Hi everyone! First time truck owner, and after looking at about 30 'newer used' trucks, I decided on a black 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 4.7 QC. I love the look of Dodge trucks and everything I've read/heard spells a very reliable long lasting truck. I've had it for 2 weeks now and I absolutely love it.

I have 3 questions:
1) First let me say, I didn't by the truck for MPG, but it doesn't mean that I'm not going to try to increase it. I've listened to the driving habits suggestions on this list and have started to put them to practice with some success. I'm wondering what people think is the best mod for the money to help at the pump. I have been reading this forum for the past 3 or 4 days combing and searching and I think my second investment (first was nerf bars) is for a K&N or AIRRAM CIA. Does anyone Agree / Disagree with that? I don't care about sound of the truck at all, so leave that factor out. Just MPG.

2) I am very interested in buying the Apple iPod adapter to control my iPod through my factory stereo. Do I have to have a special factory deck with that? (I have the CD/Tape combo deck) Where do I find that adapter?

3) I hear a 'squeeking noise' sometimes when I'm going over bumps (sounds like the bed moving) is that normal? Is there something I can do to stop it?

Thanks everyone for your help,

Skylar
2004 Black Dodge RAM 1500 4.7L V8 QC

Wife:
2001 Dodge Caravan

 

Check and make sure your bed isn't rubbing up against your cab for the squeek. You should be able to run your I-pod with an adaptor on the stock deck. Does it have an aux. plug on the front?

IMO, nobody can really prove these mod's give any measurable difference in MPG, this debate will rage on here but your ROI will be minimal if any.

 

Ok first off for MPG increases stick to these 4 and you should be very happy with the results, Id buy a GOOD cat-back exhaust system first (mines a borla system increased my mpg by about a mile and a half if I dont get on it and free'd up alot of HP), buy a CAI second (gives you about a 1/2 MPG gain give or take plus hp and stay away from the cheap plastic tubes), Buy some decent tires for it (remeber if you lift it and throw huge tires on it you wont be seeing much of a gain but more of a loss, If you like the off roading get alterains and if you like the street look/performance get tires that have a high speed rating and keep them filled with the correct amount of air pressure. This does help alot.) and last but not least invest in a superchips tuner, set it for the 87 economy setting and you'll notice a gain in hp and mileage. And as always drive with a light foot for best results and use mid to high grade gas whenever possible.

Your second question is an easy one if you have the cassete player just go buy the adapter for a personal cd player from any audio place and it should plug right in and work. If not you'll be spending a little dough on a new deck

And for your third question I honestly have no Idea what it could be. Try having someone listen for it when you drive by or are riding with you. Sometimes where you think the noise is coming from isnt always where it is actually coming from.

Other than that man enjoy!

 

Also remeber that mods are really a double edged sword when it all comes down to it. Sure they'll all give you some sort of gain but if your like most of the guys on here with the mods I listed for you then you'll probably be reving your engine to hear your exhaust or punching it here and there to really feel the power behind it and all that which will in return will kill any mpg gains you get.

 

Well, two of your questions were answered well already, so about the IPOD. If you DON'T have a cassette player, as most people don't anymore, just buy one of the transmitters that plugs into the IPOD and broadcasts through an FM station of your choice. That's what I have for mine and it works just fine. Still really good sound quality too. They can cost from 30-80 bucks, depending on who makes it and what all it does. Actually saw a cheap one at wal-mart last night for like $20.

 

I'll only work on the MPG question. The engines are fairly efficient. If there was decent improvemnet to be made in that regard for any reasonable sum, Dodge would have done it to improve thier CAFE scores. A tonneau will help a little bit, but I recommend the vynyl ones because the fiberglass ones add too much weight, which works against you. Second, air up the tires to about 2-3 pounds short of the max printed on the sidewall. The tire pressure recommendations from Dodge are way low because if they aired them up, the ride would be too stiff and sales would suffer. Possibly the most important is your driving habits and you know what that means.

 

Actually, I already have the cassette adapter and I have the FM transmitter (a nice $80 one from Monster Cable). But I want the in-dash (and on steering wheel) controls. I'm guessing that I'd have to buy the factory Full-Screen-With-Navigation and everything else. Am I wrong? As I mentioned before, mine has both the cassette and the cd and no visible audio inputs on the front. I just wanted to know if anyone knew exactly what was required to hook it up directly to the factory unit and where to get that adapter I saw on someone else's post.

