Hey guys, I have a 2001 Ram 4x4 with a 318 and this thing has always felt a little heavy for that engine. I pull an 18 ft trailer with a couple of 4 wheelers and the truck doesn't wanna even pull that small amount of weight. Is there anything I can do to the truck that would help it pull a little better. I have to hold it to the floor to maintain 50mph on the highway uphill.

 

look at the computer for a software update, if there iss one dodge death flashed your dodge which kills the power of the truck. gotta get sct tuner to get full benifit of new power. even if you dont have a death flash sct tuner will make a huge diffrence in power

also check your plenum look down throttle body for oil

 

didn't all the 2001's come with the death flash from the factory?

 

The best thing you can do to make towing easier is a gear swap. I would reccomend a 4.10 at the MINIMUM. If you don't drive on the highway every day, then you could even go with 4.56 gears. Those would be great for towing. You will definetely gain off the line launch. Gears make your truck wayyy faster.

 

Yes they are underpowered, rated at only like 220hp. That's less than most V6's these days, and even some 4-bangers lol. I find it helps to turn o/d off, it let's the engine rev more freely and feels snappier. I can only imagine if this thing had 80 more ponies or so like the newer Hemi's.

Rob

 

Son of a BISCUIT! I have that sticker on my fender under the hood. That explains a lot.

 

Ok. Let me make this clear. A WHAT? And I need a to get what? lol
Don't mean to sound like a dumba$$ but, in this case I am.

How much will this hurt my fuel economy, I only get around 12 or so at best now.

Also, the transmission shop told me yesterday that my seals are going for 3rd gear and thats causing me to have to keep it out of OD til highway speeds so I need a trany rebuild anyway. So, is there something I should have them do while its being rebuilt that would help?

 

For the trans, if you tow regularly, look in the FAQ section, on page six of montec's trans thread, he gives list of parts for another member that towed a 7000 pound trailer frequently. Go by that list, and your trans will be good to go.

Your computer is programmed by the factory for how to run the engine. Unfortunately, dodge discovered (or already knew....) that the tranny's were crap, so, they de-tuned the engine, PURPOSELY making less power, and torque, so the trans would last longer. That is what is now commonly called the Death Flash. (the procedure to do a software update is called a "flash", as it writes the data to flash memory in the PCM.) The SCT tuner overwrites the death flash, with its own programming, waking your engine back up. The SCT tuner is pretty much THE best bang for the buck mod I have seen here. Contact Hemifever right here on this website to get yours. 265 for canned tunes, (which is what you will need) hundred bucks more for custom tunes. (if you do things like cam, heads, whathaveyou to the engine)

If you run larger than stock tires, on the stock gears, that isn't helping you any either. You more than likely have the 3.55 gears, combine that with larger tires, and a trailer.... and you get..... a dog.

 

Running 265/75 16 now . Stock on the door plate says 245/70 16. Thats a little bigger tire, but not much.

 

Makes a difference though. Gears would help, but, they ain't cheap.