Hello, I first off want to say great site. I have been lurking around here for some time and this is my first post. I have looked at every CAI, Exhaust, Headers thread on this site. Everyone has great information and helped me come to the conclusion that I would like to make some changes to my truck. Its an 08 5.7 QC. Here is some background. I rarely put the pedal to the metal. I currently have a tonneau cover for the bed, everything else is stock and I get consistent 17.1MPG on 89 pump here in the flatlands of Florida. Sorry for the winded prologue... Now for the questions.

I want to increase my usable Torque in the rpm ranges of 500-2000k give or take as that is where I see 95% of my driving. I do not want to go inside the engine to change cams, ect as that would be serious liability in the event of a claim. Hopefully this post will help me explore my options and find the best solution.

Intakes:
I understand that intakes increase your HP/TQ optimally over 3000k. Is there an intake on the market that increases your Torque at low RPM's and has a dyno chart to provide proof? I have yet been able to find a clear answer for this. I do like the Volant as it appears to keep moisture out of the intake but I can's substantiate this. Living in Florida its wet all the time and I would want to prevent as much water as possible from entering the manifold.

Exhaust:
There are several ones on the market that are easy enough for me to mount myself. So far the Gibson super truck is on the top of my list as it can be had for $200.00 locally but $ spent does me no good if the low end Torque isn't there. Anyone know of a better exhaust with low end grunt?

Headers:
This is most likely my best bet. I would rather spend more money on the best set of headers to achieve my goal of low end TQ than buy CAI/Exhaust/Superchip that would increase overall performance outside of my desired band. I haven't been able to see any real world Ram 5.7's with dyno sheets on different header systems. Could anyone suggest some good areas to look or ideas on the best header system?

Hope this wasn't to long a first post. If I missed a modification that would be valuable please let me know. Thanks in advance, I look forward to reading your posts.

 

ehhhh all the above will def help you over all...but idk about at that low of an rpm. have you looked into a tuner? that might be a good one

 

I have been looking into Superchips but wanted to explore every possibility. I know gas engines can not equate to diesel torque but hopefully someone knows of some options.

 

the most dramatic increase in torque
would come from a camshaft change
on the 5.7
to bring the torque max down from 4200 rpm
where the Chrysler advertising department put it
so that they could advertise a high number in the
"Horsepower Wars"
Customers buy hp but drive torque everday

the Volant CAI would give
almost no torque increase below 2000 rpm,
maybe 3 ft-lbs max at wide open throttle only
when the Volant is freshly cleaned
and zero just a few thousand miles later when it cloggs at a faster rate

for the headers to provide torque below 2000 rpm
the primary pipes need to be greater than 44 inches
or for Tri-Y design
slightly less than that for the primary plus the first Y extension

Since there is now 'variable valve timing'
on the model year 2009 5.7 Hemi v8
test drive one next month
to see if you are happy with the extra torque below 2000 rpm.
VVT is like having a different camshaft for the lower rpms

 

All of the posts given in response are pretty much correct here.
The Hemi is a mid/upper level HP demon, compared to most truck V8's, but being a gasser and not a diesel, low end torque is not it's strong suite.
ANY mod you do to increase air flow (headers, CAI, exhaust, etc.) will ultimately decrease backpressure which would INCREASE mid to upper HP & throttle response & fuel economy throughout the entire range (if you could keep your foot off it). Unfortunately, it will DECREASE the torque you feel at low rpms'. The people who do the header, CAI, exhaust thing for Torque gains are doing so because they are adding a CAM, whose requirements need the better breathing.
As for the Tuner, dynos of the Superchips do show nice modest TQ gains, but not until you get higher into the rpm band.
Nope, for TRUE torque gains, you are gonna have to bite the bullet and do a CAM or higher stall in the tranny or both. Which will put you in an area you appear to not want to be regarding your warranty.
The only other thing you could do is really a "band aid". You could re-gear to 4.56 gears. The gears do NOTHING for torque or HP themselves, but put you into a higher rpm range faster and will stay in there longer, thus keeping you in the "power band" where you will be making more torque with your engine. At say 30 mph your rpms will be higher than they were with 3.92's (or way higher than where you would be with the cheazy 3.55's), so the engine will be making more torque.

 

i'm not sure i agree with it being ba don low end torque. obviously its not a diesel, but if this torque curve is right, i'd say it does pretty damn good. but more is always better!

everyone that i ahve heard from that put the 4.56 gears in loves them. if you don't do too much highway, and have the cash, i'd say it should be on the top of your list.

 

Dodge engineers were quite proud of the 5.7 Hemi V8's
1000 rpm to 2000 rpm
torque value,
which was above 330 ft-lbs
compared to the earlier Magnum 5.9V8 torque in that range

The difference was in the length of the intake runners
15.5 on the Magnum 5.9V8
22.7 inches on the Hemi

Back in the 1994 press releases for the 8L V10
Dodge engineers bragged that the 25 inch longer intake manifold runners
let the V10 have 90% of peak torque as low as 1000 rpm

I have always considered it a great loss
that Dodge did not design a V8 intake manifold for the 5.2/5.9 in 1995
similar to their V10 intake manifold,
especially since it would have done away with the
troublesome "Plenum Gasket" failures

The 2009 Hemi 5.7 redesign
also has switchable length intake manifold runners
that change over to short runner above 4500 rpm
to achieve the 375 to 380 horsepower rating at high rpm

 

Yea, I gotta agree with 'ole Hank on this one. The engineers left a lot on the table with the 360, which was fairly well de-tuned off the dealer lot.

I'm very interested to see/feel the '09 with the variable cam timing and the active intake manifold. On paper it should give you the best of both worlds (low end torque and mid/high HP).
My hopes are when the new designed Heavy Duty Ram with the Hemi hits the market they continue to NOT put MDS in it, but have the cam & intake manifold upgrades. If they do, I may have a heavily modded '04 1500 up for sale...

 

Retarded ignition timing
will be most felt in the 1500 to 2000 rpm range
where is shows up as reduced torque.

Since the 5.7 has dual spark plugs
it might be worth considering
to remove one of the oem Champion plugs from each cylinder
and replace it with an iridium tipped sparkplug
with a very large gap,
say 0.060 to 0.080 inches

The tiny iridium center tip
should be able to fire such a large gap
and the iridium should keep the gap from growing with age.

The longer spark on one plug
might increase combustion speed
without causing misfires
and improve low rpm torque

You could also use the 8 oem plugs
to 'index' your remaining 8 oem plugs' gaps
to the best orientation
where the ground post only blocks the flame path
either toward the center
or toward the outside wall
leaving all other paths open
to encourage fast combustion

 

After looking at all my options, I'm not going to undertake the headers quite yet. Thank you for all the information, it helped me to decide I will go the standard route. I'm now deciding between the Volant or Ram Hammer intakes, Magnaflow duals or Gibson super truck, and will get the SCT. Mostly for the reason Dodge dealerships across the board see these modifications everyday, the cam would be a hard fight in the long-run if something happened even in spite of a correct installation. I will be dynoing the truck after every modification and taking MPG readings and will be sure to post my results. I do expect the small loss of Torque at the low RPM band, but you never know, I may be pleasantly surprised to find otherwise, even if its a long shot.