Hi all, I'm new here, as well as new to forums in general. I have owned my SRT-10 for almost a year, and I am finally going to start modding........ dont ask me why I didn't start before.

Anyway, What should (in your opinion) be my first mod, besides a turbo or supercharger?

Also, which turbo or supercharger should I go with? I've heard Paxton was good...

One more thing... I was wondering if any one has any trouble shifting into third gear when your really on it. It seems that there are times when third gear is just impossible to get.

thanks for your opinions....and help, in advance



James

 

Hi James. The best bang for the buck on mods for an SRT-10 seems to be the Mopar Performance PCM upgrade and a catback system. Many dealers are installing the Mopar Performance brand parts and leaving the warranty intact. Double check with the dealer first. There are a few issues still being resolved about the warranty and some other aftermarket parts. Mopar has headers, a cam, PCM upgrade, a "ram air" CAI and a catback. The most popular catback is the Magnaflow. It is a good piece and wakes up the sound quite a bit. It's an easy do-it-yourself install. Another good mod is hi-flo cats or if you don't have smog inspection, some are going completely catless. There is an O2 simulator that keeps that pesky check-engine-light from coming on. Cold Air Intakes are still being debated. I had the K&N before my turbo. It sounded good but there was no real SOTP improvement for me. Some are having good results with a drop in K&N in the stock air box. Mopar and Volant both make a ram air CAI that hooks up to the scoop. The problem is that the scoop isn't located in a high pressure area and the jury is still out as to whether there is any real ram effect. Check with Roe Racing. They are in Florida and know a lot about these trucks. They carry all the mods and can answer a lot of questions.

On boosting this engine, there are a lot of decent options available now. There are pros and cons to turbos and s/c. I'm partial to turbos. I have an STS rear mount set-up. I have virtually no heat soak problems whatsoever and my torque curve is as flat as a table top. I had over 500 ft/ lbs of torque from 2,500 rpms to 5,700 rpms on my stock engine with only 5#s of boost (With my new "forged" engine I'm ready to turn the boost up to 10 - 12 #s!). Don't be fooled by higher peak numbers. Average hp/torque is more important to me. That's usable power. Usable power comes on early and stays there through the upper rpm range. Some of the other set-ups may make a higher peak number but that number is only good for a few hundred rpms at the very top of the rpm range. Paxton makes a great S/C set up if you choose to go that route. Again, Roe is a good source for information on this. One thing to be wary of with boosted Gen III Viper engines is that the pistons are cast and have a very thin ring landing. 5#s of boost is about as high as you want to go with stock internals. If you're really serious about making gobs of power, forged pistons and rods are a must.

The shifting problem is normal. X Metal makes a shifter for SRT-10s that elimintes this problem, however, you will hear a little more trans noise in the cab. The noise doesn't bother me at all but a few have complained. If it bothers you just crank up that big stereo.

Hope this helps.