So I have a 1996 Dodge 2500 with the 5.9.. I know stock my truck was reported to have about 230 HP, chances of it having that now are slim over its 130,000 mile life. I was doing a little looking around and found that the 1998 5.9 was reported to have about 245 HP. I'm curious to know if anyone knows why there was a 15 HP increase from 97' to 98'. What ever they did, could this put done to an older 5.9 to also see that 15 HP increase?

I having a feeling it was computer changes, but thought id ask anyway!

 

Yes indeed, the horsepower went up in '98. The divider in the intake manifold was removed.

 

Aside from the standard stuff like making sure compression and oil pressure are good, along with healthy ignition and fuel components...and the aforementioned intake swap...

...you should contact a member named Hemifever, about a custom tune for your truck's computer. He fine tunes it based on your needs and optimizes the timing and air / fuel to get the most power from what you already have and from what I've researched it's noticeable.

There are other things that you can do to free up some power, and it's recommended by a lot of people. Less restrictive air intake system AND better flowing exhaust system. The engine is a large air pump. Get the air in and out easier and the engine can generate more of it's potential power.

 

Well that makes sense.. Hence the Kegger mod haha. Weird how things come together like that!
Thanks for the suggestion Scooper. Probably won't be doing to much more to my truck though. Its just about time for an upgrade and to get a Cummins. So ill be saving my money for those mods haha. I was more curious for my own knowledge

 

They also changed/opened up the bottleneck exhaust in 2000. https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...ram-1500s.html

 

There's a bottleneck in the dual inlet catalytic converter? Could be, I just never smelled it or heard it whistling under there.