Peace of Mind Modifications to Reduce Stress

After taking delivery, our maiden voyage and a trip to the dealer with the Beast in tow and after conversations with friends and family I have determined there are some necessary upgrades that must be completed.  These upgrades should add peace of mind and confidence which will reduce stress while towing a 15,000 lb fifth wheel.  As i mentioned in a previous post "What have I done?" my truck has met it's match.  And after our Maiden Voyage in our Cyclone 3110 I realized at least two modifications would be required add on's to my 03 3500 Dodge Ram HO Cummins Dually.

My Dodge handled the beast ok, but breaking is a concern and getting up to speed is slower than desired.  Until now my Dodge has been more than enough.  I carried a 4,000lb camper and towed an 18ft fiberglass boat with no trouble.  The only performance modification I have made was adding a cold air intake.  I also added Turbo and Pyrometer gauges so I can keep an eye on things.  After hearing stories about people smoking their brakes there is no way I am taking this beast up any long and steep grades until my truck is ready.

My research suggested that going with the Pacbrake exhaust brake would be a good choice.  Since money is tight and since this was not originally budgeted into our purchase I will be doing the install myself.  Since I also need more horsepower i figured it would be a good time to upgrade the exhaust and add a performance module.  I am not trying to get loud or smoke my tires or blow black smoke out my tail pipe.  I just want to be able to get up and go when I need to.  So I went with the Flo Pro 5" turbo back exhaust and was advised to buy the MADS Smarty Jr.  I was told my MPG might improve with this setup as much as 4 mpg.  I don't believe that, but if I save any and gain power i will be happy.  I am anxious to see how much my exhaust temps go down after adding the new exhaust.

For those of you thinking about doing your own install like this I will warn you, it is a bit intimidating at 1st.  In my case I haven't had a full day available to work on this yet, so I have been picking away at the install 10 mins here, 30 mins there an hour there.  I started by doing the easy stuff that could be done on the bench.  I have done a lot of internet and forum searches looking for photos and how to's whenever I had questions and slowly things are coming together.  The install is not complete yet, but so far so good.  Everything has bolted up nicely.  The instructions could be improved, however using process of elimination on the air lines they have been sufficient so far I hope.  I had to pick an alternate location for the mounting of the wiring harness since the location they pointed out in the instructions doesn't seem to exist for my model and year Dodge.

I had a hard time deciding where to install the air tank.  I think I would prefer to mount it mid-ship on the passenger side, however in the end I installed it exactly where the manual suggested.  I am sure this will be fine.  I still have some electrical work to complete and now that the exhaust has arrived so I just need to take a day off to complete the job.  My weekends are just too busy and I need to get this done.  I have read you need three hands for a portion of the exhaust brake to exhaust pipe connection phase so I will most likely be phoning a friend.

I will update this post when the job is done.