Best upgrade for pickup?
 

Im thinking adding something to my pickup. Either a cold air intake or a chip. Which would be the best.

The current cover is an edelbrock circle air cleaner. Like the cheap chrome ones for $30 at napa.

Its an all stock 360 with a dual exhaust.

What would be the cost range of each, and what brand is recommended.

CAI is useless.

Fix your plenum, timing set, replace your cat, front O2 sensor, and do tune up stuffs before you start tossing more money at performance stuffs.

Has the plenum done, and does not have a cat. So, would just replacing the intake be the best option? I've seen ones like that let in dirt and kill a motor.

Don't bother with the intake. About all you can do is run a stock box, with a Spectre drop-in filter like I've got. Without spending $400 on a CAI, that's as good as it gets.

Spend your money elsewhere, like on a timing set and new O2 sensors.

I'm about as mechanically stupid as they come, but would new O2 sensors really do anything for a true dual exhaust set up?

It runs really great for a 96. Immediate power when pressing the gas, so would new timing do anything either? What is the sign that it needs replaced?

Trust me, I would love a newer truck. But alas, Im a poor college student. This thing more than gets the job done. Plus, it gets a miracle 17mpg on 87 octane (not that 85.5 stuff or ethanol ****). Maybe one day Ill finally have the 4 letter word under my hood!

i think o2 sensors are usually suppose to be changed every 80,000mile. they get old and and don't work as good as when they were new which can lead to poor gas mileage. if you do replace it make sure to use a ntk brand one.

Not quite new. But, bored as hell. May as well do something I will not regret in the future while bored.

So your saying you only came on here to ask questions because you were bored?


Heck if you want something to do that you won't regret in the future have a visit with Palmula & her five sisters. That should take up about 3 minutes of your time.


Where do you have your current upstream O2 sensor right now in your dual exhaust?
How are you figuring your MPG? Give us some history on your truck.
Year, Model, mods so far, mileage on engine, drivetrain, size of tires and other stuff like that. To make it easy you can ad all that in your profile sig and then you won't have to do it each time you ask a question.

If you're a poor college student then spend your money on proper maintenance parts and not on "upgrades".

CAI is useless, so is a chip. You want a tuner, not a chip, especially if it's one of those "chips" off ebay promising 30+ MPG and 100+ hp.

Not sure I understand if your a "poor" college student why you would be wanting to spend money on mods. As stated, spend the money on maintenance items to keep the truck running properly till you get out of school. What do you want out of your truck? What are you looking for? Also, please post some details about your truck as requested.

We will try to keep this thread on topic, but being vague will only attract the trolls who like to post useless stuff in your thread and invariably lead to page after page of off topic posts.

New O2's will help in that they won't be clogged with crap and will be more accurate for the PCM to be able to tune the air/fuel mixture better. This = MO POWA. to an extent. Don't get your hopes up that it will be a huge difference, mostly a smoother power delivery and a tad more mileage.


If your idle is a tad jumpy, like a little bump that you feel every once in a while, that might be an indicator that the timing set needs to be replaced. My truck does it as well, as I have not replaced it yet. :D
A new timing set will make the engine smoother on everything.



jkeaton: I'm TRYING to be helpful here! :D

I would have to check on the 02 sensors. I've had the truck all of 3-4 months. My mpg is based on full tank, set trip meter to zero, and next fill up miles driven over gallons used. 1996, Ram 1500, only mods would be the exhaust, 158,000 miles, 4 speed auto. I think you just got me a project for after class haha. Its sorta a ugly looking thing, it has a fiberglass stepside box, but I like it. Definitely catches peoples attention!

Pics of the step side or it didn't happen :D

Not to hard to check them, just have to unscrew them and look at them. Any carbon build-up or other kind of build up and they need to be replaced. Please disconnect the negative battery cable when replacing them to reset the pcm. NTK brand is recommended too stay away from Bosch's they cause issues.

Fiberglass stepside box? Post up some pics of that!

Some good things to do:

tune up: New o2 sensors, ntk or denso ONLY, brass contact dizzy cap, premium rotor, 8.5MM spark plug wires, champion copper plus or 2 ranges colder champion platinum, K+n air filter to replace factory filter in stock airbox, clean the throttle body, run CD grade or better engine oil with the oil filter used on the V10, put good non-low-silicate antifreeze in it, keep all fluids topped off with high-quality fluids and change them at proper intervals, keep tires aired to spec, make sure all rockers are tightened down properly, SCT Tune, etc.

Bad things to do:
CAI
Drive on flat tires
Never change fluids


My point here is, just doing the regular stuff with PREMIUM parts will do a heck of a lot more than you might think.

Hah. You posted up what I was thinking, but didn't say.


Yeah, we're gonna need pictures of the truck.



