What did you do to/with your second gen today?

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BBartow

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I don't agree at all with the statement that you won't notice a difference between oils unless you're switching from conventional to synthetic.

There really is a difference in some oils vs others. Amsoil and Schaeffers for example both feature a much better shear resistance and film strength than Valvoline and Pennzoil for example. They are very top quality oils and being as such they are quite a bit more expensive. They're also better at keeping the engine free of varnish and sludge. Any oil you choose, as long as regular scheduled services are done, will protect your engine well enough for what most need. However, if you really want to run a vehicle hard and get a good wear longevity out of it, a high quality oil is the best place to start. It'll stay between the bearings and better resist shearing from say a 5w40 to a 5w30. If you compare UOAs of different oils and look at high mileage teardowns you can get a ton of information.

I like scheaffers myself. I can get it locally pretty cheap compared to amsoil and it's one of the best all around synthetics out there. Meant haven't heard of it because they pretty much cater to fleets. Semis go millions of miles on the stuff. But it's much more than most people need too. A good T6 or Mobil Delvac are also great oils and can be had stupid cheap for how good they are.

I wouldn't use Pennzoil in anything i own personally. They use paraffin in their formulations, have for years. When you look at teardowns, Pennzoil engines are the nastiest there are even when you compare em to a cheap cheap oreillys conventional

:laughing1:
 

Yeret

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I've only ever used plain ole Valvoline 10w30 or 5w30 in the winter. Never had a problem. My engine had 156,000 when I first got the truck and I always used Valvoline conventional up to something under 180,000 when I had the engine torn apart. No idea what the previous owners used but the bearings had pretty normal wear and would have easily run 200,000+ miles as they were with no problem. Ever since I had the block re-ringed, the engine has still seen nothing but Valvoline conventional.

I've given thought to trying synthetic stuff but I say stick to what works. Plus, synthetic stuff's expensive as hell! For nearly three times the price per quart, it can't be that good, can it?
 

Shadow_Death

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I've only ever used plain ole Valvoline 10w30 or 5w30 in the winter. Never had a problem. My engine had 156,000 when I first got the truck and I always used Valvoline conventional up to something under 180,000 when I had the engine torn apart. No idea what the previous owners used but the bearings had pretty normal wear and would have easily run 200,000+ miles as they were with no problem. Ever since I had the block re-ringed, the engine has still seen nothing but Valvoline conventional.

I've given thought to trying synthetic stuff but I say stick to what works. Plus, synthetic stuff's expensive as hell! For nearly three times the price per quart, it can't be that good, can it?

I buy mine at walmart since the 5 quart jugs are fairly cheap.

I got this https://www.walmart.com/ip/Castrol-EDGE-10W-30-Full-Synthetic-Motor-Oil-5-QT/34039133

Except it was 24 bucks. I'm not sure why that one says 45. I actually had to go outside and look at the jug because I thought maybe my dumb self put 5w30 in it.

I guess it's location driven.
 

Gr8bawana

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I bought my truck when it had about 45,000 miles on it. It now has 268,000+ miles on and I have never used anything but conventional oil whether it was Penzoil, Valvoline or Quaker State whatever is cheapest. Original untouched engine.
I also have a Saturn with 294,000+ miles on it. I bought it for $1000 with 110,000 miles on it and it also still runs great.
I have always changed the oil in all my vehicles at 4-5k mile intervals without fail.
As far as I'm concerned synthetic oil is a waste of our hard earned money.
 
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Yeret

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Yeah, money that can be spent elsewhere. Like gas in the tank, LOL.

So, my Davis Unified Ignition stuff came in today. Damn, Summit sure ships fast! And they package stuff so well. That's why I love ordering from them even if they aren't the cheapest. Anywho, the dizzy cap is fairly hefty with nice brass terminals. Not sure what material the rotor uses as it's got this black coating. The cap also has a "1" embossed on one of the terminals, so that takes the guess work of where to start, LOL. The wires are friggin' huge! They're marketed as 10mm which breaks down to an 8mm wire with a 2mm high-temperature jacket. The jacket is this nifty braided stuff, not real sure what it is. And I opted for red for that classic hot rod look. With my open-element and headers, they're gonna look right at home.

Also, included with the wires is a whole tube of dielectric grease! A lot of wires that I've bought over the years only come with a tiny packet that barely gets you through but with this set, they gave me a whole friggin' tube! That's enough for the job plus some. :happy107:

Now, I was planning on letting the local gearhead install all this stuff for me but I might just get drunk enough to do it myself. Damn, if I had a second vehicle, it wouldn't be a problem but since I don't, if I screw something up, then I'm...screwed.

