Ramforums

Guys (and Gals),

Over the past few years I have been noticing my 2001 Dodge Ram 4x4 has been subtly loosing power. Finally, a couple weeks ago it developed a "tic" in the top end. I pulled the valve cover and found the problem. The left rear lifter is dead. With 145,000 miles on the old girl and over 1/2 towing a trailer or boat, I think it's time to freshen her up and try to regain some of my lost ponies. When I opened up the valve cover, the first thing I noticed and was rather surprised was some baked on sludge on the rockers and guideplates. I could hardly believe it since I am very meticulous when it comes to my routine maintenance. I always have changed the engine oil on regular intervals. When the truck was new I used a 5,000 mile interval and once I turned 75,000, I dropped back to 3,000 mile intervals. 10W-30 Castrol has been used since the first change and I never had any oil related problems. I did have to change the oil pump at about 130,000 after a couple "check gauges" warnings popped up but the oil pressure would come right back up. That being said I only drove a couple miles and had it roll backed to the garage to be fixed. I don't understand why the baked on oil was present but it will definately be cleaned well during this teardown. Anyways, back to the problem at hand. Instead of just fixing the lifter problem, I am seriously considering a few mods while I have the top end tore down. Below is a list of planned mods. I would just like to get a few feedbacks from some fellow MOPAR maniacs on what I am planning on doing.

Hughes FI Airgap Kit
Big Gulp TB
Hyd Roller Lifters
Timing Chain Set w/ 3 Keyways
Chain Tensioner
Accel Distributer Cap
Accel Distributer Rotor
SCT Tuner

Of course, when I remove the intake, I will have to clean up any baked on residue that may be down that far. I hope it was just on the rockers and didn't get down to the heads. I also plan on pulling the heads and having them disassembled, cleaned and ground. Of course, new valves, guides, seals and springs while I'm there. I know you guys are going to say if you're going to do the heads you may as well go with a cam, clear the pushrods and valve lift while your prepping the heads and slap on a nice set of headers. Believe me guys, if I can convince the powers that be (my wife) I would put a set of Hughes heads and headers on her, a mild cam and be done with it. I will probably wish I would have done it in 6 months as we all do when we are on a budget. With the above mods, the necessary gaskets, fluids and help of a good friend who happens to be a retired MOPAR mechanic, I am probably looking at close to $2000. My goal is to regain the HP the 5.2 had when she left the factory...or maybe just a little more so pulling my lawn equipment trailer and boat isn't such a strain on the truck and granny doesn't blow the horn and flip me off going up a hill. I just want to enjoy driving my truck again and getting the performance out of it that it is capable of producing.
So guys, lets hear your 2 cents on the mods, good or bad or heading in the right direction. I would like your opinions.

P.S. Sorry to be so long winded but knowing some history always helped me to make decisions or add some weight to them. Hope the info helps jog some memories or make suggestions so others will find the information useful.

I still wouldn't spend my money on new heads...clean up your old ones and hope for the best.
At this point it's pretty much your call...I find that when people ask for suggestions on the 'ol internet, they pretty much have made up thier mind and are hoping for justification. Somtimes they get it, and sometimes they don't.
Either way, they pretty much do what they had in mind to begin with and the reason I know this is because I have done it too. It's probably why you'll not see me ask opinions/suggestions about something, I'll simply do it and record the results.
BTW, I'm not trying to be mean or nasty, it's simply the way I've observed things.
And I'll hope that you'll repair your truck and in a few weeks or months from now reopen your thread and report what you've observed. That way others in your situation can read firsthand about a real world application. No one'll point fingers or laugh.