Performance and Mileage enhancements
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Registered User
Joined: Oct 2009
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Performance and Mileage enhancements
Obviously I am new to the forums. I was looking for a good forum for performance enhancements for my Dodge, and I bet I made the right stop 
What I am trying to do is boost my trucks overall performance in power, mileage and efficiency. I am a HVAC Contractor by trade, not at all savvy with auto mechanics or performance.
I just traded in my old 2001 3/4 ton 2500 work truck in and bought a 3rd Gen, 2006 Dodge Ram 1500. It is the SLT model with a 5.7L hemi with mostly stock options. It already has dual exhaust with 3" tips, not quite sure if it has a flowmaster on it but sounds pretty nice.
The original owner took immaculate care of it and it only had 12k miles on it.
The extent of my performance knowledge, the minute amount that it is, I was told by someone else that I might want to invest in a Power Programmer, headers (not sure since the truck is pretty new), Flowmaster, K&N cold air intake, throttle body spacer and a catback??
Any advice would be appreciated. I live down here in central Texas by the way in case it matters. Initially I am looking to spend about 1500 on parts unless I need to push it to about 2k
What I am trying to do is boost my trucks overall performance in power, mileage and efficiency. I am a HVAC Contractor by trade, not at all savvy with auto mechanics or performance.
I just traded in my old 2001 3/4 ton 2500 work truck in and bought a 3rd Gen, 2006 Dodge Ram 1500. It is the SLT model with a 5.7L hemi with mostly stock options. It already has dual exhaust with 3" tips, not quite sure if it has a flowmaster on it but sounds pretty nice.
The original owner took immaculate care of it and it only had 12k miles on it.
The extent of my performance knowledge, the minute amount that it is, I was told by someone else that I might want to invest in a Power Programmer, headers (not sure since the truck is pretty new), Flowmaster, K&N cold air intake, throttle body spacer and a catback??
Any advice would be appreciated. I live down here in central Texas by the way in case it matters. Initially I am looking to spend about 1500 on parts unless I need to push it to about 2k
Veteran
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 261
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Well you can start with the basics.. Cold air intake, a programmer, exhaust and and I would do an electric fan and go from there. There is a nice write up on here about them in the faqs section. As for the throttle body spacer, no, waste of money and time. Put gas in your tank instead
Record Breaker
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,854
Likes: 2
From: Oceanside, CA
in my opinion blowmasters suck. in some cases they flow worse than stock, and they are prone to rusting out. they do sound nice though, ill give them that.
as far as mods, start out with the basics, intake, exhaust, and programmer. you can check the 3rd gen ram faqs section for all the popular choices on those. intake and exhaust wont give you big power increases right up front. they are more for sound, and are supporting mods for other stuff.
after you take care of those basics, you can move up to mods like e-fan, headers, gears, cams, and torque converter. also, suspension, if you want to lift, lower, or just smooth out your ride.
and lastly, the throttle body spacers are useless, stay away from those. also stay away from that crap on ebay that promises like 100hp increase and 50+mpgs magic all in a little box. and for exhaust, dont just limit yourself to a full catback setup. the rams come stock with nice piping already, you can swap out just the muffler for a fraction of the cost, and achieve the same gains.
so check out the faqs section, and utilize the search funtion, and you will be on your way. this was the right place to come for knowledge.
as far as mods, start out with the basics, intake, exhaust, and programmer. you can check the 3rd gen ram faqs section for all the popular choices on those. intake and exhaust wont give you big power increases right up front. they are more for sound, and are supporting mods for other stuff.
after you take care of those basics, you can move up to mods like e-fan, headers, gears, cams, and torque converter. also, suspension, if you want to lift, lower, or just smooth out your ride.
and lastly, the throttle body spacers are useless, stay away from those. also stay away from that crap on ebay that promises like 100hp increase and 50+mpgs magic all in a little box. and for exhaust, dont just limit yourself to a full catback setup. the rams come stock with nice piping already, you can swap out just the muffler for a fraction of the cost, and achieve the same gains.
so check out the faqs section, and utilize the search funtion, and you will be on your way. this was the right place to come for knowledge.
Grand Champion
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 6,041
Likes: 0
From: Gilbert, Arizona
From my personal experience, dont worry about or focus on mileage mods. If you make your truck more efficiently by building up the power on it and making it work easier (build up the rpms faster, move easier, get up to speed faster ect.) you are not only adding power but if you keep your foot out of it (BIG IF) you will notice a nice increase in mpg.
I would start out with an intake, programmer, E-fan and gears. Combined with your exhaust (which if it is a flowmaster I would get rid of it) you should be set. That way you are making the truck breath deeper, run better, eliminating some of the parasitic loss and improving on how your truck is using the power its getting at the wheels.
I would start out with an intake, programmer, E-fan and gears. Combined with your exhaust (which if it is a flowmaster I would get rid of it) you should be set. That way you are making the truck breath deeper, run better, eliminating some of the parasitic loss and improving on how your truck is using the power its getting at the wheels.