OK, so I have a completely stock 5.2 and I occasionally tow a small camping trailer. The rest of my driving is around town/work. You guys seem to be all over the Fastman TB redo. Would that be a good place to start or maybe the MSD ignition units. Can only afford one at this time and want the most bang for the buck and hopefully a little better MPGs. Which one should go 1st? Also, which 3923 plugs, copper or platinum?
WC

 

B&G flash, 1.7 Roller Rockers, or, if your real industrious, a cam and a good set of heads. Intake manifoldmods are cheap andcan help alot depending on gears and stall.MPG wise,I did a little better on the highway with the flash. It may have hurt around town though (mostly due to driving habits I think). You will definitely have more torque which is supposed to help mpg's around town.I don't think rr's will do much to mpg either way. It's pretty much the equivelant of putting a small towing cam in. Moderate performance cam will hurt both hwy/city mpgbut with the right tune only a little (depending on driving habits). IMO, the fun factor is worth it. Big cam will hurt a bunch.If you go to far with intake mods with 3.55's and the factory converter it will hurt citympg's. If you are looking for bang/buck, the MSD is probably not a good place to start. You may notice a smoother idle, but it will pretty much be bangless.

Also, it's a good idea to look ahead and try to decide what mods you might want to do, accumulate the parts as you can, then do them all at once. You will save a bunch of money this way. I've nowlost track of how many intake manifold gasket sets that I've bought.The last timing cover gasket I put on didlooklike it might be reusable though. Itis a felpro that is metal with a blue coating on it. Does anyone know anything about this?

 

Thanks for the input but, Jeeze Alou, this is my daily driver and family/work rig. I ain't lookin' to take on any and all comers! Just eek out a little extra oomph. Besides, can only aford 1 add-on/bolt-on/slap-on at this time.

 

ok IMO and in order of cheapest to most expensive (mostly)
1. copper 3923 plugs mp cap rotor and wires $80
2. 180* stat $10 (made a huge diffrence in my 5.9)
3. 70 series flowmaster w/3" single pipe $120 (installed myself)
4. ebay k&n lookalike fipk $59
5. Fastman Tb $250 (soon to come)
all the above execpt for 5 gave me 7 more mpg granted I had oil fouled plugs from a blown plenum gasket and 3 and 4 came a week or 2 later. the k&n gave me 2mpg and the muffler did about1 mpg but the plugh and stat did a soild 4mpg. Not too sure what 5 will do for me but the truck feels like a 80 hp gain with everything so far the plenum problem and oiled plugs were killing the motor.

 

The easiest and "the most bang for the buck " is a Superchips or Hypertech programmer.

 

Welcome to the world of the modified Ram. Some of us have kind of gone overboard and would like everybody else to follow suit.

In your case, a really good tune up would be the best place to start. Good OEM Champion spark plugs or the Autolite 3923's are good choices for your setup. I personally have not had any luck at all with Bosch or any platinum type plug. Some people like the 180 thermostat as it causes the engine to run cooler in the summer, but when I did that last winter I kept getting a CEL code for too low temperature.

Improved cold air intake, like the K&N brandand cat-back exhaust will help your truck breathbetter and will provide better performance. But until you can improve the throttle body air flow and decrease the restriction with the factory catalytic converter you won't realize their full benefits.

I believe a custom B&G computer flash for your stock engine would be a waste of $400 to $430 of your money. Look into the Hypertech or similar power programmers as they will help you with your stock system for a lot less money. I'm not just saying this because I have a Hypertech power programmer for sale that fits your truck, I'm saying it because it is true. Retailers sell these anywhere from $299 to $400. You can have mine for $200.

If you are looking to do some engine work, a $450 set of harland sharp 1.7 roller rockers will really help your engine. Again, if you have not improved the intake (Cold air intake and throttle body) and exhaust (high flow cat and cat back exhaust system), this will only provide limited performance improvement. The stock 5.2 has 1.6 ratio rocker arms and the larger 1.7 rockers will act like a camshaft upgrade with higher lift.

Good luck and let us know if there's any other questions you have.

 

I disagree whole heartedly. I did both Superchips and B&G when my motor was "close" to stock, and the B&G flash beats the Superchips all to hell. No aftermarket programmer will remove torque management or will it come close on the fuel and timing maps. Tom Fox is another option. He will flash the box for $350. As far as a cai, I think that falls into the tweak category rather than the bang/buck category. Same with the tb. If you are running stock heads (even with 1.7 rr's) the stock tb will flow plenty of cfm's and may give you abetter low end. If you really want one, and, If you have no plans to do any motor work buy the 50mm.

Just to show how true this is (except for the following suit bit), some people have gone so far overboard that, at this point, they don't consider a good set of heads and a cam going overboard at all.

 

well as you can see things like this can get highly oponionated. There are some constances in the various threads though that almost all agree on........plugs, cai, tb, and exaust. the more contraversial stuff.......computer addons/mods, internal engine work, and intakes. things can get misleading and confusing from time to time. if you have alot of free time at work like I do take a few hours and read through the threads some guys come back on and explain what happened with a particular mod. Any way please let us know what you do and the effect of the mod.
thanks

 

Well, I'm gonna start with the basics this weekend with plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and since the coolant needs changing I'll go the 180 stat.
I did fail to mentinon that the truck isn't completely stock. A few years back I added a Raven muffler (along the Flowmaster type lines) might be a local thing!? Sounds good tho. And put a K&N filter in the original box. Taking Mopowar's advice I checked other posts on many different things and noticed CAI seems unproven. So I don't know that I'll do that just yet. Lottsa chatter about the MSD and Fastman but if you guys think that the Hyperdealy is the way to go then maybe that's where I'll go.
Thanks for the input.
WC

 

I agree, I disagree......Don't do that, do this......That's no good do the other thing.[sm=icon_blah.gif]
Just because something works for one guy is no guarantee it will work for you. [sm=headbang.gif](viper rockers,180 stat)
AFTER you do all the things suggestedTHEN you will know which ones are best for you.
This forum is great because of so many people offering their experience. Keep reading and do some searches for specific mods.