I would like to know how much horsepower and torque can you add with programmer's,exhaust, and other add on's before you have to start making motor and tranny part changes?

Tranny; 100hp MAX, most likely more like 80-90 before you start to have problems.

Motor hard parts; 500hp relitavely safely, once you get closer to 600 you start to wreck things, to get to and above 700hp, you'll need at least rods, headstuds, pistons, and possibly cyldinder heads depending on how you're making your power.

any sugesstions on tranny upgrades this is first diesel so i am not real up to speed on performance upgrades...thanks for any help

Where are you located.. There MikeL on the west coast or dmaxalliTech on the east coast.

I have Sun Coast parts in Wendy with MikeL's magic and couldn't be happier :D

any sugesstions on tranny upgrades this is first diesel so i am not real up to speed on performance upgrades...thanks for any help

Here's a rough guide to adding power; oppinions will vary, but this is what I've learned from experience, and from oppinions of others:

001. Guages; specifically Pyro and Boost- keeps things safe, makes sure you dont fry your turbo. Expect to spend ~$200-300 for pyro, boost, and pillar mount. 1-2 hours install.

002. Exhuast; important to keep exhaust and turbo temperatures down. At least 4" diameter, preferably stainless steel (t304 is better). Expect to spend $300-600 for setup with or without muffler, and 1-2 hours for the install.

003. Transmission; if you want more than ~400-450hp and put it to the wheels SAFELY, you'll want to do some tranny work. This can vary from a shift kit ($100-200, install difficulty and time required will vary depending on year), to a whole transmission kit.

My personal oppinion favors Suncoast from what I've seen and read. If you're looking to hold 500-550hp, a Suncoast stage III kit should do you fine. Expect to spend $2000-3000 for the kit, plus 15-20 hours for the install, either by you or a transmission shop. If you're looking to go beyond that, you'll want a stage IV or stage V. Stage IV and V use the same hard parts and upgrade parts, but stage V assemblies come with some additional "tweaks" and tricks done by the shop that you can't get anywhere else. Expect to spend $3,500-$5,000 for a stage IV kit, and roughly $1,000 more for a stage V kit.

After you have some guages, exhaust, and transmission, you can start to get into some serious power with turbo and fuel system work.

There're other mods and upgrades you'll read about, but you'll rarely find a consensus on any issue.

IMO, the factory intake and filter are better than any aftermarket solution out there. This is debatable, but its a pretty common oppinion, and you'll find trucks running factory horsepower all the way up to 700-800hp running factory intakes.

You'll also hear varying oppinions on fuel system upgrades. Some say aftermarket filtration is worth the money, some dont. Personally, I trust the factory engineers at Chevy good enough to stay with just the factory filter. There's also a question of how much HP the factory high pressure pump can fuel; some say after 400 or 500HP, you'll need an aftermarket "lift" pump to put fuel to the high pressure pump.

Thanks guys i am going to keep it simple for now i have the exhaust,programmer,cold air intake,blocker &fingerstick and i have transgo jr and outlook monitor on the way, just waiting on the mail i think thats gonna do me for now as far as upgrades unless i start having problems..and by the way SCHULTE you were alot of help and as far as aftermarket air all i noticed was it made my truck louder..well i guess you live and learn...AGAIN THANKS ALL

Hey rockmax, what programmer did you get? And what type of setting did you use?

Hey, Rockmax. Fill out your signature with all your upgrade so we now exactly what truck you have. It will help us help you.