Alright, I just picked up my first 2nd gen, I am a novice to the fuel inj/TB/computor controlled vehicles.....but I'm not dumb and can figure out most things

What I got: 1998 Ram 1500 4x4 5.2 Auto
What I do: tow camping trailer/boat, drive daily,4x4 sometimes
My plans: to improve lower end power, and overall performance

What I THINK will help me achieve my goal: Kegger mod, (very slight, maybe cut 1/2 to 3/4" off runners as I don't need any higher RPM gains) 50 mm throttle body, 14x3 round air filter, exhaust 3" single into magnaflow muffler, dual 2-1/4 or 2-1/2 out and hi flow cat

Questions: how would you do true duals without computor problems? true duals better for overall performance?(check engine lights etc) also engine reprogamer yes or no ?

Just curious on your thoughts, there is some very knowledgable people on here.

 

I take it this is on the 98??

What size tires, and what gears ya got?

Tuner? Yes. Definitely.

My friend that does exhaust professionally, ran both pipes down the passenger side, with a VERY short H pipe between for the front O2, rear O2 was installed in a single pipe in approximately the stock location. He ran 2.25 pipe. His mufflers weren't what I would have run, but, it sounded good, flowed decent, and he was happy with it.

I would recommend longtubes, with small diameter primary's. 1 5/8ths at the largest. Then, 2.25 duals, into the mufflers of your choice. If you use small enough mufflers, all of your exhaust can be tucked up into the frame, so it is NOT the lowest point of the truck. (and thus, doesn't get hung up on everything under the sun.)

 

I got 285/75 r16 and 3.91,yes the 1998...ok I like the exhaust idea, and I know what headers do to wake up a small block dodge (done it many times on 70/80s rams) what tuner you recommend?

 

I have a cherry bomb extreme muffler on my truck. Cheap (think I paid $40), good sound (sounds like a flowmaster 10 series), and doesnt have the glass pack sound at all. Plus it is tiny. You can tuck that muffler just about anywhere under your frame. It is a lil loud, but if you keep your cats its not too bad. I drove it in NY for 6months and never got stopped for being loud.

 

I wouldn't do the kegger mod, for what you use the truck for. The reason for the long wrapping runners of the intake is so that it does heat the intake charge before entering the intake ports. This is what gives you the low-end torque and towing power.

If you didn't haul and it was primarily a grocery getter or drag racer,then it makes sense.Colder charge, and higher reving.

 

Intake runner length has nothing to do with heating the air. Cold air is always better. Runner length has to do with the air pressure inside the intake. Here's a link that explains it a little bit better.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question517.htm

Thats pretty simple way of explaining it. Mopar put 14in runners on the Magnum engines to give these engines more low end torque. But the problem is that the runners are so long that at cruising speeds, they fall flat on their face. These intakes b/c of their design do get heat soaked very easily and if you have ever opened one up, you will see that short or cutting out the entire runner, you will not prevent the air temp in your intake from rising. If you are worried about the kegger mod, go to a junk yard and pull a spare intake. Prolly only cost you about $100 plus you will have spare sensor, a spare throttle body, and you wont eat down time while you port and polish it.

 

Here are my suggestions, in order of gains for your build:

1. Gears. 4.10 on a stockish tire, 4.56 if tires are 33-35inch. Massive gain low end and no 'puter issues or reliance on any other modifications to work right. If gas mileage is a MAJOR concern, consider 3.92 instead of the 4.10s. Nothing I have done to my truck put a bigger smile on my face than 4.10s on a stock tire size.

2. Exhaust. Minimum high flow cat and aftermarket muffler of your choice. For the cat, get the magnaflow that has the better y pipe. I think its p/n 23285.
For the muffler, Anything besides the stock water heater that is on there now. I have a 24" magnaflow and like it. Dont much care for cherry bombs and flowmaster, too loud for my taste. An aero 3030, might not be bad either.
If you want to go all out on the exhaust, get shorty headers too. There are no long tubes with a 1 5/8" primary, all are 1 3/4" and that might be too much for a 318cc engine. I like my gibson ceramic coated, but they are pricy. If you can find some doug thorley tri-y's, those are the best, but they fed directly to the cat, so you'll want a different universal model cat with di/so setup. Verify the thorley's will work with the 4x4 before you buy. You'll get immediate and notable gains from the exhaust work, and it'll magnify the next steps.

3. open up your stock tb to 50mm, not 52mm on a low end power 318. This can be done as a DIY, if you so desire, I have a dan arcand "fastman" and really like it.

4. 14x3 air cleaner, cheap mod. Not really a big need until the exhaust and tb are addressed. Get a k&n filter, not paper.

5. Cut runners on the keg about 1.5 inches. I noticed zero loss in the low end doing this to my 318. Nice gain around 2000rpm+.

6. Make a decision: do you want to swap cams? if yes, go with the hughes towing /rv cam and ask them what length pushrods should be used with the stock rocker arms. Also, be sure to mention this is going in a 318, not a 360, and verify there are no piston to valve issues, as the 318 had flat topped pistons with no reliefs in them. Cam swap is a MUCH better gain then the next choice, but requires a lot more work and a good amount of knowledge to install. If you dont want to bother with the cam, get harland sharp non adjustable 1.7 roller rockers. These are bolt on ponies, 15-20. Be sure about your decision, as non adjustable rockers don't always play well with aftermarket cams, and 1.7 rocker arms are not the stock ratio, so you'd have to adjust any Future cam desires to compensate for the increased lift. If you'd like to plan for the future and consider a cam swap, get the 1.6 or 1.7 adjustable rockers if you are comfortable with how to adjust them.

6. SCT tuner from hemifever. This can actually be done at any time, and is a great buy. If you wait until you've done all these other mods, you will need a custom tune package for $100 more, but it'll really wake up the engine! Tell hemifever your desire is low end gains and list all your mods to him and he can hook you up. Great mod, might even move this up to #3.

7. Electric fans, and/or under drive pulleys. Nice gains across the whole rpm range. May have charging issues if you do both, depending on your alternator and how many electrics you run.

Do all that, and you'll have one mean-*** street driving 318.

One last thing, avoid any and all urges to go "performance." If you've got to tow, haul, or this is a DD, go for torque, brother! You'll still spank most trucks red light to red light, especially anything in your time period/age class.

 

What he said......

 

Tires/gears are pretty good......

Go with an SCT tuner from Hemifever. This is generally regarded as one of THE best 'bang for the buck' mods on these trucks.

Doing the kegger mod will move your power band up a couple hundred RPM. I picked up a kegger from the scrapyard for 50 bucks, and that included them taking it off...... modified that one, and then just swapped 'em out when I had some shop time. Considering how poorly the truck ran when I bought it, I have no idea if it helped or hurt me though.

 

Most deviations from stock have improved streetability, but have have hindered towing, at least in my personal truck. I've only tried things for a while,and most I changed back to stock. Very few things aside from the exhaust and improved intake tract have any towing benefit.

Colder air only equaled more gas and no gain.

Played with the air intake temp, if you make it read about 40deg below ambient, it make a huge improvement towing, but 6-8mpg really stinks.

Like I said, everything improved streetability,most hindered towing......I tow heavy though.