I looked around a little more and found one that I think is what I meant:
http://www.cardomain.com/item/USSPA11CHR

If anyone has a better one that they've used, let me know.

Do you mind telling me what you paid or what I can expect to pay for one? And you reccomend Borla? Do they have a website?

I was definitely planning on a CIA and I've narrowed it down to AIRRAM or K&N (MOPAR?). Any suggestions and why?

I run 17s, what size / brand / model do you recommend?

I have a very good friend who's got the exact same truck, just a 2003. He and I are going halves on a Superchip tuner. I can't wait


Thank you everyone for your help. I'm excited about working / modding / upgrading my truck and I appreciate everyone's help.

Skylar
2004 Black Dodge RAM 1500 4.7L V8 QC

 

The tuner can only be used on 1 vehicle. It stores your stock settings, so you can set the, back later if u want.

A decent exhaust will run you about 250-350....depending on if u get a single or dual exit setup.

From what i've read...the airram is one of the better intakes, but its got a long waiting period due to popularity. K&N is pretty good....Airraid is ok as well.

17's are better for weight. From what i've read.

 

I love my borla system mainly cause not to many people have them and they are primarilly a performance exhaust setup and top of the line, Its a quieter running system but with the gains you get from it you wont be unsatisfied. The setup I have will run roughly $749 installed out the door ($675 after taxes if you want to do the install yourself). Flowmasters are good but they mainly give you the tone and not as much of a hp and mpg gain but they are also alot cheaper. Personally I wanted the best I could get and I wanted my truck to sound good and not like everyone elses truck around here, plus I had a loud truck for a while and after a while I wasnt to thrilled with it so having a quiet system that no one can really tell you have untill you hit the gas is a good thing. They do have a site at borla.com if you want to check them out.


Honestly they all do about the same. Ive heard that the K&N setups can get chip the plastic and screw up your intake, mopar is ok AIRRAM is good, AEM Brutes are good. Im leaning more towards the AEM or Mopar setup for me though.


This all depends on what you want your truck setup for. With 17's you can really go in any direction you want. If your going for off road I cant really help you here cause I mainly do street. As for street tires, BF's are good, perellies are great. Alot of people have different opinions on which tires are best, personally I like my Nittos. Im running the stock 20s so they give me a descent sidewall while keeping the lower profile (they come in higher sidewalls too), they handle great and they are "V" rated which if your going the street way I highly recomend going with tires that are rated for high speed. Mine I do believe handle great up to 149mph, will I ever drive that fast probably not but the wear, the handling, the traction, and the over all ride is greatly improved with the high speed rating.

As prerunner said the tuner can only be used for one vehicle at a time and CAN NOT be ran in two vehicles at once because what they do is remove and store your stock computer settings for your vehicle on the programer and then install what ever preset program you want to have on it and once its installed in one vehicle it will not work on any other vehicle there after until the stock settings from your truck have been put back on your truck and then your friend can use it. They do this because you HAVE to swap the settings back to stock before you bring it in to any dealership for any work. This is because they normally will flash the computer and give you updates and if the superchip program is in it they the flash will reset it to stock and will lock the computer so you cant reinstall the superchips program without sending the programer back to superchips to get the unlock codes which will cost you alot of money and time.Sorry to bring your hopes down a little but its better to find out this way than to have it and not be able to use it.....

 

IMHO,
SC tuner: $400
Cat back: $300
CAI: $150
I would say my numbers are probably pretty close if not pretty conservative. That's $850 at a minumum for fuel efficiency upgrades that will probably net you no more than 2 MPG. You will probably never see any savings over the life of your truck so if these upgrades are for efficiency purposes only then it is just not worth it.

You will however get a little more bang for the buck power wise and the 4.7 can always use a little of that. Remember though, the 4.7 is a pretty well tuned engine as is so you are probably not going to net much either way.
I had a 02 4.7 that got consistently 16.7mpg bone stock. The thing is now I have an 05 HEMI which gets consistently 17.1 bone stock.
Pig