I am about to purchase a 2001 Ram Club Cab 4x4 with the 318 in it. I would have prefered the 360, but I am in love with the truck already, found it for a decent price w/ 48000 miles and in great shape. Only draw back is a chipped Rhino liner and I am going to have it removed and a Vortex spray in put on. My questions are about the general performance parts. I already did a search, and if you click here you will see what I became addicted to for twenty minutes of my life. I thought I was uneducated towards trucks, but I have a new pride in what little I know. After I get the truck, I plan on gettin a cai, fastman tb, and duals. First, what brands do you guys recommend for the cai and exhaust. As far as other performance add-ons what would you suggest. Not interested in fi, but would like a little more power. I hear headers and a mopar ecu reprogram are good buys also. Thanks for your help.

 

hey, welcome. I guess your going to fit right in As far as parts. I would get magnaflow for the cat. edelbrock headers, flowmaster exhaust. ( same setup i run. ) The fatsman tb is a great upgrade. thats going to be my next. I would also recommend a K&N FIPK cold air intake. for the computer, you can do what you said or get a chip or a programmer. Im also doing a cam or a supercharger in mine. depend how much power you want and what you want to do with it. let us know and send a pic of your truck. hope that helps.

 

Welcome to DF...

everything Tani mentioned is good... the only thing that stands out that you mentioned as a no-no is the true duals... if done wrong. with your truck being a 4x4 CC... it's real easy to send your fuel economy down the tubes... I put on a dual out flowmaster and watched my mpg drop 1.5 mpg... 3" in dual 2.5" out. I reduced the 2.5"s down to dual 2.25"s and brought back a ton of low end torque that was lost. my mpg came back as well. So keep this in mind when choosing your exhaust setup.

post some pics of your ride so we can all see...!

 

Thanks for the welcome and the info. Right now Im just wanting to get the usual mods out of the way The truck won't be used for much more than street driving, a little offroading, and nothing more than pulling a pontoon. Another question is lifts kits. Do you guys know if there is a right way or a wrong way to do it. Im not wanting a Huge lift, just some more ground clearance.As far as the flowmaster exhaust, I know there are many different series, what would you recommend. I am wanting the sound to be louder, but not extremely loud. K&N was going to be my choice, I just wanted to see if there were any other recommendations. Im not sure if the ecu reprogram would be what I would need just yet, but I have been told it gives quite an increase in power compared to programmers. I have heard many bad things about the chips, so I sort of have a bad taste in mouth about them, could be wrong, have been before. Engine build and a supercharger will come down the road after I have the truck for a while. Thanks for the info on the duals, never really did much research on them, most people in my area take their trucks to a local shop and the guy builds muffler and all. The only picture I have righ tnow is the one the dealership posted online, but here it is. Again thanks. Thats an alright picture but it looks so grea tin person.

[IMG]local://upfiles/16437/A77ED579E32140508802D6D47419EB8F.jpg[/IMG]

 

Chips = Bad
ECU = Good

The thing you have to be aware of though is that some ECUs (like the Mopar Performance one) require the use of premium gas. The same is true with superchargers. And gas is kinda high right now [X(] I put in over $100 worth of Shell V-power yesterday....

As far as your lift quesiton, it's not going to gain you a lot of ground clearance. The axle housing will still be the lowest point on the truck. Only a tire upgrade will gain you clearance there. As far as a right or wrong way, a suspension lift (skyjacker, tuff country, etc.) is the right way to do it. A body lift is the wrong way to do it. That's just my opinion though.

 

I am ready for the gas change, I have been driving a 4 cyl eclipse so I am gonna miss the 30 dollar tank of gas. Without a lift kit how big of a tire will fit in the stock wheel wells without rubbing. Since Im not wanting a large lift right now, tires may be the answer. Thanks for the input. And out of curiosity Rom, may I ask why in your sig it says you put gm wheel cylinders on your pickup? Just wondering

 

ive got a 97 ram 4x4 and stock without rubbing the biggest i got was a 265 75 16. but if you dont mind a little rub when you turn the wheel as far as it will go then you can tuck the 285 75 16. though my tires are the 285 75 16 Liberator A/T's they measure out to 32.5 on height and like 8.5 or 9 wide. they seem to be bigger than any other tires for the size dont know why, but i have seen the 285's not rub on the same truck just different brand tire. also dont run a chip, reprogram thecomputer cuz all thats gonna happen is you will get the chip and it might last about 2 or 3 months and then the computer will go back to stock setting. the chip will no longer be useful. go with the I believe its a Mopar pcm. I think thats the one or what its called. thats best for standard power thats lasts. have fun with your new truck!
James

 

the one advantage of having a programmer (superchips or hypertech) is you can easily go back to stock if you need to.... Like I had to when it was 105 deg out (started pinging), went back to stock and all was good. my preference is the programmer. Jet chips does suck... and I'd stay awya from them...

 

Steve, I am curious......I have a '01 with the 5.2 instead of your 5.9. I have had a cat-back system since 3000 miles with a Ravin 3" in 2.5" dual out setup. It is obnoxiously loud...(cool) but reading your post got me wondering if I need to go down to 2.25 in pipes to help improve my mileage. What is the reasoning behind the torque improvement ? Will it help a 5.2?

 

as for a good lift for your truck. do a suspention lift. there alot better and body lifts are crap. I would say get a 3in skyjacker or something similar. it will run you about 499 at jegs if i remember. you can also do what steve did and swap in some springs from a 2500. they will give you about 2.5 in if lift. the next cheapest thing is a 2in daystar coil spring spacer. you can get them for 120 shipped from ebay.