I belive it has to be visable, mine is behind the front bumper, wich does hide it somewhat. Most fish cops are happy if you have one and don't care where it is. But they can be dicks if they want.
How do you retorque the heads when you put in a fire ring gasket? Fire rings wear out and need a lot of retourqeing to keep them sealing. O ringing would last longer and seal the same amount of cyl pressures.
30 mpg is achiveable with a 5.9 cummins. I run 27mpg empty with my truck, but i have a lot of mods. On a 04 truck you may have a 305hp or 325hp engine, 04 was a changeover year. I wouldn't start playin with gears, put some 34 inch tires on if anything. Your money would be best spent on power...
You find it easyer to do with the cab on? I've never tryed that way yet. Always pulled the cab. SCT is probably the top tunner for a ford 6.0. Custom tunes are available to give you more power or delete the EGR in the computer. If you want to have big power with your 6.0 your going to need...
All i know is My honda trx450r eats raptors in a dirt drag race lol. They will be heaver than a 400 or 450 and will be slower in tight trails, But you will have torque. I have no torque, just high RPM.