We get a lot of calls asking, "What do I need to do to my truck to make a certain horsepower level?" We thought we would throw out a few rough guidelines to help you out when you are shopping for parts. We are doing this section specifically for the 03-04 5.9L Dodge Cummins so it's not a generic model. Some of the recommendations will be a little vague. We are going to try and lay out the best way to make the stated horsepower rating. For example, you could grab the highest setting on your programmer to make 500HP on a dyno run but for longevity you would be better off with a set of 50HP Injectors and a lower setting on the tuner. We are going to mention a lot of specific products. These are products that we prefer through our experience. There are, of course, many other options that we have available on the site. Bear in mind that even though Dodge says your truck is 305HP they are quoting flywheel horsepower, not rear wheel horsepower. On a dyno, the actual rear wheel horsepower for these trucks is about 250HP. Please don't get sucked into the trap of adding all of the manufacturer stated horsepower gains for the individual products together to estimate your horsepower. This will only lead to disappointment!
300 Horsepower
Smarty Jr. or Edge Juice with Attitude, S&B Cold Air Intake or DPP Cool Hose with PSM Cool Power, 4" Turbo Back Exhaust, BD Boost Fooler,
Recommended Drivetrain Upgrades
Automatic: non-necessary
Manual: non-necessary
400 Horsepower
S&B Cold Air Intake or DPP Cool Hose with PSM Cool Power, 4" Turbo Back Exhaust, BD Boost Fooler, Smarty Jr. Programmer or Edge Juice with Attitude (boost fooler not necessary with this option), ISSPRO or AutoMeter Factory Match Gauge Package
Recommended Drivetrain Upgrades
Automatic: Minimum would be a BD Valve Body. Ideally you would add a BD Single Disc Torque Converter.
Manual: Valair HD Spring Hub Kevlar single disc clutch.
500 Horsepower
S&B Cold Air Intake, 4" Turbo Back Exhaust, BD Super B Turbo, BD Exhaust Manifold, BD 60 HP Injector Nozzles or one of our Custom Options, Smarty S-06, BD Boost Fooler, PureFlow AirDog Fuel Pump, Industrial Injection Bag-of-Parts CP3 Modification ISSPRO or AutoMeter Factory Match Gauges
Recommended Drivetrain Upgrades
Automatic: BD Torque Single or Triple Disc Torque Converter and Valve Body (Recommend billet input shaft with Triple Disc Converter)
Manual: Valair Kevlar/Ceramic Single Disc Clutch or Valair Spring Hub Dual Disc Clutch with organic facings.
600 Horsepower
AFE Stage II Cold Air Intake, Smarty TNT, TS Performance MP-8, GDP Air Boss Intake Plenum, BD Cool-It Intercooler, 4" or 5" Turbo Back Exhaust, BD Super B Special Turbo, BD or PDI exhaust manifold, BD R700 Twin Turbos or one of our custom turbo or twin turbo options, Wicked Diesel Arson Stage III CP3 mod, Wicked Diesel Super Rail and Feedline, AirDog II DF-165 Demand Flow fuel pump or GDP Fuel Boss, ARP Head Studs if you plan on running boost pressures over 45PSI, 90-120 HP Custom Injector Nozzles, CFM +, BD, or AFE Bladerunner intake manifold, Snow Performance Water/Methanol Injection, Diesel Pros Killer B Cam, ISSPRO gauge package that includes fuel pressure, rail pressure, pyro and boost.
Recommended Drivetrain Upgrades:
Automatic: BD Triple Disc Converter, BD Valve Body, Billet Input Shaft, Billet Output Shaft or full built race transmission
Manual: Valair Spring Hub Dual Disc with full ceramic facings or kevlar/ceramic for the daily driver/heavy towing/drag racing. If you are planning on sled pulling on a regular basis you would want to step up to the Valair 13" Dual Disc with bronze inserts rated to 800HP.
700 Horsepower
AFE Stage II Cold Air Intake, Smarty TNT stacked with TS Performance MP-8, GDP Air Boss Intake Plenum, BD Cool-It Intercooler, 5" Turbo Back Exhaust, Industrial Injection Super PhatShaft 66 or a custom turbo or twin turbo option, BD or PDI exhaust manifold, Wicked Diesel Stage II Avenger Cp3, Wicked Diesel Super Rail and Feedline, AirDog II DF-200 Demand Flow fuel pump or GDP Fuel Boss, ARP Head Studs , 100-150HP Custom Injector Nozzles, BD or AFE Bladerunner intake manifold, Snow Performance Water/Methanol Injection, Diesel Pros Killer B Cam, ISSPRO gauge package that includes fuel pressure, rail pressure, pyro and boost
Recommended Drivetrain Upgrades
Automatic: Full built race transmission with Triple Disc converter, billet input and output shafts
Manual: Valair 13" Dual Disc with bronze inserts rated to 800HP
800 Horsepower
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Recommended Drivetrain Upgrades
Automatic: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Manual: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$