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Aftermarket performance upgrades are an excellent way to unleash the hidden power in your stock diesel truck.
Whether you’ve just purchased your first diesel truck or you’re a veteran diesel truck owner, you’re probably looking for new ways to maximize power.
With the wide variety of diesel truck parts on the market, where should you even start on your journey to add more power?
We’ve put together a list of diesel upgrades that we believe will give you the biggest boost to your truck’s performance. Check them out below.
Turbocharger Upgrade
Give your diesel truck some extra power by installing a new high-performance turbocharger. Much like how sports cars have six to twelve cylinders to propel them faster, performance turbos force more air through the cylinders your diesel truck already has, making the fuel burn at a faster rate. In turn, this will give your truck an extra kick when you accelerate.
Other benefits from a turbo upgrade include better fuel efficiency. By improving the combustion process with a better air-fuel mixture, your fuel economy will improve under normal driving conditions.
Additionally, you will see better towing and hauling capabilities due to the improved pulling power from the increase in torque.
Turbochargers also spool faster to do away with turbo lag, decrease your exhaust gas temp to prevent overheating and a turbo upgrade will make your engine last longer because there is less strain on the engine.
Air Intake Systems
Air filters and air intake systems can boost torque, improve fuel mileage, and increase horsepower by feeding your truck clean and cold air. By cooling down the air that enters your truck, you’re essentially providing dense, oxygen-rich air to yield a powerful combustion.
Cold air intakes are one of the most common and reasonably priced power modifications that diesel truck owners make. With an array of air intake systems available, choose based on your budget, and truck’s engine size and manufacturer.
Air intake systems are also one of the easiest DIY upgrades a diesel truck owner can perform. With their simple design, quick, bolt-on installation and minimal tools required, you can upgrade your air intake and take pride in doing it without any help.
Lift Pumps
A lift pump provides low-pressure fuel to the engine, adding reliability to your fuel system and yielding more power. While they aren’t as flashy as turbochargers, lift pumps are essential when increasing your truck’s horsepower.
Another benefit of an upgraded lift pump is it prevents fuel starvation or “cavitation”. Cavitation is when your injection pump doesn’t receive enough fuel which causes air pockets to form. The improved fuel pressure gives your diesel engine a steady supply of fuel and that will prevent damage to other parts of the fuel system like the injection pump.
Most aftermarket lift pumps are designed to include an improved fuel filter. Cleaner fuel ensures the overall health of the engine and fuel system components.
A new lift pump is especially important if you’ve made other upgrades that increase horsepower. For instance, if you’ve upgraded to high-performance injectors, a performance tuner, or a more powerful turbocharger, a better lift pump can handle the increased fuel demands of these new modifications.
High-Flow Exhaust Manifold
Stock manifolds are in a word, restrictive. As the name implies, a high-flow exhaust manifold increases exhaust flow and reduces backpressure. By allowing the engine to let exhaust gasses flow more freely, it results in an increase in horsepower, torque and overall performance.
Replacing the manufacturer’s stock exhaust manifold with a high-flow exhaust manifold is one of the best modifications for increasing horsepower. They are designed with smoother more direct paths and larger piping which optimizes the flow of the exhaust gasses. Some high-flow exhaust manifolds have a ceramic coating to fend off high temperatures and resist corrosion.
Upgrading your exhaust manifold is one of the most efficient ways to improve your truck’s performance.
Diesel Tuners
Diesel tuners let you custom-tune your diesel truck’s engine to get better fuel efficiency, torque and to gain more power.
The way a diesel tuner works is it reprograms the ECU or Engine Control Unit to get the settings as optimized as possible.
They can adjust the fuel injection, turbo boost and engine timing which results in a significant gain in power and a quicker throttle response.
Check out our article Diesel Tuners – A Guide for Improved Performance where we go into more detail about this very innovative invention as well as our recommendations for the best diesel tuner for Powerstroke, Duramax and Cummins engines.
Intercooler Kit
The intercooler cools the compressed air expelled from the turbo before it enters the engine. It’s a crucial piece of equipment that improves engine efficiency and boosts power.
For all it does it is a surprisingly simple device. However, it is made up of several very important components that work in tandem to help your truck perform at its best.
Intercooler kits consist of all these parts or in other cases just some of the parts like the intercooler pipe and boot kits.
To get the maximum benefit of an intercooler upgrade we recommend a complete kit but if your budget won’t allow that expense, upgrading the pipes and boots will go a long way in preventing heat-related power loss.
Fuel Injectors
Another upgrade to increase power is by installing new fuel injectors. An upgrade to your injectors will result in more fuel being delivered to the combustion chamber of the engine.
Over time, diesel fuel injectors build up with carbon deposits and other contaminants from diesel fuel which restricts fuel flow. If your injectors are going bad you’ll notice rough idling, poor fuel mileage, a lack of power and misfires.
Fuel injectors are very precision-engineered parts and with prolonged use, the nozzles wear out causing uneven fuel spray. They also have rubber seals that deteriorate and will start leaking fuel into the combustion chamber when it’s not needed.
So for all these reasons and a few more, upgrading your fuel injectors is a smart move for an overall improvement to the performance of your fuel system.
In Conclusion
These diesel performance upgrades are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the power potential of your truck. Here at ProSource Diesel, we pride ourselves on the wide array of parts and accessories we offer to fuel your passion for diesel trucks. Have questions? Contact us today for more information about our diesel truck parts and kits.
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