I have a 2003 Ram 1500 Quad Cab and I just finished my sound upgrade ($1400 later) and I am ready to start with the exterior and drive train.

What is the best way to boost performance? I have read several posts here but all I got was confused...

Should I consider headers, dual exhaust, CAI, performance chip? What else is there?

I am really not sure what is hype and what is real, so I am a sponge for knowledge for those experienced enthusiasts.

Thanks,

Kev

 

on a 4.7 its a little harder to squeeze power out of it than it is out of a hemi. id start off with a cold air intake. people will debate about which brand is the best but the differences are so minute that it doesnt matter all that much. just go with a good reputable brand such as K&N, Volant, AEM, Green, Mopar Performance (makes one for the hemi not sure about the 4.7). then go with a good exhaust system. since youre not pushing huge amounts of horsepower, there is no need to go with an extremely expensive exhaust system. get some headers (long tube or shorty block huggers but id go with the shortys for more torque), your truck is an 03 so it should only have one catalytic converter, get a high flow cat (good brand is magnaflow), and a good muffler. gibson, flowmaster, magnaflow are all good brands. since youre not pushing alot of horses youll want to stay away from true dual setups or set ups with pipes over 2.75 inches in diameter to keep the optimal amount of backpressure. and electric fan will give you a noticable increase and are usually pretty cheap and easy to install. an electric water pump will also help but is a little more expensive and harder to install. another good upgrade would be a Fastman ported throttle body. STAY AWAY FROM THROTTLE BODY SPACERS!!!! go on fastmans website. its 260 dollars for his throttle body and when you send him your old one, (the core of it) he refunds you 80 bucks so basically 180 for this part. www.thefastman.com youll want a 68.5 mm throttle body. superchips made a programmer for 02 and 03 so youre in luck as you have the last model of 4.7 engines that superchips produced a programmer for. i think its like 300-something. run that on the 91 octane performance setting (and use 91-93 octane in it) then krc has some performance cams for your engine. i believe 209 is as big as you can go without having to change out lifters and valve springs, pushrods. if you really want the power you could go with almost any size mild cam you wanted you would just have to be willing to replace the lifters, valve springs, and pushrods like i mentioned. other things you could do would be pretty involved and youd probably want a proffessional doing it but things like a steel crank, a larger capacity oil pan ( i think dry sump is better but dont qoute me on that as im not sure), and forged pistons and rods. you could get the heads ported and polished and have the engine blueprinted (that is professionally tuned) and that would give you a pretty killer 4.7 that would smoke some hemis. also i cant believe i almost forgot this but one of the first things you should do would be to put in some 4.56 gears. this will give you a bit of improvement in gas mileage and get more hp/trq to the wheels on take off. after all of this youd definantly be able to run with stock and mildly modified hemis.

 

Don't like to knock the 4.7 but just save your money it won't be quick. Now if you want it to sound good on the other hand exhaust and intake are going to be the biggest gain in sound with slight power increase. Normaly I wouls say spray te ***** out of it but the 4.7s don't tune well and will probably pop with more than 100shot.

 

LOL... It wont? What do you consider quick? Many people consider a stock Regular Cab HEMI to be quick... and if a 4.7L can be made QUICKER than a stock 5.7L you wouldnt considered that to be QUICK? So far I have run a best of 9.78 in the 1/8 with my NA 4.7L Quad Cab (PIG RICH @ 10:1 AF ratio)... that is by the way QUICKER than most Regular Cab HEMI trucks. Its not the one with the MOST Mods... its the one who choses RIGHT Mods that work together that will get the best performance.

I completely disagree with you, the 4.7L can be made QUICK... If you have a 4.7L now it would cost you MORE to trade it in (UP SIDE DOWN) for a new payment on a 5.7L... in that case it would be cheaper to build your 4.7L to out perform a 5.7L... It is without a doubt cheaper to start with a larger engine and If you had a clean slate and was looking to buy today, I would suggest the 5.7L... BUT the 4.7L has potential and can be made QUICK with out a doubt there is no question that the 5.7L could be made quicker with the same mods... but thats NOT the question nor is it a viable answer to this tread....

As for the 4.7L NOT TUNING well... they both (4.7L & 5.7L) can make use of Air Fuel controlers (SMT6, SAFCII). As for the N20... I would agree that your limited on the amount of N20 the 4.7L can take... but Im sure it can take more than a single 100 shot as long as you had it installed/tuned/applied correctly. Heck many HEMI guys draw the line at a 125 shot... The only thing that you need to look out for is adding too much N20 and not enough fuel... thats what will cause it to "POP" as you put it. I do know of a few 4.7L owners aho have run up to 175 shot without any issues. So MOD AWAY, chose the mods that are proven to work. If you chose n20 do it right!

