| Popping the hood on Tim Barber's '04 Dodge reveals the twin turbos and twin CP3s that add up more than 900 rear wheel horsepower.
In the last year or so, third-gen Dodges ('03-'07) have really come on strong. We're starting to see more and more of them produce big power numbers, and also run speedily down the dragstrip. At the recent OBX Outlaw race that was cancelled due to rain, we ran into a couple unbelievably strong common rails. The owners were nice enough to share their combinations with us so that our readers can see what it takes to make some huge power numbers with a CP3-fueled Cummins.
750 HorsepowerJess Spruill isn't very easy on engines. Between sled pulling, drag racing, some super high EGTs, and some scary timing, he is now on his fourth motor. This motor came with a burnt piston, so the first thing Spruill did was have it "gone through."
| Jess Spruill uses twin Industrial Injection pumps mounted with an ATS kit to produce more than 700 horsepower.
The piston was replaced, and all the tolerances were increased over factory specs to give the engine more room to expand as it heats up. While they were in there, a Maxspool 2 camshaft was added, and the pistons were coated before they went back into the motor. The head was also lightly ported on the exhaust side, and given a five-angle valve job. The cylinder head was resurfaced, and the "thickest gasket we could find" was used for sealing. A set of ARP studs do the clamping, but no O-ringing or fire-ringing was performed.
Power-producing parts include a set of Stage 3 CP3 pumps from Industrial Injection and a set of "BFI" injectors. Airflow is handled by an ATS Aurora 5000 Turbo that spins up to 65 psi of boost and blows through a stock '06 intercooler.
Programming is handled by a Smarty TNT Race tune, which has some timing pulled out of it because (gulp) Spruill also plans on injecting nitrous sometime in the near future. While the truck hasn't been on a dyno as of yet, 750 horsepower is approximately what it takes to propel a Dodge Ram like this into the 11-second range on the dragstrip. In fact, Spruill would not tell us how fast his little blue sleeper was, but he hinted that high 11s was being conservative.
| In addition to running twin injection pumps, Barber runs this nasty Mitusa belt-driven lift pump, which flows 240 gallons of fuel per hour and is regulated at 22 psi.
950 HorsepowerSo 750 hp is old news you say? Well Tim Barber of TRE Diesel has rattled the rollers to the tune of 949 horsepower and 1,590 lb-ft of torque. How'd he do it? Barber's setup is similar to Spruill's-lots of air and fuel. While he doesn't have any of the trick bottom end mods, Barber's truck did have the head O-ringed, and he also installed an F1 Diesel Helix 2 cam with a set of F1 valvesprings. A set of $1,100 ARP 625 head studs are employed, but that's it for the long block. Airflow is handled by a set of custom twins built with intake and exhaust piping from Maximized Performance. The small turbo comes in at 64mm, the large one at 80mm, and both are made by High Tech Turbo. A Tial 44mm wastegate is used to regulate boost to the large turbo, and total boost ranges from 75 to 80 psi. For fuel, Barber's truck also relies on dual CP3 pumps (PPE) with stock internals. His common rail can spin up to 4,000 rpm because of a TST/TNT stack with the Smarty Race tune, allowing a 4,000-rpm redline. A Snow Performance Stage 2 water/methanol system is used to inject water into the engine, and Barber reported gaining 25 hp on the dyno with water only. While it hasn't been to the track yet, 11s should be no problem for the silver Dodge, and with a larger 88mm turbo on the way, 1,000 horsepower should be possible soon.
Two Dodges, Two SleepersWe Don't Know What Fast Diesels Are Supposed To Look Like, But We'd never have guessed that either one of these trucks run 11s without popping the hood. Where are the stacks or slicks, or even the flame paint jobs? Both trucks have side exit exhaust systems, and Barber's truck even has the stock wheels. What you can't see is the $5,000 both have in their transmissions to handle this sort of power. Spruill has a full billet Suncoast transmission, while Barber relies on a DTT transmission that he assembled at his shop. Spruill's truck is an '05, while Barber's is an early '04 with the 555 lb-ft H.O. motor. Single turbo or twins, 750 hp or 950 hp, both of these trucks are not to be taken lightly despite their ordinary looks.