Toll to the picture whores. Our advice isn't entirely free, you know. ;)

Yeah, ill get some after class and put em up. I though I had it set as my profile pic, but I guess not. Maybe the pic ll be there if ya click on my profile. idunno. Its unique. It caught my eye, and that's why I bought it after I got hit by some damn outta staters.

^Damn that's funny^

I went out and checked my oil real quick and was gonna check the timing chain, then I realized, I don't know what the **** I'm doing. How do I check that? I think its in pretty good shape. Its a solid running vehicle. It'll outrun a 318 Dakota or a 350 chevy vortec, easy. Also, it has an aftermarket tranny that a couple of my friends put in. They didn't wanna waste it. It also doesn't burn oil, which is nice.

I must admit, I LOL'd at that.


You CAN check it, but it's a pain in the ass. You take the disty cap off, get a big breaker bar, pull the fuel pump relay, and start turning the crank while watching the disty rotor. Basically, if there's any huge amount of slop in it, you'll notice it.

I would probably have to wait and do that when I get home. I would imagine that its in good shape. When Idling, its a consistent, smooth, idle. No jumps, not even the slightest. It runs like a brand new motor, and it gets its oil AND filter changed every 3000 miles. I also use that lucas oil stabilizer. It made my old vehicles (71 dodge 318, and 76 ford 390) run a little smoother, so I figure it must work.

http://andsoithascometothis.com/wp-c...-stupidity.jpg

You need to download the Field Service Manual and also buy a repair manual and learn the basics of maintenance before plowing into a bunch of modifications. ESPECIALLY if you're a "poor college student".

Don't bother with the Lucas in these engines.

While this engine is an old school engine, it's not as old school as the engines you're speaking of. Just run a good quality oil and a filter. If it idles nice and runs well. Just keep it tuned up until you can get money, then start doing mods.

Yeah. By poor college student, I meant that I can't afford to do a lot. Like, I can't go out and buy 10 different things. As it stands, everything is good on it, so I can afford to do something nice to it, but just one thing. ,it has a new tranny, so I don't need to worry about the fluid for long time, the radiator fluid was changed before I bought it, the ac needs recharged, but Ill wait until next summer and buy a can of r134a. New spark plugs, wires, and most importantly, I topped off the blinker fluid the other day so my blinkers are good for another 50,000 miles.

Maybe I should invest in an oil pressure guage. Mine is all messed up, and my fuel guage is messed up to. The oil pressure always reads zero and occasionally jumps to 40. But if it was really zero, then it wouldn't be running, right? and the gas, If I fill up to full, it goes from f to e in 70 miles, then goes to quarter and starts going down when Im starting to go under a quarter tank lol.

It will run without oil pressure, just not very long, and certainly not very well. Tends to make really rude noises, and then quit.... and you are done.

You can probably fix that simply by changing the oil pressure sensor. It's back behind the intake manifold, right next to the distributor. Unplug it, unscrew it, screw the new one in, plug it in, and you are done. Once you figure out how to get tools back there, it's easy. :) The coil 'OPS Socket' is nice, but, I have a difficult time justifying 15 bucks for a tool I will use ONCE......

Here da pictures I hope

Get some bodywork done on that thing and it'll look slick.

It's a chevy box, isnt it?

I think he had said earlier that it's a fiberglass box.

Yes, looks like a modded chevy box. And not a real good job at that. And please, we don't need 3 more pages about the box. He likes it, nuff said. ;)

^yep I was just curious, that's all.

*backontopic*

Ah...no wonder you get 18 miles per gallon.

Like what type of bodywork? Next summer, hopefully, I can get that ugly dent taken off.

Yeah, its basically designed like the chevy box, that's definitely for sure, but I would rather (hurts to say this) have the chevy box instead. At least they are all metal. I got a rock chip on the box, so theres a little hole in it. Also got one on my brand new windshield. I was so pissed.

I get 18 because the damn thing actually gets 18 haha. If I need fuel and I can only get say, ethanol or 85.5 in a town, Ill only put enough to get to another town. I hate ethanol. Kills your mileage on everything ive driven! 85.5 just feels like a ripoff. Im paying what I would pay for 87, but im only getting 85.5. It would be like paying $40 for a case a pbr. Just not right lol.

Sorry, but you ain't getting 18 mpg, unless of course every where you go is down hill and the engine isn't running. LOL

Paint, dent pulling, etc...

That all sounds so damn expensive. If anything is getting paint, its my 71. That thing has my heart haha. I do clean the underbody every three months if that counts for something.

Also, I live in a pretty well flat area and 65 is pretty easy on the motor. That's the speed limit now and it sucks. Plus, I don't drive like an ahole in town...anymore

Ain't expensive if you do it yourself. I'm learning the ropes of light bodywork myself. :D

65 with flat roads will do wonders for gas mileage.



If only I could keep my foot out of the gas on certain vehicles. :rolleyes:

Yeah. At any age, its hard to keep the foot off the gas.
Heres a video with my pipes in the background-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF57IZSutW8
:icon_xsnatch: