so Ive been reading that the 03 is kind of the "bastard child" when it comes to tuning options. I was just wondering what my options are. It seems as though SCT wont cover an 03. Which kind of leaves me with superchips or the diablo predator. All I really want to do is disable some of the torque management and adjust some of the WOT shift points. An economy tune and a performance tune would be nice. Also, is it true that 03's are supposed to run mid grade fuel from the factory? I didnt see anywhere the gas cap or anything that said that so the first time I filled it up I put 87 in it. It seems to run just fine, but I'd like to know for sure.

 

the best bet for a tuner is to sell that truck and get an 04 or newer. in my opnion at least.

 

is there anything you can do with it at all?

 

im not selling this one.. I just bought it monday!

 

You can get some decent gains with a Superchips, nothing like it does for the 5.9, or the '04 & newer Hemis though.

First thing I'd do if I had an '03 Hemi is the TMR mod. It's basically the one thing a tuner does to firm up the tranny shifts on the '04s and newer anyway.

If you start to get into power adders, think VERY SERIOUSLY about upgrading the valve springs, the '03 and very early '04s used a considerably weaker spring...

 

whats the TMR mod? Ive never heard of such a thing. As far as the springs go... i really dont plan on going much further than bolt ons with this truck. a tuner, CAI, exhaust, and maybe a few other things. do you think just that would warrant a spring change?

 

Lot of stock '03s snap a spring once they see 80k+ on them. Just hate to see someone snap a spring and have it take a cylinder out to lunch. The '04.5 5.7 springs or even the stouter 6.1 springs are cheap enough, even from the dealer.

TMR mod removes torque management, very common mod for the '03s, it's also commonly called "TMR Delete".

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...elete-mod.html

 

Dammit, I'm just about to hit 76k and I'd hate to need major engine work. I wish I could afford to trade on the 300C SRT8 I've always wanted!

Wink -- do the TMR mod, grab a cheap intake, and use the Superchips programmer. You can't tune shift points on an 03.

 

Only way to get around it is to swap to a newer (05 seems to be the preferred choice) combined PCM/TCM setup.

 

Theres no picture for the tmr mod where is the mod done?
On the tranny or where?
Thanks