So to put a long story short, I own a 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 5.9L .360. Its solid truck and I love it, but its a turtle. The motor is bone stock and has a 5' lift with 35' tires, so that doesnt help it. My question is would it worth investing into the motor to make it go faster or should I start looking at other options? I am 16, and have $1000-1500 to spend on the motor. Would that be enough to get the mods nesisary to make it at least have some get up and go to it? If so what mods would you recommend?

Thanks .

 

Welcome to DF!

There are some things you should do to the motor, just on general principles. Fixing the plenum is right there at the top of the list. (see the stickied thread on that topic at the top of the tech forum.) Second, if your truck is north of 100K miles, do the timing chain and gears as well.

Catch up on ALL the maintenance.

Now the bad news..... None of that is going to make too much of a difference. You probably have the stock 3.55 gears, and with those 35 inch tires, it makes the truck a real dog. (not that they would slap you back in your seat with their amazing acceleration to begin with......)

So, aside from the stuff mentioned above, your BEST alternative is, gears. 4.10's would be ok, 4.56 would be better. If you don't do a lot of highway, go with the 4.56. Unfortunately, that's expensive, and will absorb your entire budget, without trouble. This is NOT something you can do in your driveway.... gears are picky, and if done wrong, you will destroy them, along with a fair few other expensive parts in the diff.

Also, doing gears, as opposed to adding horsepower, is kinder to your trans. The trans wasn't the best from the factory.... but, treat it good, and it can last a couple hundred thousand miles.

 

Nothing short of building a stroker motor or adding a turbo or supercharger is going to make the motor as strong as what you are looking for. When these trucks were built 230hp was pretty good. Newer modern motors are doubling that. My advise is if you love the truck enjoy it for what it is, and over the years you can upgrade intake and add headers, things like that but understand it will only net you 30 or 40 hp. +1 on the gears, 3.55s are doggy with even stock size tires!

 

+2 on the gears and maintenance. Simple math/gear reduction if you are putting out 100ft lbs from the back of your tranny you will have 355 ft lbs exiting the diff with 3.55:1 rear gears. Now go to 4.56:1 and you will get 456 ft lbs coming out of the diff. You just gained 101 ft lbs and didn't have to modify your motor. Imagine what that amplification is like under a load such as WOT pulling a trailer. Also your motor and tranny will be working less because the torque is being used/amplified more effectively, less stress=longer lasting. Remember when you are trying to move big tires torque is key, not power. Power is just a representation of engine speed and torque. Typically to produce more power you make more torque in the high end, not ideal for your situation.