I recently bought a 1998 Ram 1500 SST. 5.9L V8 with 149,000 miles. Good running truck but I know it should have more power than it does. I don't know the 1st thing about how to make any truck run better, but I can get in there and do it myself if I know what to change. I did the basic oil change and air filter when I bought it. New plugs and wires this weekend.
Any advice on what to get to next?

 

Check the sticky thread on the plenum

These trucks arent power monsters from the factory, they are severely underpowered in that regard.

But they last forever and respond well to builds. cams, heads, ect.

You can eeke out some power with bolt ons and a tuner, especially if you have the death flash. But proper maintenance is first.

 

Thanks Bone. I have no idea what a death flash is though. Plan on getting ahead of the maintenance, I have a couple of boots busted on the front, and working on upgrades.

I've never heard of a plenum before I got on this forum but I see it all over the place. Definitely gonna have to dig into that

 

Death Flash Thread:
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...ath-flash.html

Plenum Thread:
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...um-thread.html

 

Appreciated guys! I put the factory recommend plugs and wires in yesterday. Noticeably improved acceleration. It looked like the posts on the distributor cap were pretty ashy but didn't have the time (or cash) to find another fix. Left the heat shields in place because they didn't cause too much of a problem.
I still need to research the death flash and poke around for the plenum checks. Probably gonna be next weekend for that

 

For future reference: https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...new-topic.html