Hey guys,
Was hoping some of you could give me some ideas on how to add some horsepower to my truck. Its an '01 Ram 1500, 4 wheel drive with a 5.2 liter v8 Magnum. Engine is stock. What kind of things can I replace/add to gain more horsepower that would be worth the time and money?

Thanks in advance,
Mat

 

Well the first place to start would be with the plenum if it hasn't been done. you can read all about it on the sticky at the top of the ram forum page.

 

Sell it and buy a Cummins. Seriously, though, short of a turbocharger or supercharger, nothing will make a big difference. If you like your V8's in tiny little pieces, go with either of those. These 318's are good ol' workhorses, but never were meant for high performance. The 360 gets a lot worse fuel economy and barely more power; ergo: Cummins.

 

How much money/time you got?

 

swap it out for a 360, build up the top end, and youll be looking at 400bhp.

 

ATM, plenty of time, not much money. But I don't plan on doing anything til sometime next year when I am making a good deal more money to play with. Just need some good ideas to think about and research so I have a good idea what to do and where to start.

 

So far that really does seem to be the best option. Most everything else I have looked at doing to add horsepower doesn't add much for the money i'd be spending.

 

If you want very good power and want to stay with gas, swap out the 318 for a 360 and stroke the 360 to 400 CI. Stroker kits are readily available for the 360 from a number of sources.

 

408 stroker with a remote turbo.


Hmm....goodbye transmission!

 

True, however, the transmission can be rebuilt or a new one purchased to handle the power. It all gets back to how much money and time you want to put into this effort.