So I am a marine at camp lejeune and I saw other guys with a dodge ram.
I was driving a saturn vue. Needless to say I felt like a girlscout. So I grabbed
My ********* and told the wife I was getting a truck, and to my suprise it worked.
Anyway I am amazed by the power behind the thing. Its a 5.7l hemi magnum 4x2.
Now I'm pretty uneducated about what any of that means so I may seem ignorant
I apologize ahead of time for that. Well semi ignorant. This is where I come into
Where I broke my truck. I was driving along and saw some mud. I think to myself..
Hm that looks fun. WRONG. I get stuck 10 feet off the road hahah. Now I completely
Understand the 4x2 thing. Anyway I hada get my neighbor to pull me out with his
F250. Which actually failed cause I spun the tires so much I almost sank in it. So
We had to go grab the neighbors sierra 4x4. Anyway that worked great, they got me home
I think I anhialated the tread on my tires and I broke the airdam under my front
Bumper. So I was wondering if someone could fill me in on the limits of my truck.
I know it is a powerful maachine but what can I do with it... also what should I do about the
Airdam? Only 1 part of it broke off. Not sure if I can order another or even where
To go for that... anyhow.. thnks gents

 

Well it is a powerful truck that's for sure. (Especially when coming from a Saturn Vue...)

With that being said, it is only a 4x2 so unless you get yourself some SERIOUS tires I would commend keeping all that hemi on the pavement, because it makes Dodge look bad with Ford and Chevys pulling us out.

Welcome to the Ram Family. I just joined a week ago myself, but have always been a Mopar fan from my first Wrangler.

As for the Airdam... Well I have no idea.

 

Thanks for the welcome man, good to be part of the dodge family!

 

Just pull the air dam off, it probably costs way more than it's worth, I find it more of a cosmetic thing to hide the front suspension. I know it helps re-direct air but its a truck.

 

Air dam's are designed to redirect some of the airfow to the sides rather than under the vehicle. Air going under the vehicle will "lift" the front end at high speed. In the case of a truck, my guess is that the only thing you will notice is a very slight decrease in gas milage, maybe 1MPG if you traveling at 80MPH on the freeway. I doubt you will feel the "lift" from a missing air dam enough that it feels less stable than it did before. As for a missing air dam in a lighterweight car, you would probably feel some increased instability at high speeds (80MPH or more) as well as a decrease in MPG.

I don't think the airdam's on Rams affect cooling at all.

The airdams on our trucks are probably just another CAFE trick by automakers to get better average fuel economy numbers. I believe the switch from 5w-30 oil to 5w-20 oil around 04-05 is for the same reason, as the internal components of the engines did not change. (This may not apply to the addition of MDS in the 06 Hemi though, the lighter weight oil may really be necessary. IDK)

In a nutshell, rip off the airdam if you want. I'm not going to do the math, but leaving the airdam on over the life of the truck will save you more money at the pump (if you do lots of highway driving) than the cost of a replacement air dam, even more if you pick up a used one.

My wife has a 90' Jaguar XJS with the V12 engine. I've driven it at 100+ MPH with the airdam in place and with out (I didn't take her long to rip it off on a parking curb). I can see both a difference in temperature (all speeds) as well as stability at high speeds. I need the air dam in place on this car.

 

Welcome. As for limits and such, I am a firm believer you can do everything a 4wd can do IF you know HOW to drive your truck correctly.

 

just take the air damn off.

and welcome to the site. im a Marine over at Camp Pendleton. Happy Birthday, and Happy Veterans Day.

 

Yeah, ok biotch. I wish I was taking the truck to Georgia and we'd see about that. But I know a spot in Waycross we can go. I'll even spot you a HUGE ground clearance advantage over my daily driver, Grand Cherokee.

Lets see how far you go where I go with my 4WD and front & rear lockers before you wish you never sold Pyro your winch. LMAO...

 

LMAO....ok ok ok....I will rephrase, almost everything. There. you happy??

 

The stock tires are limiting your OFF road ability. Also a limited slip is a must in a 2 wheel drive truck if you plan on any mud play.. Personally I have drove a 2 wheel drive around stuck 4x4s and pulled them out. It has to do with tires, ground clearance, posi trac of some kind and the knowledge of when to roll on the throttle and when to have it hammered when entering the mud.. Driver is a big part of the equation.. Know your limitations...