I just picked up my first truck, an 07 Ram 1500 4.7l SLT quad cab with 72000 kms, and so far i love it
I do mostly highway driving to work and back, and the odd' boat/quad/snowmobile tow so i didnt go with the hemi

How do you guys like your 4.7l dodge?
also i hear lots about throttle body spacers, k&n air intake system, and flowmaster exhaust kits improve your gas mileage
are these mods worth the money for extra gas mileage?
what do you guys get for highway mpg? i get around 20mpg when i set my cruise
thanks!

 

20 mpg is probably the best you'll ever see. So if that's what you're getting I wouldn't change a thing lol. But TB spacers are useless so throw that out of your mind. Just clean the TB every oil change or so probably longer since you do mostly highway. If you really want to do mods though get an E-fan and a tuner

 

whats an e-fan and what purpose does it do?
thanks!

 

An e-fan is an electric fan and it replaces your clutch fan (which is the really loud fan in front of your engine). The clutch fan requires power from the engine to run which takes away some horsepower. An e-fan is smaller and runs only when necessary (where the clutch fan is always running) so it uses less power. And the more power you make the less fuel you need to move forward which in turn gives you better gas mileage. Now don't quote me on clutch/e-fan difference. That's just what I've gotten from what I've read on her. Hopefully someone who actually has an e-fan and knows more will chime in. I just know the e-fan doesn't run all the time and frees up HP

 

Your close...

A clutch fan does not always spin. Even though it's connected to the engine belt it has a bimetallic coil that contracts when cold and disengages the fan. Around a certain temperature this coil expands and the connection between the fan and the belt/shaft is established and the fan spins. Moving fast enough (airflow) can also cool the coil enough to shut the fan down when not needed.

However, there are some disadvantages to a clutch fan. It is parasitic, meaning it does pull a certain amount of HP from the engine, this action is at it's worst at low RPMs when the engine isn't making enough power to overcome it (city/stop 'n go driving). The fan is also limited to turning at the speed of the belt, so the fan does not pull a lot of CFM at low speeds (again, city driving conditions).

An efan is usually controlled by it's own thermostat (there are a few different kinds) and turns on/off at pre-setable temperatures. Because it's electric it is not connected to the engine, so no parasitic robbing of HP (hence better fuel economy, especially in city/non-interstate conditions). The other huge advantage is that CFM is a constant, meaning the fan is pulling just as much air through the radiator when sitting still as when moving down the highway. This results in less chance of overheating when in stop/go traffic. This is also a HUGE advantage to off-roaders, who often make the engine work harder but aren't moving fast enough for a clutch fan to generate sufficient air flow to cool the engine.
For the hard-core off-roaders, you can even install a simple cut-off switch on the dash to turn off the fan for deep mud/water crossings to avoid pulling mud/crud up into the radiator fins.

There are varying degrees of efans, look for a fan with at least 2600 CFM air flow that pulls the lowest amount of AMPs from the battery/alternator system to do so. I've seen cheap fans flow 2400 CFM and draw upwards of 75 Amps to do so. I have a Flex-a-Lite model which isn't cheap by any means, but it flows a constant 3300 CFM while only drawing 18 Amps from the electrical system.

I have my fan set to turn on at about 170* and in combo with my 180* thermostat, I have yet to see my temp needle pass the one-third mark on the gauge, even when towing close to 8000 lbs. in 90*+ south Georgia heat...

 

thanks!
thats alot of information to take in for sure
how much is one of these e-fans going to cost me (roughly) and can i install them myself?
im fairly mechanical ive worked on sleds and quads, but not on trucks before..
also is it worth the money to buy one of these?

 

Welcome to the forum. There are a great bunch of guys here that will help ya when ya need something. I myself have a 4.7 and love it. x2 on what 08hemi1500 said about getting a tuner, definitely the best money I have spent on any mod. I can't help ya much with any info on the e-fan but I am sure if you search it on here you will come up with all kinds of good info.

