So I am 16 and are a mechanic. I've had my truck for a couple months now and already have big plans. I'm a huge car guy and MOPAR fan, so I knew what I wanted to drive and I finnaly got it. Its a 2001 Ram 1500 4x4 with a 5.2l 318. As you can tell from my photoshop drawing I'm planning on doing E3 spark plugs, K&N cold air intake, Pacesetter long tubes and Y pipe, high flow cat, Flowmaster Super 10 and duals out the back with slash cut tips. I'm thinking 2.5in or 3in tubing with mandral bends for good flow. I'm getting the E3s from my local Advanced Auto, the exhaust kit from truckexhaustkits.com, and everything else from Summit Racing. I can put everything in myself and therefore lessing the cost by not paying someone to do it. I am aware this is all going to cost about $1200, but I save up and spend my money wisly, not on stupid things. What do you guys think, any words of wisdom? Also, am I leaveing out anything I need? Thanks...Joe

 

Don't spend any money on anything just yet, especially the exhaust (particularly the cat), if you haven't fixed the plenum... That is if it's blown. Read: https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...um-thread.html

And if you're looking for increased performance, quick & easy, an SCT Tuner from HemiFever.com is the way to go. ($265)-That is after you fix the possibly blown plenum gasket.

...And welcome to DF

EDIT: +1 on what HeyYou said lol

 

Dont spend the money on the K&N intake... not worth it for what you get. (basically, nothing....) There are cheaper alternatives out there, like the Spectre.... flows just as good, without the hefty price tag.

headers/y-pipe are an excellent idea. For true duals, go with 2.5 inch pipe. For the single section, 3 inch.

E3 plugs won't do much for ya either. Just regular ol' copper plugs with one electrode seem to yield the best results. Our trucks just don't care for the fancy plugs.

Be sure and check out the stickied plenum thread at the top of this forum..... need to fix that before you start doing the go-fast goodies.

Instead of the K&N CAI, have a look at getting a tuner from Hemifever. Gives you a couple horseys, and about 20 ft/lbs torque... (gets rid of torque management....) 265.00 for canned tunes, which is all you will really need initially. Can upgrade to custom tunes when that time comes.

Timing chain and gears would be a good plan as well, if your truck is over 100K miles. For mine, it was THE single best performance increase (recovery?) I have done. Go for a double roller set.....

Welcome to DF!

 

Also cat is easy to change out its a si/do for oo and up ! Start with plenum and tune up and do the Sct first

 

Note it will net a big gain because the 01 came with the death flash so I'm sure death flash and 5.2 you don't have squat Sct first thing !

 

Don't forget to install fuzzy dice. But I would definitely recommend a professional installation for those.

 

+1... Even if it's not blown(right now) I would replace the plenum pan before spending money on the exhaust.

 

To 2X1972...NOTE my sick seat covers and fuzzy dice! XD. To eveyone else, great info so far, I'm doing some research on the plenum.

 

Forgot to mention over the weekend I did the real axle seal becasue it was leaking and all around the front of the housing where the driveshaft goes in it was all saturated with oil and had to put in new gear oil. All worked out pretty good.

 

I was also thinking about doing a Superchips Flashpaq tuner later on after my mods are done, but I've heard from some people that over time it can mess up your vehicles computer, is this true?