Looking for best upgrades to the 5.2 magnum
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10-04-2004, 04:57 PM
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10-04-2004, 07:33 PM
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RE: Looking for best upgrades to the 5.2 magnum
Well, these are my opinions. However I think that most would agree with some or all of these. These are in progressive order (again IMO), but could be done in all most any order and still get good resaults. This should work for the 5.9 as well.
Exhaust: Upgrade the stock muffler. I have had the muffler replaced with a three chamber Flowmaster unit using the stock pipes (for the stealth look). It was about $150 and estimated 5-10HP (i.e. just noticable). You could also get a bolt on system for $300-$600 and maybe get a few more HP....Your call. Then install a set of good headers. I installed Gibson headers. They were about $385 online (ebay). They took about 2-3 hours to install. The power increase was wonderful. The factory says 20-40HP. I am not sure the actuall, however it was quite a bit. NOTE: I have a 5 speed and Gibson headers are known for lots of low end torque gain. This is important with a manual.
Air Intake:: The use of the spacer is probably not doing much. The makers of these have some data to support their view, however independant studies have not shown any repeatable gains. Save your money. You can add a free flow air filter and get a little bit of gain (2-4HP). Note that most refer to these as Cold Air Intake (CAI). But most of them are far from Cold Air ingesting unit. They suck in hot air from the engine bay. They do however, reduce the restriction in the stock air box. Volant has a neat looking true Cold Air Intake system. But I have seen a few independant tests that show no gains and one test that actully had a loss of HP over stock. The Free Flow systems have shown to have a small increase (4-12HP). I call mine the Clean Air Intake (CAI) system. I would think that the ones you see on Ebay for$40-$60 are about as good as the $250+ units from name brands. Maybe the filters are better but you can get a K&N filter and fit it to a cheap intake pipe and hat for a lot less.
The two unknowns to me are the M1 intake manifold and computers. The intake manifold from what I have read gives a lot of gain but at the loss of bottom end (again not good for my 5 speed). The computer from what I hear is a decent gain for the automatics as it also optimizes the shifting with a gain of some HP (10-25HP). I have spoke to several computer companies and they say that for the manual transmission trucks that the gains are not as effective. I even had one company tell me not to waste my money and put it into a set of good headers (I did).
Another thing to look at is changing the rear end gear. Mine came with the 3.21:1 gears. When I scattered the main bearings I had the gears changed to 3:55:1 and added Posi to the mix. This was a great gain accross the board. The truck is quicker everywere and the gas mileage is acutlly up (from 13MMPG to 16MPG on the HWY). I think this is due to less luggin of the engine (was about 1750rpm@70mph now 2000rpm@70mph) You could even go with a 3.92:1 and get even quicker response (the mileage is a different story at this gear I would think). The good set of used rear gears (3.55:1) with Posi added, new bearings and labor was about $650. I spent $50 at the dealer to change the speedo factor on the computer.
There is my info. Hope this has helped.
Eric
Exhaust: Upgrade the stock muffler. I have had the muffler replaced with a three chamber Flowmaster unit using the stock pipes (for the stealth look). It was about $150 and estimated 5-10HP (i.e. just noticable). You could also get a bolt on system for $300-$600 and maybe get a few more HP....Your call. Then install a set of good headers. I installed Gibson headers. They were about $385 online (ebay). They took about 2-3 hours to install. The power increase was wonderful. The factory says 20-40HP. I am not sure the actuall, however it was quite a bit. NOTE: I have a 5 speed and Gibson headers are known for lots of low end torque gain. This is important with a manual.
Air Intake:: The use of the spacer is probably not doing much. The makers of these have some data to support their view, however independant studies have not shown any repeatable gains. Save your money. You can add a free flow air filter and get a little bit of gain (2-4HP). Note that most refer to these as Cold Air Intake (CAI). But most of them are far from Cold Air ingesting unit. They suck in hot air from the engine bay. They do however, reduce the restriction in the stock air box. Volant has a neat looking true Cold Air Intake system. But I have seen a few independant tests that show no gains and one test that actully had a loss of HP over stock. The Free Flow systems have shown to have a small increase (4-12HP). I call mine the Clean Air Intake (CAI) system. I would think that the ones you see on Ebay for$40-$60 are about as good as the $250+ units from name brands. Maybe the filters are better but you can get a K&N filter and fit it to a cheap intake pipe and hat for a lot less.
The two unknowns to me are the M1 intake manifold and computers. The intake manifold from what I have read gives a lot of gain but at the loss of bottom end (again not good for my 5 speed). The computer from what I hear is a decent gain for the automatics as it also optimizes the shifting with a gain of some HP (10-25HP). I have spoke to several computer companies and they say that for the manual transmission trucks that the gains are not as effective. I even had one company tell me not to waste my money and put it into a set of good headers (I did).
Another thing to look at is changing the rear end gear. Mine came with the 3.21:1 gears. When I scattered the main bearings I had the gears changed to 3:55:1 and added Posi to the mix. This was a great gain accross the board. The truck is quicker everywere and the gas mileage is acutlly up (from 13MMPG to 16MPG on the HWY). I think this is due to less luggin of the engine (was about 1750rpm@70mph now 2000rpm@70mph) You could even go with a 3.92:1 and get even quicker response (the mileage is a different story at this gear I would think). The good set of used rear gears (3.55:1) with Posi added, new bearings and labor was about $650. I spent $50 at the dealer to change the speedo factor on the computer.
There is my info. Hope this has helped.
Eric
