Help me beat this Chevrolet in a 1/4 mile

Well I drag raced one of my friends at my airport the other day on the runway, he has a 2006 chevy silverado single cab short bed with a CAI, Hypertech programmer, and straight pipes on a 5.3l vortech. My truck is a 2012 ram 1500 crew cab 5.7 4x4 with 33x12.50x20 Mt's. He beat me by about 2 truck lengths and mine is completely stock aside from the CAI I made last night. Right now I'm saving up for a Bullydog but what else can I do in the meantime that won't break the bank? Thanks!

Hes a regular cab short bed, you have 2 more doors and 33" tires. The tires are probably whats killing you

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Besides the programmer maybe get a ported throttle body.

Mud terrains are killing you. But that seems weird. He should only be running like low-mid 15s with those mods, bone stock you're about the same or faster than that

Yeah there was a noticeable difference in tire and rim weight when I swapped them out. If I put my factory rims and tires on would it make enough difference? Also, is there any benefit to using tow/haul or 4x4 on the launch? My tires spin about a 1/2 turn from flooring it without traction control on

There's a huge weight delta between your two trucks. I'm surprised you stayed within 2 lengths. I would go custom tune, and a tq converter for starters. I know you are on a budget, but it's going to take money, not magic to beat his tail next time

Weight and those 33" tires are killing you, but mostly the weight.

100 lbs. = approximately 1/10 second in the quarter mile.

WhiteBighorn12 said:

Yeah there was a noticeable difference in tire and rim weight when I swapped them out. If I put my factory rims and tires on would it make enough difference? Also, is there any benefit to using tow/haul or 4x4 on the launch? My tires spin about a 1/2 turn from flooring it without traction control on

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Yes it would. Not so much the size since you had 33" tires from the factory, but because of the added weight especially since it's rotational

I figured that about the money. $400 for a programmer, $350 TB, $400 exhaust.. I decided the CAI could me made on my own so I skimped out on it for $20 lol

WhiteBighorn12 said:

I figured that about the money. $400 for a programmer, $350 TB, $400 exhaust.. I decided the CAI could me made on my own so I skimped out on it for $20 lol

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Programmer will be about $600

garner said:

Programmer will be about $600

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I was looking at the Bully Dog Triple Dog GT for $375

Like said above. The weight of the wheels and tires is killing you. Rotational inertia and all that jazz. Swap on some smaller wheels and tires for drag racing.
If money is burning a hole in your pocket get a torque converter and tuner.

A lot of parts I'm getting will be at cost, but being a highschool student is why I'm tight on money. Thanks for the help guys!

Ok let's get a few things out of the way right now so people can stop just throwing out random ideas of why you lost.

Stock goodyear 275/60/20 are about 45 pounds each, your M/T are about 64; so you added a total of 76 pounds in rotational mass which is about 300 pounds of weight in your bed.

You make 390/407 and weighs about 5400 pounds(2013 weight from ram) plus you stock. So let's say 5700 plus you due to tires
Your buddy's silverado makes 285/295 if a 4.8 and weighs about 4300 pounds. If he has the 5.3(which I doubt) he makes 295/315 and weighs the same stock plus him

If similar HP you would be 1.4 seconds slower assuming same driver weight, but you have 95-105 more HP

Just for the hell of it, this calculator 1/4 Mile ET Calculator says he would run a 14.9 with 295 hp and 4300 pounds, you would run a 15.0 with 390 hp and 5700 pounds. Mind you that's with only a 17% drivetrain loss, rams lose around 23%.

So using the average 300ish rwhp figure it says you run a 15.5. According to hypertech the 5.3 makes 241 rwhp stock and 257 rwhp with their 93 octane tune. Which means a 15.2 for him stock and a 14.89 with the 93 tune according to the calculator


As comparison the calculator says my 2012 with a curb weight of 5200 should've ran a 15.0 but I ran a 14.6

To answer your question; put the stock tires and wheels back on since they're the same size(guessing yours is a big horn), buy a tuner, and possibly a non homemade intake

Even stock wheels and all the mods that guy has, you will have a tough time beating him with a 4 wheel drive double cab. One of the baddest trucks with bolt ons that i've been in was my brothers 2002 chevy 5.3. It was wicked. He had headers, superchip programmer, volant w/ ram air scoop, lowered with dual magnaflow exhaust with x pipe, and 3.73 gears. Those trucks are way lighter than our trucks as well. With a 4x4 and double cab i just dont see it. Get some mods tho and see where your at

Headers, stall, programmer and a ported TB. That will make it close. His truck is prolly 800-1000lbs lighter. Those 5.3's can be quick.

Holy crap these silverado are confusing me. I find posts saying high 14s-low 15s stock truck like your friend's then I see others saying lucky to do mid 15s with a tune. I give up lol. I'll send you a PM for a site that'll help you a lot

A guy on another forum I'm on has a Sierra with the 4.8 CAI built 4l60E 3300 stall and a tune. He ran 14.18. Make that a 5.3 and it may be even quicker.

WhiteBighorn12 said:

I figured that about the money. $400 for a programmer, $350 TB, $400 exhaust.. I decided the CAI could me made on my own so I skimped out on it for $20 lol

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Don't skimp on the air filter. Get a good one...not a Spectre from the auto parts store. Crap filters let too much dust by...too much dust takes out rings...followed shortly thereafter by the motor.
At least order a quality filter from AFE or someone.

Also FWIW...every 1 pound of rotational weight you remove is like taking 4 pounds of weight off the vehicle.