Hey, im looking for a programer for my truck, its a '98 1500 with a 5.2. ive been looking at the superchips, jet performance, and the hypertech. im not sure what other options there are out there, but if yall know of any others, please let me know, if not, then just which ones you all find to work best for yall. any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I've heard bad things about the Jet chips. I'd go with Superchips, Hypertech, B&G Flash, Mopar PCM, or a SCT if they make it for your year. The SCT is probably the best if they make it for your year. The B&G and Mopar PCM's are supposed to be pretty good too but if you don't want to adjust the speedo and all.

 

I would fix the plenum, if you haven't already. Do the round air cleaner, get an exhaust, do a good tuneup...then get a programmer to top it all off. Seems like Hypertech is the fav for handhelds, the SCT and B&G for actual flashes. The SCT costs about twice as much as the B&G flash,but I don't know if it's worththe extra cost (over the B&G)or not...

 

i guessing its a gasser, if not edge has them for the cummins engine, personally i would recommend a hypertech Max Energy programmer forour gas engines, good luck

 

ya, its a gasser, but Ram2k1, you said something about fixing the plenum, i havent noticed mine leaking or anything. is it still just one of those things that needs to be fixed? will it make my truck perform better by fixing it? other than that, ive already got the round air cleaner, love that. and right now im running stock exhaust pipe, but took out my muffler, and gutted my cat. i plan on doing it right within the next week or two, with completly removing the cat and running new piping, cause i think im having a bottle neck effect with the empty cat.
the main thing im looking for with the programer is fuel efficency. horsepower and torque would be nice, but if i can afford to put fuel in it, it does me no good.
thanks.

 

Been looking at all the programmers available for my year truck and not a one of them jumps up and says buy me. Even the reviews dont really say one is definitly better then the other.
On my truck so far, have the catback dual exhaust installed. That really helped it breath and sound better. Looking for other upgrades myself. Just dont know which ones to use. So confusing.

 

Do a search for the "death flash" or just look at your pcm and see if it has a sticker that says anything like "factory authorized upgrade" or something to that effect. The plenum fix is really square 1 on these trucks. Even if it isn't a problem now, it probably will be eventually. I would fix it before you get a programmer, b/c if you don't, you'll probably start pinging like crazy. So, I would have to say, yes, it needs to be fixed whether leaking or not.

 

Ram2k1, this death flash i hear so much about, i just checked and i dont think i have it. i did a search for it on the forum, it came back with tons of results, but their all people talking about it, cause they already know about it. i really have no idea what it is. what does it do? and aperantly you can fix it with a programer or TPS swap.
either way, i dont think i have it, but how hard it is to do the plenum replacement? and what exactly will my truck do if i dont fix it and it does go bad, besides the oil in the back of the plenum?

 

You can't fix the deathflash by swaping the TPS. The only ways that I know of is by moding the cps or reprogramming the PCM. Here is the story behind the deathflash. The intake on the dodge is made of alluminum. It has a belly pan that is made of steel. These two metals expand at differnt rates. The expansion will cause the gasket between them to rip. When the gasket rips it allows oil and air to get into the intake wich causes pinging. The quick fix is to retard the timing wich reduces power and mpg. This is what the deat flash is. It was the dealers solution to the pinging. The real fix is to replace the belly pan with an alluminm pan. I think you could do all of the work yourself for somewhere right around 100$.When I did it Ialsoreplace the timing chain because that is also a known problem in the dodges. In reality if your truck is binging on regular gas and ifthe truck isn't eating oil then you can get away with waiting. Look down the TB for pooled oil. IF there is pooled oil then you should replace the plenum. IF there is just a light coating of oil then your fine. Replaceing the plenum dosen't add any power. It just allows you to advancethe timing wich increases power.