I am wantin some more power in my Ram, and i was thinking about using a programmar or achip and was just wondering if it's worth the money and which one is the best? I have a budget of about 400 to 500 dollars so, if yall have any other sugguestions on what i should get i would appreciate it.

1997 Ram 1500 4x4 5.9L V8
K&N Cold Air Intake
Flowmaster 50 series exhaust

 

About on any truck before 98, chip is pretty much worthless. Do you have a CAI or exhaust? IF you do, then headers and a fastman throttle body will help ya out. If you don't have a CAI or exhaust, try starting there first. They both did wonders for mine.

 

Hypertech I think makes one for the '97... however my suggestion would be a 52mm fastman TB and a set of Harland Sharp 1.7 roller rockers... I think, you can get the pair for under $500 but not 100% sure since I havent looked at pricing in a while.

 

Send your pcm to B&G and have it flashed. It's right in your price range and way way better than a Programmer. Don'tget a fixed value piggy back chip. You will be dissapointed.

 

No... I disagree here... it's my opinion that you should not get a flash until you have your motor finished with whatever mods your gonna put on it. reason being, the flash you get now, may not match up well with the mods of tomorrow. And as we all know, your never satisfied there's always another mod you'll want to do...

 

Programmers such as Hypertech and Superchip work were designed for stock engines, although a lot of guys have some mods such as the Fastman and headers.If you go too far with engine mods, then the flashed PCM will be the best option, as discussed above.

One drawback of the flashed PCM is that you have to run premium gas. It may be different for the programmers designed for 1997, but the Hypertech for my 1999 allows me to choose between a 87 and 93 octane setting. Also, you can pick up a used programmer for half the cost or less of a new one. Keep an eye on Ebay or on the classified section of this site and see if you get get one.

Personally, I like the option of being able to switch octane settings. Normally, due to the use of my truck, I run the premium setting, although I can get away with 89 octane gas. I like the extra power and torque to pull the hilly roads in this area. But I'll be going on a trip ina few weeks with the in-laws where we'll be towing our campers out to Ohio. It's going to be about 800 miles round trip. My father-in-law will be towing a larger camper than mine with his Caravan, so he'll be the limiting factor on the trip, I'll have no trouble keeping up with him. So I'll set the programmer back to the 87 octane setting, just to save a little money on gas.