someone please help me with my 1998 4x4 ram. it pings terribly, I have tried fuel additives, temp guage is fine, octane booster. my oil pressure is slightly low though, could this be the source?

 

Belly pan gasket. Those things get blown all the time, had to do a couple in my old Dakota 5.2L. It isn't hard, took me about 6hrs. my first time, and I wasn't hurrying.

Plenum Gasket replacement

One thing no one told me about was watching out for bolts rusted into the head, sometimes the ones on the end by the water jacket get rusted in place and the frikkin' head pops off when you try to take 'em loose. It isn't too big a deal, but you need to have a replacement bolt or two handy in case one is stuck, just took vice grips and patience to get the old one out on mine.