I was originally leaning towards the MSD 8.5mm Super Conductors, but I've read too many negatives on MSD stuff. One reviewer discovered that MSD wires, among others, fails to provide adequate shielding from electromagnetic interference. In a carbed engine with no electronic controls, it's not a big deal. In a fuel injected engine...well, seems a lot of people using MSD stuff complains about running problems.
 
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Neo299

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If I stroke the 318 in my 98 ram 1500 would have to use a carb or could I use fuel injection?


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Yeret

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Well, I got pretty drunk today. Rummaging through the basement, I found an old box with all my matchbox-size cars and some other larger ones and spent a good hour reminiscing. I found a true gold nugget from my childhood: a small-scale first-gen red Dodge Viper RT-10. Man, I remember finding this in a personal goodie bag at an old friend's birthday party many years ago. I was something like 9 or 10. At that time, I was literally obsessed with the Dodge Viper after playing Test Drive 5 and it was pretty much the only thing I talked about even though I had absolutely zero idea how a car even worked, LOL. I remember getting into pretty big trouble after I pulled it out of the bag because the approximate words that I yelled, while among a group of several-year olds, was "it's a ******* Viper!" Man, did I get scolded but I didn't care. I was totally entranced by this sweet model Viper in my hands. What a nice memory. Hell, as I type this, I still keep glancing over at the model. One of these days...

Afterwards, I decided to go ahead and install my new DUI cap, rotor and wires. Not gonna lie, I've never done this job on anything before, let alone on an engine with the dizzy placed behind it under several inches of cowl. So I went into it with just a basic idea what to do. I still recalled my lesson from my Honda years back and installed all the new wires on the new cap before pulling the old one from the engine. I still left all the wires on the old cap and checked them over carefully multiple times before putting the new cap/wires on. I'm happy to say the engine fired right up with no problem. Now that I know I didn't screw it up, I just gotta route the plug wires a little more to pretty everything up plus put some of that dielectric on the boots.

The thickness of the boots made the cap end a little crowded but the ends snapped onto the terminals/spark plugs with meaty "snap." Just what I like to hear. Also, I made mention in a previous post to the DUI cap being hefty. Yeah, weight wise, it's an anvil compared to what was on. The DUI components overall are very high quality stuff.

The contacts on the old cap were pretty burnt and the rotor had some corrosion. A little disappointed since the stuff wasn't cheap and is only a couple years old. Time will tell how the DUI stuff holds up. For now, it looks sweet. As for difference in driving, no idea yet. By the time I finished, I had put down a forty of 211 and several Busch Lights. I wouldn't notice the difference if there was one, LOL.

Today was one of those days that makes me so glad that I got out of bed in the morning. :drunk:
 

dapepper9

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My Schaeffers 5w40 is $35 for 4qts. Otherwise my T6 is $25.

DUI stuff is pretty good for the most part. I wouldn't run anything but a mopar coil but otherwise good stuff. MSD Superconductors are pretty good as well. I ran them for a good while before getting in on a group deal on FireCore50 wires. Seriously crazy wires and for similar pricing to the MSD wires. They eliminated a cyl 5 misfire i had, pretty sure i had a damaged MSD wire from pulling them too many times.

Today i got my grille swapped with a chrome sport one to match my 4th gen bumper better. LOVE it. Was a pain the ass though. Install was a damn BREEZE. Highly suggest buying through lmc for stuff like that, having bought several grilles through eBay ill never buy anything like this from eBay again lol. Problem came when i went to close the hood. Couldn't get the ******* back open. Had to double up some safety wire, wrap around latch through grille, pop interior hood latch, pull on the wire then lift hood and release wire. Ended up having to bend the hell out of the latch on the hood side. Other than that no issues.
20170819_214241.jpg
 

Shadow_Death

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Lol I had to pull my MSD wires once to recheck the spark plug gap and the metal connector came out of I've of the boots on one of the wires. I had to recrimp the damn thing. Never again if I can help it.
 

Gr8bawana

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Well, I got pretty drunk today. Rummaging through the basement, I found an old box with all my matchbox-size cars and some other larger ones and spent a good hour reminiscing. I found a true gold nugget from my childhood: a small-scale first-gen red Dodge Viper RT-10. Man, I remember finding this in a personal goodie bag at an old friend's birthday party many years ago. I was something like 9 or 10. At that time, I was literally obsessed with the Dodge Viper after playing Test Drive 5 and it was pretty much the only thing I talked about even though I had absolutely zero idea how a car even worked, LOL. I remember getting into pretty big trouble after I pulled it out of the bag because the approximate words that I yelled, while among a group of several-year olds, was "it's a ******* Viper!" Man, did I get scolded but I didn't care. I was totally entranced by this sweet model Viper in my hands. What a nice memory. Hell, as I type this, I still keep glancing over at the model. One of these days...

