There are a lot of trucks on the road today with diesel engines in them, and for a lot of owners that diesel needs to make more power and torque because of how they use it. In their stock form, diesel engines make a lot more torque than a gasoline engine, but when you need that extra power, there are some parts you can add to get more from your diesel without breaking the bank.

Deciding How Much Power You Need

When you start to consider adding power to the diesel engine in your truck, you need to decide just how much additional power you need. There are a lot of ways to add power, but some are more expensive than others, so you may need to weigh the cost versus the power needed. If you only need an extra 100 horsepower, you might just need to add a power chip or a tuner to the engine, but if you need double or even triple that, you may need a turbo or two and some power tuning. Decided how much power you need will dictate the parts needed to get that power. 

Basic Tuning And Power Chips

If you want to add some power to your diesel truck but you do not want to change or add a bunch of parts on the truck, you can install a power chip in the ECM (engine control module) of the truck. The chip replaces the stock one and changes the fuel mapping, timing, and other settings to increase the power to a set level. Like the stop chip, they are designed to give you a specific power level, but if you add a power tuner to the truck you can alter the settings some. A power tuner is a small computer that plugs into the ECM and allows you to change a few things to get more power from the engine. Neither of these accessories will let you go wild and damage the engine, but they can help you adjust it just enough to make it perform where you want it. 

Adding Or Upgrading A Turbo

If you want to spend a bit more and increase the performance of your diesel even further, adding or upgrading the turbocharger on your truck is another option. The turbo is installed in the exhaust pipes and uses the spent gases coming out of the engine to spin an impeller that draws air in and forces it into the air intake. The fuel flow is adjusted as well, and the result is that a denser, larger mix of fuel and air is compressed into the engine. The increase in power becomes more noticeable at higher RPMs until the maximum boost for the engine is reached. It can be a little complicated to set up, but once it is adjusted properly, the power gains can be in the hundreds of horsepower, depending on the size and boost rate of the turbo used. Often twin turbos are installed to add extreme amounts of power to the engine, but setting these systems up can be very expensive. Consider turbochargers like Dodge Cummins turbochargers to get the power you need for your diesel engine.