But I am Always looking for more power and better gas mileage...and please, no one chime in about if you want better gas mileage you should have bought a car, or not lifted it, or not bought bigger tires. I do know all that already, now I just need to figure out how to help what I have...and what I have is a big badass lifted 4wheel drive HEMI on mud tires.

 

Best MPG & Performance mod you could do would be the headers (combined with a CAI if you don't already have one). They are one of the few mods that will definately give itmore torque and HP and at the same time, the better breathing and scavenging will increase fuel economy. Usually 1.5-2 mpg assuming you don't start getting on it because of the added power and enhanced sound coming from the tailpipe...

 

What would be the best headers / CAI combo that won't break the bank. Hate to sound cheap but the gain in mpg won't make sense if it costs a shytpot of money to do it.

 

did u get the offroad pipe with your headers as well?? i put the headers and offroad pipe on mine, and it sounds side. But like others have said, make sure u buy some kinda gastkets. The ones that come with the headers are just paper and mine blew out within a week. AND make sure you check the bolts every couple months because they come loose and then u get header leaks

 

You could always go the ebay route on the CAI, personally I wouldn't, but a lot of guys have and have no regrets.
The Pacesetter's are very economical, even ceramic coated. But where you are really gonna save is if you can install them yourself, as I've heard from guys on the forums that installation cost can be as high as $500. The cool thing is with the Hemi engine in the 1500 3rd gens, you can get to everything really easy and don't even really need to lift the truck.

Keep in mind though, this is still a performance & enhanced sound mod, first and foremost. It just happens to be one of the few performance mods that will net you a small increase in mpg's instead of the other way around. The mpg gain would take forever to offset the cost of the headers, especially if you are paying for labor. If you are thinking about this SOLELY for fuel cost savings, then save your money and invest it at the pump...

 

Nope, it looked like from the size of it (at least from pics) like there was no way I was gonna be able to use it and keep the cats (don't know for sure if it's true or not) and I wanted to keep them (mainly for some backpressure, not so much for the CEL). After using a short pipe to bolt on to the collector and weld into the cat, I pretty much fabricated and welded from there back.

I used the supplied gasket, it is cheazy though. I've had no issue after a little over a year and figure if/when I do, I'll just get a Mopar one and replace it. Same with the bolts, if I find they are starting to loosen and become a PIA, then I'll get the locking ones from Moe's and be done with it. I check them when it's oil change time which has been three times so far and have only had to re-tighten one bolt about half a turn, so it's pretty much a non-issue so far as well.

 

I would probably do them myself if I went that route. Next time I change my oil I'll look at how easy it would be. What is the going cost of a set of coated headers?

 

The only trick on the install is dealing with the cats. If you cut them out and live with the CEL or do the non-fouler trick it'd be a bit easier, but it's also not a big deal to move them back the 18" or so you need to. If you can weld and have a place to get a few pieces of pipe, then you'd have no problem. The whole install would probably be a nice day long project. Of course, you need to cut and splice about the same length of wire to your O2 sensor as well, but a solder iron and a little shrink wrap tubing and that's cake.

For costs, here are the two sources I always give. Their prices are VERY competitve and the customer service from each is top notch. I've given these links out so friggin' much, you'd have thaught they'd be sending me commission checks by now...

http://moesperformance.com/index.php...oducts_id=8978

http://www.airram.com/product.php?ca...p;productid=72

Air Ram's price is a little better, just check with him and make sure these are the ones with the ceramic coating INSIDE & OUT, unlike Moe's ad, it doesn't say and they make 'em both ways. You WANT the coating on both sides...

 

Only bad part is I live in a state that does emission checks every year. I'd sure;y have to keep the cats and make sure the o2s are reading correctly. Any guess on how much louder the truck would get? I have a flowmaster and no resonators.

 

Not much louder on mine, if at all. It does make the exhaust tone a good bit deeper though...