Oh you youngsters...The Viper is an awesome car.:happy107:
First production year was 1992 and you make it sound like that is ancient history.
 

Yeret

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1999
Engine
5.9 Magnum
Pretty ancient for me, LOL. I was only 3 in '92 and my sister was just born.

Man, what a tough choice. Given the choice between a '69 Road Runner with a factory 4-speed and 383 or a first/second gen Viper, I'm just not sure, LOL. Classic old-school non-computeriezed muscle car which would enable much easier and broader tuning or the quintessential bat**** insane modern muscle car with a friggin' huge engine. Ah well, I've got plenty of time to ponder since it'll be a little while before I can handle a $30-40,000 loan without completely busting myself, LOL.

Took my first drive today with the new wires installed. Engine is definitely smoother and does seem to have a bit more pep, especially going up hills. I attribute this to just having a new cap/rotor period since the old ones were getting pretty chewed up. I like to classify this as power restoration rather than a power increase.

The wires themselves look totally sweet. Nice, classic bright red. They'll look especially nice once I get the shorties installed.
 

jlbayes

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5.9l cummins
Got my retrofit head lights installed. Also got a new oem not cracked grille. Painted it yesterday and will get it on sometime this week.
 

Shadow_Death

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Replaced the inner and outer bearings on the driver side front wheel. No more breaks rubbing during turns or brakes dragging while driving. These mechanics we're a joke.
 

DodgeTx

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SEGUIN
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Heres some pics of recent tows. Also Had to tow my chevy wrecker with a car we bought at auction back with the dually and a tow strap! Man that was a hell of a ride at 60 mph! not to mention the person driving my dually v10 didnt have a cell phone so i couldnt tell them to slow down!
 

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Shadow_Death

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KyleW2

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Hope any of you that were or are going to be affected by the hurricane **** going on right now are safe/stay safe.



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Yeret

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Just got the truck back from the shop with my new shorties installed. Of course, they didn't line up with the y-pipe, so the mechanic had to cut off a section and weld in a new one to make them fit. Good thing I opted not to try and do them myself, LOL.

Throttle response, off the line and part-throttle acceleration have definitely improved. I can't say much for heavy throttle and mid-range power as I opted to take it easy for the first drive. Gonna let 'em cool off for the night and then check the bolts with the torque wrench. The Remflexes call for 20 lb/ft, though I'm gonna wager the mechanic didn't take a torque wrench to them. Remflex does advertise that you don't need to re-tighten the bolts since the gaskets act as a lock washer once they're properly crushed but I better make sure they've got proper torque to begin with.

Looks friggin awesome under the hood now, especially with the bright red DUI wires. I'll get some pictures up once I move to a new third-party image host (**** you, Photobucket). Also, the exhaust has a significantly deeper note to it. Me likey. :)
 

dodge dude94

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1998 Ram 1500
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5.9 Magnum
Just got the truck back from the shop with my new shorties installed. Of course, they didn't line up with the y-pipe, so the mechanic had to cut off a section and weld in a new one to make them fit. Good thing I opted not to try and do them myself, LOL.

Throttle response, off the line and part-throttle acceleration have definitely improved. I can't say much for heavy throttle and mid-range power as I opted to take it easy for the first drive. Gonna let 'em cool off for the night and then check the bolts with the torque wrench. The Remflexes call for 20 lb/ft, though I'm gonna wager the mechanic didn't take a torque wrench to them. Remflex does advertise that you don't need to re-tighten the bolts since the gaskets act as a lock washer once they're properly crushed but I better make sure they've got proper torque to begin with.

Looks friggin awesome under the hood now, especially with the bright red DUI wires. I'll get some pictures up once I move to a new third-party image host (**** you, Photobucket). Also, the exhaust has a significantly deeper note to it. Me likey. :)

Damnit. Makes me wanna put mine in.
 

dodge dude94

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Truck adulting for the day.

Rotella T6 oil change, my WIX XP filter, filled the PS fluid, coolant, washer, and greased the front end.

Also found that I might need to be changing my rear transmission mount here after a while. Guess they don't last 19 years, but maybe I can make it to 20 on the stocker.

Is a nice day today, and I needed to check the trans. fluid level anyway so I took the truck into town for a Lowe's run. Trans. level is okay, but needs a change and I need to figure out why the cooler line check valve delete is leaking.
 

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