Why do you say the efan was a waste? I think you are the first person out of hundreds who did this mod I've ever heard say that. Since you say you need a new motor on yours, does this mean that it was a waste because it did not work properly or did you not see any gains?

I know in my case it free'd up about 14 HP at the rear wheels and more importantly, gave me a solid 1.5 MPG gain in town (although highway gains weren't as significant).

But I agree, single best mod I've done to date for performance was the gears...

 

i guess all the in city driving i did, i didnt really see any gains, of course my gears werent done yet either. im not saying i wont buy another motor for it and try again since now i have to drive an hour each way to work, i might see some good gains now. its one of the mods that i personally thought wasnt worth what i thought it would be, i still have everything wired and ready just need a new fan motor...i was always real scared of it anyway seeing the "known issues" of most 4.7l and a used fan didnt sit well, was always nervous and then it went bad and wasnt at the top of my list...

 

Even though a lot of guys run the "pick 'n pull" fans, I just didn't feel comfortable doing it, which is why I went the Flex-a-Lite kit. At the time, my truck was just barely a year old and to be honest, couldn't see cheaping out and not spending $279 on a new kit to protect the engine in basically a $35,000 truck.

But owning a 4.7 HO in my Jeep and KNOWING FULL WELL how the 4.7 doesn't take to over-heating well at all, I know where you're coming from. But to be honest, the fan in my truck keeps engine temps a good bit cooler even towing a load than my clutch fan ever could in off pavement or in any other low speed circumstances and is about the same at highway speeds.

Funny thing Jay, is I see the best MPG gains with mine in-town as when hitting about 2000 rpm or so, the engine is making enough power that the parasitic draw of the clutch fan isn't nearly as much of a factor...

 

efan is a pretty good idea, I'll probably do that. I'm defiantly going to put ona cai, whats a good brand for each?

 

I put on a Mark VIII efan with 2 Hayden adjustable controllers (1 for low and 1 for high) and it works wonders. With my 180 Tstat, it stays cool even when I'm towing. Also, I would install 4.56 gears depending on how big of tires you go. A Detroit TruTrac or Powertrax Lockers would be nice along with a good tuner and CAI. This is the setup that I'm going with whenever I finally lift mine.

 

I used the Flex-a-Lite 180 Extreme (although there is now a model out specifically for the Ram and is model 183). I didn't want to go the pic'n pull/junkyard route for a Taurus or Mark VIII fan, a big reason is the Flex-a-Lite pulls 3300 cfm and only requires 18A draw to do it. The Ford fans can use up to 70A of electrical power at startup and generally yield a lower CFM besides.

As far as the CAI goes, make your own. It'll perform just as well as any commercial CAI under $400 (only the high end Vararam types will give any real gains over a home-made one and they run the risk of pulling in water off-road]. It will cost you about $20 in parts at any Lowe's or Home Depot plus the filter cost ($35-50 depending on which one you choose). Plenty of DIYs around here on making one. Be forewarned, most of the <$100 ebay ones will fall apart on you at some point...

 

or find a mopar knockoff on a parts warehouse website, i paid 65 shipped for mine with heat shield...

 

Okay here is my future list of mods:
-35" Nitto trail grapplers
-homeade cai (sounds like a funproject)
-efan
-4.56 gears when I scrape the money together after selling my car (not the RAM)
what are some exterior mods that aren't to pricey? I just finished debadging it yesterday.

 

By the way, how can I put pictures of my truck on my profile? I've been trying to figure it out but I suck at technology.