Hey all,

I'm new to the Dodge family and to upgrading my truck. My father-in-law is a big car guy and has got me hooked.

I am interested in doing a few mods to my new truck, but don't know where to start. I always here starting with an aftermarket exhaust is good. Or a CAI. But i'm don't know where to begin.

I would love to improve my MPG some(who wouldn't) plus get a little more HP out of the truck. Not to mention a better sound. I am driving a 2009 5.7 V8 hemi crew cab.

Any help would be great. Plus my budget is a little tight right now. So brands that give you a good "bang" for the buck would be great also.

Thanks in advance

 

First mod for me is ALWAYS superchips!

 

I have only had my '10 1500 Hemi Sport 4x2 for two weeks and have added mopar chrome step bars, Uconnect phone, remote start and a linex bedliner. To me those things are necessities as I work in sales and am on the road a lot and on the phone most of that time. I have been thinking of doing some performance mods, but when you have a truck that makes power like this one does and with CAI, new exhaust and programmer you may only pick up a few tenths in the quarter if you are lucky and everything works right to me I just have a hard time justifying it. I am way happy with the power, looks and ride of this truck. This is my 3rd new Ram in a row. The last two were diesel 3500 quad cab duallys. My last was a late model '07 that was a service shop queen. Dodge/Chrysler stood behind that truck for almost 3 years and I traded it in right at 100K because I was just tired of the trouble and not being willing to foot the bill when the warranty expired. I don't plan on doing anything that would void my factory warranty especially on the powertrain as much as I think I would like to. I bought my '10 from the same dealership as the other two because of the great relationship I have developed with their service dept. I think my next mod is going to be a top notch radar/laser detector like the Passport 9500ix. The way this thing runs I am going to get tagged sooner or later if I don't get some help. Take it from me, in my example, the factory will stand behind the truck if you don't do anything to give them cause to void the warranty. They spent at least over $10K on my last Ram and it only cost me two roadside assistance tows to the dealership and about a week in total with the truck in their care. Maybe when the warranty runs out I will do some performance mods. It will only be 3 years old then anyway with plenty of life left on it.

 

u also have to remember rammer1712 that the mods you do to your truck have to directly affect the problem of the truck. A CAI and exhaust is not going to gernade your engine unless your drivng you truck like a nut. Which would probably do the same thing with nothing done to it. But getting a tuner and cranking up the HP and then ya no warrenty on the powertrain after that. BigMic take your time to decide what you want out of your truck and research all your options.

 

kxwhite, you are correct in that OEM would have a hard time proving that a CAI and exhaust had anything to do with an engine failure. But from what I am reading on here and other places folks don't seem to be getting any significant gains from just these two mods by themselves. Most are saying that without a tuner, you won't see much. Now, if you have to bring you truck into the dealer and they see CAI and new free flow exhaust, I think you could reasonably expect the techs to look for evidence of a tuner being used on the vehicle. I don't know how easy or hard it may be to detect previous tuner use even if you reload the factory settings, but if they see other mods, I think they would at least suspect more. Your advice to BigMic though is excellent. You should really think about what you want out of your truck and research all your options before laying down the cash.

I work out of my truck and need it to be as reliable as possible. If it were just a weekend toy, or if I were into racing it, then I would be all into playing around and hoping for the best. I will keep track of the long term advances in the tuning and upgrades on these Gen4 trucks over the next couple of years and if I see things that will significantly upgrade performance without sacrificing engine life then I wouldn't hesitate at warranty expiration to play around a little for some more performance. Till then, 390 HP (holy crap that's a lot) is going to be plenty of fun in the meantime.

 

all very good thoughts. I will more than likely do an upgraded exhaust either way. Nothing beats that big "growl" from a ram with an aftermarket exhaust. If I don't do a CAI I may just go for an upgraded air filter.

As for the tuner, if there is a chance that I could void my warranty, I am not too keen on that. Also, when I bought this truck in late 09', I bought an extended warranty with it. They had a lifetime bumper to bumper warranty for that truck. So voiding that would be crazy.

As far as aftermarket exhaust and air filters, anyone have good experiences with anything? And price ranges?

Thanks

 

getting a programmer wont void the entire trucks warrenty only the engine and maybe tranny. if your door falls off your still covered.

i have the sport so i already had the duel tips so i just went with a mufflex muffler which works great.
and you can never go wrong with a K&N filter

 

Hi guys, I am not too new to the site, but have never posted before as I have not had need to. Eveyone always answers the questions I have before I ask them...

Although with this thread, I do have another question. It you go with a CAI and even a larger exhaust manifold, does that increase the HP enough so that when you are on the highway (which seems to be a lot of the time for me these days) that the "Fuel Saver" will remain on for longer periods of time when I have the cruise set? Right now it only stays on when I am going down a slope. My truck sounds just like BigMic's. It is a Crew Cab, 4x4, 1500, 09.

If these mods will not get me to where I need to go, any suggestions as to what might? I have never really had a truck I could play around with like this one before so I really do not even know what is out there for mods...

Any advise would be appreciated.

 

Please promise no snap on chrome handles and junk like that unless you really have more money than......you should have. Fake chrome is already all over the place have a look at your rims.