Bulletproofing My Ram

Hi,

So, just like the rest of you here, I've reached that time where I am now starting to have to throw parts at my truck from time to time. I will be getting a nice chunk of change in December, and I'm looking at taking some of that money and using it to bulletproof my truck.

I'm 17, and this is my first vehicle, and instead of spending $30,000 on a new one, I'd rather make this one be nice and reliable for at least the foreseeable future. I'm planning to spend around $4,000 and this encompasses aesthetic mods and performance. Obviously, the priority is making the truck as mechanically sound as possible first.

For starters, I have a 1998 Ram 1500 with the 3.9 Magnum. It's got right at 130,000 miles on the ticker. It's been fairly taken care of during it's life (belonged to my grandfather before it made it to me), and in my time owning it, it's got a oil change every 5,000 miles with Castrol High Mileage Synthetic GTX 10W-30 and one quart of Lucas Oil Stabilizer. It's paired to a automatic transmission that was replaced with a rebuilt one around 7-8 years ago. I know the first place I'm starting is with the plenum. I am going to get the Hughes kit and have the plenum fixed. When I run the truck above 65-70mph, I will ALWAYS get a CEL for a misfire on various cylinders. I feel like this is possibly related to the plenum.

Outside of the plenum, I am rather lost. Are there any other areas I should look at? I was planning on replacing the distributor cap, rotor, plugs, O2 sensor, and plug wires when I fix the plenum as well. I was thinking about a cold air intake system and a new catback exhaust system. The truck squeaks like crazy when the suspension is being worked, but I just put brand new shocks all the way around, and it doesn't feel like it's going to fly apart at high speeds. Steering pulls a tad to the right, but it's nice and responsive.

On the beauty side, I was looking at getting the truck repainted in a silver/grey metallic and leaving it at that. I just replaced the front headlight housings, and will be picking up some new bulbs soon. I have LED lights in mind for the rear to. The truck needs new tires all the way around, and I have some options. If I have the truck painted, I will also have a new bed liner sprayed in. Also looked at picking up a new set of rims, and maybe a new grille if I have any spare change left over. On the inside, I was looking at maybe adding carpet to the floor and replacing the dash. Add some seat covers from Coverking and call it done.

Are there any upgrades for the 3.9L that you guys would recommend?

Doing the cap and rotor with the intake off is much easier. Just don't rotate the distributor at all. Misfire can be caused by the plenum, but when you go to replace your spark plugs, make sure you get copper plugs. Platinum and Iridium sound better, and they say its better, but the heat range is different and causes problems.

Next, if it doesn't have one, trans cooler. If you're happy with the oil you use then don't change anything. But you can run the valvoline full synthetic without a problem. If you want to keep it nice and clean, you can add a quarter to half quart of ATF to the oil. The detergents will help clean the engine, DO NOT put more than half a quart of ATF in the engine, or it may foam up and starve the oil pump.

Squeaking comes from rubber bushings that have gone bad, but its not super important for anything but alignment. If you're going to get it aligned, you might as well replace the control arm bushings if they look worn or rotted.

Cold air intakes are a waste of money, just get a cleanable cloth filter from some place like K&N. Exhaust is really only good for sound, unless there is a clog in the cat, but then you'd know.

Check your ground strapping from the PCM to frame, frame to heads, heads to battery and battery to frame. Corrosion there can cause weird issues.

dudeman2009 said:

Doing the cap and rotor with the intake off is much easier. Just don't rotate the distributor at all. Misfire can be caused by the plenum, but when you go to replace your spark plugs, make sure you get copper plugs. Platinum and Iridium sound better, and they say its better, but the heat range is different and causes problems.

Next, if it doesn't have one, trans cooler. If you're happy with the oil you use then don't change anything. But you can run the valvoline full synthetic without a problem. If you want to keep it nice and clean, you can add a quarter to half quart of ATF to the oil. The detergents will help clean the engine, DO NOT put more than half a quart of ATF in the engine, or it may foam up and starve the oil pump.

Squeaking comes from rubber bushings that have gone bad, but its not super important for anything but alignment. If you're going to get it aligned, you might as well replace the control arm bushings if they look worn or rotted.

Cold air intakes are a waste of money, just get a cleanable cloth filter from some place like K&N. Exhaust is really only good for sound, unless there is a clog in the cat, but then you'd know.

Check your ground strapping from the PCM to frame, frame to heads, heads to battery and battery to frame. Corrosion there can cause weird issues.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips. I do like the oil I use, so I don't think I'll change anything there. Also, thanks for the notice on cold-air intakes. Saves me $300 or so dollars that I can put elsewhere (canned tune possibly?)

On the spark plugs, I was gifted a set of E3 plugs at Christmas time. I'm not sure if they are copper or not. I was gifted the plugs along with a set of Taylor plug wires.

For rims and tires, I am going for a street muscle style look. Something different that the jacked up trucks you see around.

I was thinking something like these wheels:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ITA5G0...UTF8&colid=KTC8JL4BL3MG&coliid=I13DFXIQH1L525

And these tires:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QL64E...UTF8&colid=KTC8JL4BL3MG&coliid=I1UO8CQF13NMFR


Once again, any input is helpful!

if you're going to get a tune, talk to flyin ryan, he can get you a nice canned tune. Ask Yeret how he likes his.

As far as the rims go, that would make for an interesting street truck. Are you interested in lowering?

dudeman2009 said:

if you're going to get a tune, talk to flyin ryan, he can get you a nice canned tune. Ask Yeret how he likes his.

As far as the rims go, that would make for an interesting street truck. Are you interested in lowering?

