I have a 1998 ram 1500 5.2. I know I'm definitely getting a SCT DCX9550 tuner chip, and I want to get a C.A.I. sometime soon, followed by headers and possibly something else. I'm going to double check the plenum tomorrow, I looked down there and it didn't look too bad with oil at all, with 112k miles. Truck is running a little rough, and could use a little more power, I already have an exhaust on it, with brand new plugs, and plan on changing cap and rotor Sunday.
Now would it not beneficial to do the chip first then the mods?
It does make sense to do the mods, and then tune the truck to the best it can be, but i would really prefer to do the chip now. I wonder if its possible to do the chip now and then do the mods and then "retune" it with that same chip? Thanks.

 

Just really depends on what mods you plan to do..

Don't waste your money on a CAI kit, the stock setup is pretty damn good, just get a K&N Drop in Filter...

If you get the SCT Tuner from HemiFever you get can the "canned" tunes for about $265, and he can do custom tunes for another $100 or so I think....

Probably won't need a custom tune unless you get into better cams and such...

Make sure the plenum is in top notch condition, you won't like the results of the SCT with a bad plenum.

Get everything running right first.

My vote, SCT from Hemifever first...

 

Alright, I checked my plenum and it doesn't look terrible...but I'm gonna get a better look tomorrow when I take the top off.
Now what tune thing are you talking about for $265? All I see is this one for $295.
http://www.hemifevertuning.com/Produ...T-Can&CartID=1

 

I thought it used to be $265... Guess it went up

 

Ah alright, because I'm reading all kinds of forums about this, and all I see is people buying it for $265, and I'm like what the hell am I not seeing? lol Thanks alot man.

 

...and I'm not TOO old at all, but that is relative. It is either good or it is bad. Check it first and if it is blown, fix this first, then check cat. Doing anything else before resolving any issue there is not the best approach.



By top, I hope you are referring to disconnecting battery ground, then removing TB to look inside.



Yes, it appears there was a price increase about two months ago I believe. But still a good value.

 

If you get a CAI make sure you get a throttle body spacer to go with it. They both will gain the same amount of power...NONE.

 

I did a lot of mods last summer when I was replacing the cylinder heads and had the upper engine disassembled. New headers, roller rocker arms, larger throttle body, Hughes plenum plate, magnecore lines, pulstar plugs, Accel coil, etc. However, I didn't get the potential out the upgrades until I got the Hemifever tune.

At the time I thought tuners were for ricers and lazy folk but I have come around since then. Knowing what I know now, and if I hadn't had to replace the cracked Magnum heads anyway, I would have bought the SCT tuner a long time ago.

From reading posts on this forum and talking to a local mechanic buddy, if you do a bunch of mods you're going to pulling a lot more air through the system and will need a tuner to bypass the ECM (and a different thermostat) in order to protect the engine from leaning out too much.

If your engine is in decent shape I'd recommend the tuner before the mods. I am very happy with the Hemifever setup.

 

With TB and headers, you can pull a little more air through, but the restriction then becomes the valves. So going bigger is not always better past a certain point. This is part of the purpose of blueprinting an engine in the old days.

The tuner doesn't bypass the PCM, it changes the program in it to alter the I/Os, and eliminate the death flash (torque management).

 

Thank you guys for all of the advice. I know what you mean, I really just want my truck to run great and not have crazy power, but enough to get up and go and haul when its required. I'm probably just going to replace the plenum to ensure that is right, do the cap and rotor, just did the plugs not too long ago, followed by the tune. I have honestly heard nothing but good things about that, so I'm really looking forward to it and go with it from there.
The thing about the C.A.I. all I hear is like 50/50 so I'm like 50/50 about it at the moment. Once I have it all running good, now its time to focus on the spreading rust on the doors and rear quarter panel, and get my whining rear end rebuilt.