I own a 2002 Ram 1500 Reg Cab Short Box 5.9L. I got it because I wanted the 360 engine. I bought it new in Nov 2001. It has 190,000mi and has an aftermarket radiator, a rebuilt engine, K&N air filter, Flowmaster 44 series exhaust, Goodyear Eagles, MTX 10"s, and it still has the original peg leg 3.55 rear with towing package. I want to get a cold air intake and an Auburn posi. Also I am looking at getting a programmer and possibly edelbrock heads and roller rockers. I want to know what other upgrades all of you on this forum suggest. I even am thinking of going nuts and pulling my computer off and going all out carb, header/cutoffs and manual trans. What do you think?
I am happy that there is a forum like this and I look forward to your input.

 

I will move your post to the 3rd Gen Ram section. The members there may have some other ideals for you.

 

Welcome. GEARS. Even your reg cab is around the 5000lb mark, a steeper gear (say 3.92) will help to get it moving better. Hell, depending on where you are, I have a good condition 2003 3.92 LSD rear sitting in my garage if you're interested. Another good upgrade is a torque converter better matched to your modifications. The Edlebrock heads and roller rockers are a good idea, if you decide to change ratio, make sure if you change cams (Hughes Engines has a lot of stuff for this engine) to check your piston to valve clearance. A Superchips 3815 is a good entry level programmer, but if you go ahead with heads, cam, etc, then getting a custom tune will make everything work better and an SCT 9550 will help you here (look up hemifever tuning, Sean is great). Going old school will be a PITA to make it work reliably, as you will have to wire up your fuel pump to work properly; route fuel to a carb which means you will need a carb manifold; swap distributors because the one on there doesn't actually control your timing, the computer does; have fun trying to get your gauges (unless you rip those out too) to work properly. Too many things on these vehicles are computer driven to just rip it out unless you don't need a reliable driver and are turning this into an off road toy. Ultimately it is your choice. I would do some lurking in the second gen section, as they have this engine the entire production run and I am sure someone has done at least once pretty much anything you are trying to do.