Hello,

Have a 96 Ram 1500 4x4 5.9 that I will be doing a lot of camper towing with. The climb will be from Phoenix (Elevation 1000ft) to Flagstaff (7000'). The truck did ok first haul, except some of the extended 6% grades slowed me down a bit.

I have three upgrades that I will need to do in steps (unless I win the lottery) and wonder which order I should do them in to maximize the towing ability. I've also listed my ideas, but am open to suggestion from the more seasoned crowd. The truck is primarily used to tow/camp/etc so gas mileage isn't a huge worry. Also, please remember the ambient air temperature in Phoenix is usually over 100 between April/May and October.

Headers (Shorty or long tube while we're at it)

Cold-Air-Intake (CAI or 14x3?)

Gear Ratio from 3.55 to 4.10 (or other?)

Any help is appreciated.

Robert

 

How much does the camper weight?

 

Protect your trans. first with an external cooler. . Lower gears will definitely help get up the upgrades and most likely improve MPG, ratio will depend on tire size.

 

Headers not worth it without other mods done. Unless they are top Q headers they will crack and split fast.

CAI not worth it , get a drop in K&N filter for the stock housing.

Gears, we need more info like tire size/speed traveling at/weight of RV.

Me I would add:

Engine oil cooler

Bigger trany cooler

Some temp gauges trany and other

Possible bigger rad

A RV cam or towing cam would go a long way.

 

OK I'll try to answer with what I remember (at work).

Tire size is LT245/75-16 (or close to that)
Camper weighs about 4800lbs dry, and theres not much in there beyond that.
I'm usually content rolling 55-60mph when hitched up. The big grades slow me down to 40-45mph

According to build sheet, the truck came with the tow package, trans cooler etc...
Recently replaced water pump with new high-flow, running full synthetic oil, and dropped in a 180 degree fail-safe thermostat.

Thanks!

 

OK thanks for the info

So 4.10 or 3.92 is the gear I would use. Even though the truck has a trany cooler I would opt for a larger one, then add the engine oil cooler. The cam would be the biggest help with the gears. I think there are a few RV cams that need no pcm mods you might look into that.

 

If you don't know how many miles the transmission has had on a rebuild, or if it has been rebuilt, then I strongly recommend having it rebuilt with the following upgrades:
External Cooler (as has been suggested)
Upgrade to heavy duty Borg Warner Bands (Stock MOPAR are paper thin)
TransGo shift kit

 

I appreciate all the feedback. Definitely some ideas for me to look into. I did just have the tranny rebuilt by a mechanic i trust with him knowing it was to tow. He did upgrade components.. i just dont know what .

Out of curiosity, the 14x3 seems to have fallen out of favor in my readings .. I'm old school and love the look, but not at the expense of power. I am a little surprised that the cai's not recommended over the k & n drop in.. but I trust those that have been there, tried that!

Thanks!

 

Most of the CAI's draw air from the EXACT same place as the stock system. They might flow a bit better than stock, but, that is only going to help you above about 3500 RPM. Not where the engine needs it. Not worth spending the money on for a tow vehicle.

 

There you go again. "Most of the CAI's draw air from the EXACT same place as the stock system" .