starting a brand war but rust around the wheel wells and inside of the door bottoms of Dodge trucks is common in my parts. Both my 03 2500 He I and my work Dakota had rust after the third winter.

Chris

 

[dodge man]

Its caused by salt on the roads during the winter.

The doors of this truck are fine, its the area below the doors on the body, the rocker area. I had a 98 Dodge and the doors were starting to rust. It actually happens under the weather strip on that vintage truck and starts out as surface rust. If you catch it right away and stop it, its not to bad, but you see a lot of them that are pretty bad.

I received an e-mail from Edge for the chip on my truck. They sent me the instructions for it. There is a cover held on by allen screws that you can take off and change the power level.

Anybody have any advice for changing the fuel filter? Any links with instructions? I've found it but really have never changed this kind of filter before. I did crack the water drain valve and as best I can tell, nothing but water came out.

 

[ovrszd]

Coming from central California(born and always lived here), What is it that you guys get, that we dont, that causes the rust?

We have major rain, snow as you get in the upper foothils and into the Sierra(Truckee, Lake Tahoe). Truckee is the coldest spot in the lower 48 frequently, and the Sierra's get tons of snow.

But rust...?

Here in Missouri the DOT uses Salt to de-ice roads. Very corrosive!!!!!

 

[ovrszd]

Sweet. My 02 the same color.

Catalytic converters came back into play in 03, so it's probably a 'Cat-back' exhaust up-grade. Real easy to check, just crawl under and see.

Got a 4" SS turbo-back on mine.

Edit;
Missed the post where you said you did crawl under to see.
Don't understand the part about "and I think the convertor and muffler have both been deleted".

Are they there or not there ?

Cats came into play with late model '04s as a part of the higher HP change. Early model '04s did not have a Cat.

I tell early '04s from late '04s at a glance by the location of the Cummins emblem. My early '04 had the emblem at the front of the fender. My buddies late '04 has the emblem where the OPs emblem is. I think you can see the difference in my attached picture.

I think the OP meant he suspected it came from the factory with a Cat and that it had been removed along with the muffler.

 

[ovrszd]

It looks like most of the exhaust is 4"? The nix tube is either 1/2' or 1" smaller. Its welded in and doesn't look like a great job.

You need to get rid of the small nix pipe.

I purchased a 5" MBRP system with muffler, took out the baffle in the intake tube, built a manifold tube, added an Edge module to mine and consistantly got 22 mpg on the highway at 70 mph. My 7.3 Powerstroke won't get close to that.

I attached a pic of the manifold tube modification. It really helped low end torque.

 

[dodge man]

My truck says 12/03 on the door, so I don't know if it had a cat or not from the factory. You are correct, my emblems are back farther on the truck. The decal on the engine says 305 horsepower. I was thinking the higher output ones were 325 or 335, but I'm not sure.

Ovrszd, nice truck and nice mods.

 

[US American]

Fuel filter instructions. http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/3...785-3rd-gen-fuel-filter-change-procedure.html

You definitely want 4" or bigger pipe all the way from the turbo.