Just Got Her HOME!!! Now What?

[mojo0107]

I just got my 2005 Chevy 3500 Duramax Diesel w/ Allison home and well, I've read for hours and just would like some straight answers to put me in the right direction.

I've had Chevy's my entire live nothing else. I am a teacher and a farmer so I know how to fix and work on things. My dream truck was a dually and now I've got it. Can someone let me know what I've gotten into? I don't want my dream to become a nightmare. I've read about LLY and tuners and chips and exhaust and ice picks, etc.

I know nothing about an auto diesel, New Holland and Case IH yes, but not this truck.
1. What is a LLY and the other terms I need to know for my truck?
2. I tow a 4500 lb camper to Bristol from W.KY and we hit the mountains, which my 1500 didn't take too well. I did get 19mpg hwy and 14 towing out of it. What can I expect from my new truck?
3. I upgraded my 1500 with a Volant ram force air intake and a flow max along with duel exhaust, What do I need for this truck? Plain and simple please.
4. Is there anything I need to know about or be prepared for or special tools to keep onboard?

I wish to get more than the dash readout of 13.3 MPG. I don't wish to do any damage to the truck at the same time. Speed is not an issue only to pull the camper and a cattle trailer. History of the truck is the owner before me was loaded and had some sort of On Board Laptop to run things but he took all that off about a $7K value. The truck has 62,729 miles on it. I bought it from a Ford Dealership today and they couldn't even tell me about the warranty that was left on the truck. The original owner did leave the Banks Ram Air Intake and Box on it.

I've read about some upgrades voiding warranty, some screwing up the transmission, some not even working, but I have no idea where to start.
Thanks,
Teacher In need of SCHOOLING

[BigRedChevy]

Originally Posted by mojo0107

I just got my 2005 Chevy 3500 Duramax Diesel w/ Allison home and well, I've read for hours and just would like some straight answers to put me in the right direction.

I've had Chevy's my entire live nothing else. I am a teacher and a farmer so I know how to fix and work on things. My dream truck was a dually and now I've got it. Can someone let me know what I've gotten into? I don't want my dream to become a nightmare. I've read about LLY and tuners and chips and exhaust and ice picks, etc.

I know nothing about an auto diesel, New Holland and Case IH yes, but not this truck.
1. What is a LLY and the other terms I need to know for my truck?
2. I tow a 4500 lb camper to Bristol from W.KY and we hit the mountains, which my 1500 didn't take too well. I did get 19mpg hwy and 14 towing out of it. What can I expect from my new truck?
3. I upgraded my 1500 with a Volant ram force air intake and a flow max along with duel exhaust, What do I need for this truck? Plain and simple please.
4. Is there anything I need to know about or be prepared for or special tools to keep onboard?

I wish to get more than the dash readout of 13.3 MPG. I don't wish to do any damage to the truck at the same time. Speed is not an issue only to pull the camper and a cattle trailer. History of the truck is the owner before me was loaded and had some sort of On Board Laptop to run things but he took all that off about a $7K value. The truck has 62,729 miles on it. I bought it from a Ford Dealership today and they couldn't even tell me about the warranty that was left on the truck. The original owner did leave the Banks Ram Air Intake and Box on it.

I've read about some upgrades voiding warranty, some screwing up the transmission, some not even working, but I have no idea where to start.
Thanks,
Teacher In need of SCHOOLING

First of all welcome to the site and congrats on the truck!!! I am also from Greenville.

I will try to answer some of your questions.

1.8th Vin #1-LB7 300 hp
8th Vin #2-04.5-05 LLY 310hp autos only, 300 hp manual trans and 4500/5500
8th Vin #3-06 LLY ratings are the same as vin 2
8th vin #D-LBZ 360 hp auto only, not an option in manual trans or 4500/5500 trucks>
8th Vin #6-LMM 365 hp

2.With the mods listed in my signature i get 18-19 unloaded hwy, 16 unloaded city, and around 15-16 loaded hwy. That was when i was running a PPE programmer and have since switched to EFI live and haven't done any mileage testing yet.

3. To keep it simple i would do a 4" turbo back exahuast (delete the cat), a set of guages (pyro and boost), and a mild tuner. The stock allison is good for a extra 90 hp before you start to do damage. Keep it under that and you will be fine. When towing you may want to keep it around a 60hp increase to keep you exhaust temps down.

4. the only thing i would worry about keeping on board would be a spare fuel filter and the tools to replace it. And speaking of fuel filters, they need to be changed every 7000-10000 miles. The onwers manual states 15000 but they tend to clog before then and put you into limp mode.

Your truck came stock with a 3 year 36000 bumper to bumper warranty and a 7 year 100000 miles powertrain warranty.

[mojo0107]

Being Local since John Doe closed down who does your work and the biggest pipe in the county is a 3in...Thanks like I said this is a strange new world with all the LLY,TTS EGR,AFE, I do know the CAI cause I had one...HA HA!

[BigRedChevy]

I have been letting Taylors do alot of my modifying that i don't do my self and the major work has went to pogues. The only major work i have done thought was a water pump and brake hydro booster, both under waranty. For the exhaust you will have to order a system and most likely put it on your self because of new regulations the exhaust shops are not aloud to remove the cat.

LLY- engine code
TTS - aftermarket company, they do tuning, trannies, fuel pumps, engine internal, etc.
EGR- exhaust gas Recirculator, that's another good cheap mode to keep the exhaust from being recirculated into your engine.
AFE - is a aftermarket intake company

Are there anymore you have seen that you don't know? If there is post them up and we will try to answer them.

[mojo0107]

Ok I just read this link
Cat Back Exhaust Vs Turbo Back Exhaust - Diesel Power Magazine

and I still have no idea what I need to do... The conclusion really didn't help...I plan on running around 65-70mph with a 5000 lb camper...So I figure MidRange is where I'll be most of the time, Does the CAt Back system drop the midrange power or not?

[gr8shot]

I don't think it does, but even if it did, what you would gain with even a small tune in your truck would easily wipe out any losses. If you ask me it's a win win situation.

[Meyerperformance]

I would do a turbo-back the cat is very restrictive, and a ppe airbox mod and if wating a tuner, you would have to know what wanting out of the tuner. Let me know if i can help in any way.

Thanks Tyler
MPF, LLC

[mojo0107]

Ok got the EGR Blocker plate on its way from Ebay, Now on the pipe…

I’ve looked and found that there are 100’s of options from almost as many manufactures. I’m not looking for bragging rights or the Bells and Whistles, I would settle for function and Rocks and Rope. With some I know you pay for advertisements and Name. I’m looking for the best bang for my buck. The option of 4 or 5 in??? Drop down??? I don’t know. I’ve been reading and it depends on where you look and who is writing the ad/test/report/review…as to what is best. Someone who has tried a few please point me in some direction. THANKS

[Fireman6458]

I have been looking at MBRP. For what you are talking about doing 4 inch should be plenty big enough, and cheaper than 5 inch. Look at some of the vendors on the site, they have pretty good deals and will steer you in the right direction.