Hey everyone, just joined the forums so I thought I'd start off with both an introduction and some questions.

I recently (just last week) bought my first Dodge Ram. Previously I had owned 3 different F-150's since I was 16 and sold my last one in the Fall of 2008. My wife actually found my truck while I was deployed in Afghanistan (going back in a few days) and we went to see it while I've been on leave. I fell in love with it as it had all the options I was looking for at a price within our budget.

I love the truck and was wondering should I be using 89 or 91 octane fuel, or is 87 just fine? I haven't made any modifications to it yet, but do plan on doing some in the future.

It has a 3.92 gear axle ratio in it with limited slip differential so it has plenty of low end torque. Been trying to confirm the base numbers, am I correct in thinking it has 345 horsepower and 375 lb ft of torque in my '08?

I am planning on doing some upgrades to it in the next year or two, I'll list them in order, please offere suggestions for better manufacturers or parts.

1-K&N Air Intake system (loved the K&N I had in my '97 F-150)

2-New rims. I currently have the stock 20 inch rims but want to find something a little smaller in the 18 or 17 inch range for a couple reasons the main one being tires are cheaper. I've heard I'd have to reset the computer so my tire pressure sensor doesn't give me an error reading all the time.

3-To go along with those sweet rims I want BF Goodrich All Terrain T/A's. I had these tires on my last truck and they were phenominal. I'm really wanting to run black steel rims with winter tires for those chilly months, so if there is a good all around summer tire with excellent traction in wet conditions but I can still go off the trail with I'm open for suggestions.

4-Computer chip. I was looking at either a bullydog or superchips tuner. Suggestions on this would be great since I don't know too much about what chip would work best with my 5.7L Hemi.

5-Dual exhaust. I was thinking either magnaflow or flowmaster single inlet dual outlet, so it wouldn't be a true dual but would still give me the power and sound I want. However reading on the forums I've noticed that with the MDS a dual exhaust may not sound as great as I'm hoping. Any thoughts on this?

6-I never thought about it before, but I've seen some pictures of guys with lights under their hood behind the grill and I love that they're hidden until you actually want the extra light. So this is definitely something I'm considering.

So those are my main ideas and questions. I would really like to run higher octane fuel, but if it's not really required or going to benefit me then there's no point.

Thanks guys.

 

I'm also a new Ram owner (08) & was wondering today if I should be filling up with 87, 89 or 91. I've only had the truck for a few weeks & it's been 87 the whole time.. hopefully not hurting anything.

As far as suggestions, I had a Superchips Flashpaq for my old Durango & loved it.. added alot of getty-up when I needed to step on it, so I'd vote for that.

 

The manual says that 89 octane is recommended and should be used. That's what I put in my 08 hemi. The K&N is what I would get but lots of people will tell you to make your own (there's a DIY somewhere on here). There's a lot of debate going on with exhaust systems flowmaser, gibson .... magnaflow seems to be the most recommended (again that's what I would get after reading all those debates). I would go for the Diablo Sport Predator for the programmer, the most popular seem to be the Superchips and the DSP. If you get the 17 in rims and you are in the Ottawa region I know where you can get 285/70/17 BFG all terrain T/A KO for a decent price. I run the goodyear duratrac as they are all season, all terrain (pretty aggressive looking)rated for severe weather, tires are another subject debated often. I hope this helps.

 

See above in bold.