In this video, we kick off the Road to 500 Horsepower with a bone stock 2001 Dodge Ram 24 valve Cummins. This is the kind of truck your grandpa might have driven to the hardware store and never once asked for more power. Todd picked it up with a VP44 injection pump, a factory turbo, and an automatic transmission that could not even light up the tires. Naturally, Maya and Will had to give him a hard time before jumping in to transform it into something much more capable.
The first step in waking up any VP44 truck is tuning, so we install the Quadzilla Adrenaline, a powerful and feature packed tuner designed specifically for 24 valve Cummins engines. Along with the Quadzilla, we clean up the battery cables, address major grounding issues, and get rid of some questionable wiring that came with this old truck. These electrical fixes are crucial for consistent power delivery and reliable starting, especially on a twenty year old platform.
We take you through the full installation process, including how to safely wire tap the injection pump and set up the fuel pressure and boost sensors. The Quadzilla offers data monitoring, tune control without needing a phone, and the ability to squeeze a lot more performance out of a stock truck. With everything installed, we strap the truck to the dyno to get a stock baseline. It made 199 horsepower and 435 pound feet of torque at the wheels, which matches what you would expect from a factory rated 235 horsepower truck.
After turning the Quadzilla up to level ten, the truck jumped to 301 horsepower and 644 pound feet of torque. That is a gain of over 100 horsepower and more than 200 foot pounds of torque from a single tuning box and some wiring cleanup. This is a huge improvement in drivability and towing capability without sacrificing reliability. It is also a perfect example of why tuning is the best first mod for any VP44 Cummins.
This video is the first part of our Road to 500 Horsepower series, where we aim to build a powerful but practical tow rig that still drives great. If you own a second generation Cummins and want more performance out of your truck, this is where to start. Let us know in the comments what parts you want us to test next, and help us come up with a name for this build. We are just getting started.
Power Driven Diesel is a specialty performance shop engaged in the engineering and development of high-performance turbo diesel technologies.
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