CupCake, this was NOT a flame ... those are some good times your running there... Keep up the good work.

SPEED SAFE, AIR RAM

 

I;m going to have to disagree. You can do whatever you want to the 4.7 (keeping it N/A) and slap a 75 shot on it and my full bolt on reg cab is going to walk it to the park. sorry but your "quicker" logic can't be used hear numbers don't lie your feelings do. I;ve been in 300wtq vws that feel like they are pulling trains but @ the end of the track they still runnin 13.9s. feeling quick and beign quick are to diffrent animals.

 

Ok... so your saying STOCK hemis are SLOW? ... I just want to clear that up first? If you are in fact saying Stock HEMIS are slow... then you will be the first HEMI owner to say it out loud... In that case I would AGREE with you 100%, they are truely over rated by some of the owners with their inflated EGOS... which dont make it any quicker than it really is. As foryour statement "numbers don't lie your feelings do" ... I was NOT speaking about feelings? I was speaking track times..... 9.75 in the 1/8 is NOT a feeling as you put it.


If your not saying they are slow... then what are they if they are not quick?

This post was NOT about HEMI vs 4.7L.... it was How can I boost the performance of my 4.7L. If a 4.7L can be made to beat a stock HEMI then I think that would make it quick... NOT BLAZING Quick, but quick non the les for a full size truck. But shaving more than 2.5 seconds off the 1/4 time can be considered a "BOOST" in performance can you possibly disagree with that?... I bet you will!

As for your HEMI making 300+ HP... I think Thats AWSOME and you deserve a pat on the back... really you do. But you where NOT pushing 300HP stock... you where closer to 250-260RWHP... and that is easlily obtainable from a NA 4.7L!

And by your words you really dont know what quick is either... I personaly feel 4ft wheel stands are a true testment to QUICK! (My 1969 Pontiac 468ci (650ft@3000RPMs) Firebird fills that need for speed) When you can run in the 10.xx's I will be impressed. But we are talking about trucks not race cars.... I dont think the original post was how can I run 13's in the 1/4.... I think It was more like how can I go from a 17.3 1/4 to a 14.9 or better 1/4... In that case Its very possible goal and 14's are quick for a full size truck no matter what engine you have... Do you remember the old 5.0 Mustangs... they where 14.3 cars from the factory... and everyone thought that was BLAZING... why would a full size Quad Cab truck a few tenths behind it be considered slow?

Yes you have a HEMI... But honestly this tread is NOT about you.

Ohh yeahhh... you dont think 9.75 is impressive for a Quad Cab 4.7L... when the Quad Cab HEMIs are running 10.2's all day long? If I slapped a 75 shot to my truck I would be running low 9's possibley high 8's.... What are your 1/8 mile times? I would be happy to take you up on that offer... As soon as my injectors get in I should be running 14.9x or better in the 1/4.... We will see what happens.

SPEED SAFE, AIR RAM

 

YES THE HEMI IS SLOW. I would consider a vehicle with a hemi a performance vehicle before beater truck running 17's. lets do some comparing to the lighting. Thats a quick truck costs the same amount as my hemi 15 more hp 1-1/2 second faster. takes to mods waaaay better than the N/A ram and has a much better resale value. The hemi ram is not a fast truck modded or from the factory.

and i don't race 1/8th mile b/c that really doesn't do much for me. the 1/4 is where its @ around here. and in that i run low 14's best is 13.9

 

LOL>.. Yeah but the Lightning needs a Supercharger to make it quick... thats apples to oranges... I know of plenty of HEMI owners SMOKING the lightning N/A... Toss on a supercharger to the HEMI and it will be a different story ... and APPLES to APPLES with the 5.7L taking the win light by far.

And the question was NOT if it was FAST... but QUICK. Are you saying anything less than 12's is slow? Do you realize 99.9% of the cars on the road will run slower than 17 seconds in the 1/4... I would have to say YES 10.xx is REAL fast but come on you cant tell me a 14 second TRUCK is not quick...

If you RUN the 1/4 mile then that means you also ran the 1/8 mile (660)... so dig up your Slips if you have them and post your 1/8 mile times. Im not picking on you.... I would just like to see where your at in the 1/8 mile.

Also perhaps you would be getting BETTER performance from your 348ci if you didnt go TOO large on your exhaust.

SPEED SAFE, AIR RAM

 

Thanks guys!

I did not mean to start a war, but I find it hard to believe that a 4.7L can't be beefed up without a complete engine overhaul. I am not looking to compete at the next Gator Nationals, I just want to gain 15 -20 HP.

Thanks Air Ram....

 

Oops! I gave credit to the wrong guy.

Thanks John