I drive a 97 dodge ram 1500 4x4 with the 5.9 magnum. I love this truck and wish to keep it the same while also unleashing a little more power on the top end. I rarely tow anything but I'd like to keep this still a possibility while getting more power out. My goal is no more than 400hp, I'll be buying headers, new heads with 2.02 intake vales with a polish, and a better intake manifold. My question is what kind of cam should I look into? And should I change the pistons and rockers to open it up a little more? I don't know the science behind overlap and duration. I don't want a race car, I just want to keep this truck a daily drive but still be able to maintain the speed limit going up hill rather than the truck screaming at 3200rpm and going 50 in a 65mph road.

 

Fix the problems it has currently, before introducing more variables. You should be able to cruise along at 65 in O/D and maintain speed, regardless of hills (to a point...) if you aren't towing/hauling. So check the plenum, if you haven't addressed it yet, it's blown. Do the timing chain and gears while you have the intake off. Make what you have run the way it should, THEN go for mods/improvements.

 

How many miles on the truck and engine? Are you using oil? How much? Keep in mind you have a TRUCK. I've got a '96 with the same engine. I did a major tune up last year and it has plenty of power, although so far I haven't gotten a ticket yet. I have a small vacuum leak somewhere so it idles really low when cold but otherwise purrs and gets along just fine. Add in the flowmaster 44's on it and it sounds as good as it runs.

On the tune up, I left the heads alone but the rest of the top of the engine came off. Slightly larger injectors, new cap, rotor, plugs and plug wires. Plenum repair kit, new oil sending unit and while I had everything apart, the water pump, timing chain were replaced as well as the harmonic balancer that was coming apart. I've got great running truck with plenty of power and it sounds great.

Considering what you have, you might change the cam shaft to an RV grind for better low end torque. I've done that with big block engines and got good results but the design of your engine limits what you can do without getting silly and getting to where it can't be a truck any more.

 

Thanks for your concern! But my entire top end was recently rebuilt. I put two new heads and redone all the gaskets to my old 5.9 with 200k miles on it. Yes it runs great on flat ground, but any sheepish hill causes the engine to start chugging and dropping speed. There are a lot of mountains where I life and on the steeper hills where the speed limit is 65 I'll be lucky to be going 55 with the engine screaming at me at 3500rpm. Plus I dislike how slow it is to pick up speed. I'd stomp on it to pass someone in a two lane road and it just seems like a crawl past them. Maybe the engines just old? My freeze plugs and rear main also are leaking a bit so instead I'm just going to buy a short block and beef it up a bit. Like I said 400hp MAX I'd be happy around the 350 area, just want a little more get up and go while maintaining its ability to be used as a truck.

 

Sakes, what gears are you running? I'm running 3.55 gears and never pull those engine speeds unless I down shift. It sounds like you're running out of wind at high speeds. You might be pulling 3.9 or 4.1 gears. Those do great pulling loads but you get high engine speeds without high road speeds.

 

My current motor has over 200k miles ok it. I recently rebuilt the heads, new timing chain, intake gaskets, plugs, wires, destructor cap and rotor, and removed my catalytic converter with a cherry bomb muffler. The whole shebang but the truck doesn't have any beans. I'm aware it's a truck and wasn't made to go fast. There are a lot of mountains around where I live and I'd just like to be able to maintain the speed limit up the steeper hills instead of the engine screaming at 3500rpm and going 50 in a 65mph road. My goal is anywhere from 320-400hp. I want more power on the lower end for more get up and go, I rarely go above 3500 rpm but when i do it just seems like I need to count to 5 before I see myself catching up to traffic. That's why I plan to buy a short block and have a mild cam, better flowing heads, headers, and a intake manifold.

 

What size tires are on your truck? By chance, are they oversized/taller tires? If so, that will cut back on the gearing installed in your truck and make it feel extremely sluggish. Lastly, do you know what gear ratio is installed in your truck?

 

I don't know my gear ratio, how can I figure this out? On flat ground at 2000rpm I'm going about 60-65mph. But the engine really CHUGS, going these speeds if I stomp on it rpm range jumps up above 3k rpm but it's seems like I gave to count to 3 before I gain enough speed to even consider passing someone on a 2 lane road. Flat ground the fastest I've ever gotten my truck was 105, after it got to 80 it just had no pulling power and took few minutes to reach those speeds. Only reason why I achieved this is because I live in a remote area with mountains and flat lands with VERY long stretches of straight roads

 

What size tires are on your truck? By chance, are they oversized/taller tires?

 

I used to have 265/75/16 but I recently installed 285/70/17. No clue about my gearing, had someone else ask me this. Where do I find this information?