 

The 4.7 is a decent V8, but like most engines it does have a few shortcomings. Because of it's aluminum heads it does not fare well from an overheat - often resulting in not just head gasket issues but warping of the heads as well. Also, earlier 4.7s seem to be prone to dropping valves as the pressed in valve seats can fail over time - this can also happen with just a mild overheat.
The engine also is prone to oil sludge issues.

Both problems can be avoided with good maintenance routines and taking care of any cooling system issues before they become problems.


Fuel economy wise you are about on par with most others. BTW, the Hemi gets about the same fuel economy (MDS models often better) with about 100 more HP than the 4.7. A lot of people think going with a smaller V8 or even a V6 will yield better gas mileage. That's not always the case.

As far as throttle body spacers, K&N intakes and Blowmaster (oops, I mean Flowmaster) mufflers go, don't buy into advertising.
Throttle body spacers do NOTHING on modern throttle bodies that inject the fuel after the TB utilizing a fuel rail. Older TB designs where the fuel and air were mixed at the TB did benefit from a spacer, but they are pretty much paper weights now.

You can do a search in this section and basically read for days about Cold Air Intakes (CAI). In a nutshell, unless you are adding a real top-end one ($500+) that truly gets air from outside the vehicle, the gains are minimal. 5 HP at the rear wheels is about what you can expect from one by itself. Also, technically, more air in means more fuel must be mixed with it, so the power gain usually means a slight fuel economy DECREASE. Also cooler air is more dense, so more fuel must be mixed with it, meaning the higher end ones make more power, but also use more fuel.
The biggest reason CAIs alone don't do much is basically due to the "weakest link". You really can't benefit much from more air if the throttle body, intake manifold and exhaust isn't also modified for better air influx and outflow.
Now if you add a CAI along with things like a larger, ported throttle body, headers, polished heads, etc., now you start to use that extra air.

Because of this, I don't really recommend dropping $300 in a CAI. The gains just don't justify the cost. What I recommend is going to your local hardware store and spending about $20 (plus about $20-35 more at the auto parts store for your cone filter of choice) on the components needed to build your own (there are MANY posts on that including some DIYs). Unless you are talking real high end (like the Vararam), a "home made" CAI will make the same gains that the $99 ebay up through the $300 K&N, AEM, AirRaid ones will make.
I've made about two dozen to date and all of them are still working fine (or at least I haven't heard of anyone having a problem). A lot of the ebay ones suffer from cheap components and poor welds on brackets etc. and don't stand up well to just normal road vibrations.

Just to give you an example, you can drop $300 in a "store bought" CAI and yield 5 HP at the rear wheels or you can drop the same $300 in a top tier efan and gain 18 HP at the rear wheels while increasing fuel economy.

One such home made CAI DIY:

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

As far as Flowmaster mufflers go (and again you can do a search here and read for days) - the reason they sound so good is because of their chambered design. Problem is chambered mufflers do not flow air well and often LOSE performance and fuel economy. There are a lot better flowing mufflers out there that are not chambered that sound just as good if not better.
As a rule, the higher the CFM rate of a muffler, the better it flows air and the better your performance and fuel economy will be.

Here is a small sampling of popular mufflers with their flow rates:

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


IMHO, don't waste money on a TB Spacer. Save a bundle and get some personal satisfaction by building your own CAI. Free up the exhaust by ditching the stock (and very restrictive) "Y" pipe and get a solid muffler that flows up around 500 CFM or higher. Then spend the money on a good tuner (Superchips or Diablo). These mods would give you a nice bang without breaking the bank...

 

i gotta get me an e-fan! any brands in particular that anyone likes? as for the mufflers im thinking of going with the cherry bomb extreme, cheaper than most others and sounds amazing haha.

 

I know the two e-fan types you'll see around here are Flex-a-Lite and the Ford Taurus Mark VIII (I think) fan from a scrap yard.