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Alrighty, I will get in touch. As far as lowering goes, I'm not particularly interested, but it may be something I could be persuaded into.

dudeman2009 said:

...Next, if it doesn't have one, trans cooler...

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You mentioned the tranny cooler. I thought that our trucks has a transmission cooler built into the radiator? I'm not objected to installing one, if it will help out, I just would need to know how to do it and the best way to mount it. I googled coolers for my truck and was presented with a plethora of options.

I PM'ed that other member about the tune.

Thanks again,
Brandon

MCIntoDarkness said:

You mentioned the tranny cooler. I thought that our trucks has a transmission cooler built into the radiator? I'm not objected to installing one, if it will help out, I just would need to know how to do it and the best way to mount it. I googled coolers for my truck and was presented with a plethora of options.

I PM'ed that other member about the tune.

Thanks again,
Brandon

Click to expand...

All autos need cooling, they generate a lot of heat in the torque converter as well as in the bands and clutch packs, much more so than a manual. That cooling is usually provided by running the cooler lines through the radiator, that keeps the transmission at about engine temp under normal driving. However, the cooling area for the transmission is small compared to what the engine receives, in addition to the transmission only being cooled to coolant temp, not atmosphere, and its easy for aggressive driving or towing to heat the transmission well above its safe limit.

An external transmission cooler is usually placed inline but after the radiator and cools the transmission fluid relative to the atmosphere instead of the coolant. If you get a large enough trans cooler, you can bypass the radiator all together.

As far as which one to buy, its largely up to you and how you want to install it. A lot of guys get the hayden coolers because they are easy to get and install. Other companies make coolers with nice features, such as external filter options and temp sensor ports.

dudeman2009 said:

All autos need cooling, they generate a lot of heat in the torque converter as well as in the bands and clutch packs, much more so than a manual. That cooling is usually provided by running the cooler lines through the radiator, that keeps the transmission at about engine temp under normal driving. However, the cooling area for the transmission is small compared to what the engine receives, in addition to the transmission only being cooled to coolant temp, not atmosphere, and its easy for aggressive driving or towing to heat the transmission well above its safe limit.

An external transmission cooler is usually placed inline but after the radiator and cools the transmission fluid relative to the atmosphere instead of the coolant. If you get a large enough trans cooler, you can bypass the radiator all together.

As far as which one to buy, its largely up to you and how you want to install it. A lot of guys get the hayden coolers because they are easy to get and install. Other companies make coolers with nice features, such as external filter options and temp sensor ports.

Click to expand...

Ok. Thanks for that info. I'll add the tranny cooler to the list of parts to pick up.

I've decided to add a tachometer to my truck. How would I go about doing this? My truck did not come with a tachometer.

if you are having your truck sprayed you will eat up your 4k right quick, a quality job is not cheap. If I were to have my 15 sprayed I would expect to spend 10,000.00+. Good luck with the truck and I hope you enjoy all the work upcoming. Pics when done would be great.

If you want to add a tach, you'll want to get something like this
https://www.amazon.com/GlowShift-98...ymm=2001:dodge:ram+1500&keywords=pillar+gauge
They make all different kinds.

For the tach, when you buy a gauge, you'll want to make sure it will work with an 8cyl engine, most have dip switches on back to select the number of cylinders, but some don't. Most gauges will have 1 12V line for the actual operation, another illumination wire that can either be hooked straight up to the first 12V line from an ignition switched source, or tied into the dash lighting. 1 Ground is common, then you'll have the sense or 'spark' wire (as i've seen some labeled) this splices into the ignition coil switched wire. The wire you'll want to splice into is the black/grey wire right off the ignition coil. If you search around a bit you might find a premade connector that goes between the vehicle harness and the ignition coil and provides a wire to connect to so you don't have to cut into the vehicle harness.

Those rims are cool, but those tires would be way too skinny for the 9.5" wide rim. If you're going for that stretched look, it may work, but something closer to 265 would be better at a minimum. If you aren't going for that stretched look, go something like a 285 or 305 width.

dudeman2009 said:

If you want to add a tach, you'll want to get something like this
https://www.amazon.com/GlowShift-98...ymm=2001:dodge:ram+1500&keywords=pillar+gauge
They make all different kinds.

For the tach, when you buy a gauge, you'll want to make sure it will work with an 8cyl engine, most have dip switches on back to select the number of cylinders, but some don't. Most gauges will have 1 12V line for the actual operation, another illumination wire that can either be hooked straight up to the first 12V line from an ignition switched source, or tied into the dash lighting. 1 Ground is common, then you'll have the sense or 'spark' wire (as i've seen some labeled) this splices into the ignition coil switched wire. The wire you'll want to splice into is the black/grey wire right off the ignition coil. If you search around a bit you might find a premade connector that goes between the vehicle harness and the ignition coil and provides a wire to connect to so you don't have to cut into the vehicle harness.

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Thanks for the info. I was planning on a GlowShift gauge and the pillar. I knew how to do most of the wiring, I just needed to know which wire I used to pick up the signal. I don't have a issue with splicing into factory wiring as long as it's done properly. We all know the type of people that just throw electrical work together and don't properly protect it from the elements and all that mess. They end up burning on the side of the highway.

usaf2006 said:

Those rims are cool, but those tires would be way too skinny for the 9.5" wide rim. If you're going for that stretched look, it may work, but something closer to 265 would be better at a minimum. If you aren't going for that stretched look, go something like a 285 or 305 width.

Click to expand...

Thanks. Just out of curiosity, what is the max tire size I can put on here without it causing issues? Truck is at stock height. I have 245's on the truck currently and I just feel like I'm gonna end up with that half-assed "wheel extends 5 feet beyond the fender" look.