2002 dodge ram 1500 3rd gen simple upgrades

First I want to say hello and this is my first post on the forum, i've been lurking around reading for a bit, but can't seem to find the answers I specifically need.

My 2002 1500 has around 103k miles give or take and i'd like to beef it up a little, but nothing crazy.

I have been recommended to get a new exhaust, headers, no cats, and a chip. I'm not entirely sure how much hp i'd get out of that but i'm looking for around 350-400hp, it's also automatic if that makes any difference.

I'd like some others input on this as well.

I would greatly appreciate the help, there's a lot of other things I plan on doing to the truck in the future, but right now I want it just slightly above stock.


Also, when it was bought it i'm sure it came with flowmasters on it and the engine light is on, truck runs fine but a cat code came up. Would it be alright if I just chopped the cat out? A local exhaust shop said it would make it run poorly and a friend said it didn't matter and he was full of it on my truck, he's also a mechanic by trade himself.

The "simple mods" are usually a cold air intake, catback exhaust and a tuner. Headers are a little more involved, and I personally believe running without cats costs you your low end, and since these are trucks, low end is what you want. If your light is actually a bad cat, and not a bad o2, you can hack them off and see what you think. In that case it wouldn't be too costly to get yourself a set of long tube headers, a catless Y pipe and a good catback. No cats will always equal a check engine light tho, unless it's custom tuned out.

To get yourself up to 350-400HP on a 5.9, you'll have to be patient and plan bigger. Check out the second gen section and just read read read. Look up things like the "kegger intake mod" or grinding the torque walls off your throttle body (free mods, great throttle response). Further down the road you'll want to be slapping some good heads on that thing and a larger throttle body. You can probably keep the stock rotating assembly but you'll be building just about everything else to hit your 350-400hp.

I had a 99 360 and I don't know how much is still the same on the 2002's. Like is the plenum still an issue? Was it death flashed?

Brows this site, hughesengines.com

Forgot to mention a cam... heads, cam, and a good intake will net you some good gains. Can't say for sure if it'll put you in your 350-400 range but it'll be a stout motor for sure. Plus it depends how you build, for torque or HP.

MyOhFive said:

Forgot to mention a cam... heads, cam, and a good intake will net you some good gains. Can't say for sure if it'll put you in your 350-400 range but it'll be a stout motor for sure. Plus it depends how you build, for torque or HP.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the response. How much do you think i'll get out of the catback, cold air and tuner?

I'm really going to pace myself on this so it'll be an ongoing thing. I'm switching my interests to my this truck due to a bad motorcycle wreck awhile ago. I figure a fun truck is a little more safe

I'm going to check out that link and browse the forums some more to get an idea. My dad is a mopar fan and says the 360 is a great engine without needing to go to induction so I figured i'd put a few dollars into it.

The 360 is a good engine for sure. Like the 318, dependable and tough. You have a lot of options before going forced induction for sure. From a mild build all the way to a 408 stroker if you wanted, I can spend a lot of your money lol.

I couldn't say in numbers what you'll gain from the 'simple 3'. They're probably good for 10-15HP each. The biggest difference coming from the tuner. A cat back exhaust IMO doesn't really make much in the way of power because you're not doing anything about the restrictions further up at the Y pipe, cats, or manifolds. But the added sound will make you smile lol. Cold air intake, again more sound and good for a few ponies, and the tuner, well thats up to you which tune you run. All three together tho will definitely change how the truck feels to you. And they're all a necessary starting point for bigger and more bad ass stuff like heads, ported TB, intake etc etc etc.

When you do your CAI, like I said do yourself a favour and machine your throttle body. Yours probably looks like this:

http://www.snowdigger.com/the_garage/garage_projects/throttle_body/tb_install_01.jpg

Note the "walls" around the ports? Grind those bad boys off with a small dremel and round over the edges and polish that bad boy up. Huge difference in throttle response. Course clean the under side and put a new gasket on too.

Make it look like this:
http://i855.photobucket.com/albums/ab112/werm-bang/download-1.jpg