Chris's 6.4 Hemi Stroker Truck

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chrisp2493

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Warren, OH
Ram Year
2003
Engine
392 Hemi
Starting a thread showing the progress of my first truck. I bought it used for only 5k knowing I needed to put in some work on it. I have a lot of mod plans for the truck as money is available and I'm enjoying working on it in my spare time.
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Getting it off the lot, first thing done was taking off the completely rusted out exhaust and replacing it with a summit racing cat back c048c43ab9b0a96024bb5c465c15093a.jpg
Debadged and removed the pin striping
New audio system
Cranked the torsion bars up for a 2" level
Removed the step bars
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Rebuilt the heads due to a head gasket leak from the previous owners neglect. Got a valve job done and new pushrods
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New front bumper, headlights, fog lights and light bar. I sanded down both bumpers and applied a spray on bed liner to them. I was really happy with the results
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Plastidipped the grill
5% tint on the back window and 20% on the front windows
New bolt on flares
Future plans are adding shorty headers, CAI, a tuner, and rims and tires. One thing at a time!


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sposer17

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2005
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4.7 Magnum V8
nice bro. you getting black rims?
 

akennedyusmc

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Hemi 5.7
I like the look of the Bedliner bumper! Thinking about doing the same on my truck


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chrisp2493

chrisp2493

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I like the look of the Bedliner bumper! Thinking about doing the same on my truck


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Thank you! I used Defender-Pro epoxy bedliner, it was a cheaper spray on alternative to Line-x and I was really happy with the results. It was very easy to spray after roughing up the bumper finish and so far it looks tough as nails.


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chrisp2493

chrisp2493

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Well I am starting the long tube header project tonight. I got a set of the pacesetter headers. 69cd2e20c2e73528f62b799a28b6a178.jpg52daa86485a965897aa76784022f1224.jpg
I spent about 2 hours removing the factory paint with a torch and wire brush and then painted them with 3 coats of VHT Header paint. Tomorrow I'll start the removal of the manifolds and get the new ones in. Any tips or tricks from anyone with experience with this install would be greatly appreciated!


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chrisp2493

chrisp2493

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Well two more days of work and I finally got the headers all done. The install was fairly simple. The pacesetters fit right in no problem, I was frankly surprised how easily the fit up on the driver side. 06eaf59ab7874bd7c161ac83ddcc0861.jpg
I read somewhere on here that you had to grind off a mounting tab on the passenger side of the transmission. I did that, but I may have taken Alittle too much off7acad700831ebc00f21dfe20feba4389.jpgf2b8a7fb0a7c5b5f83236c9027fb692a.jpg
As far as I can tell, it's just the bell housing so there isn't any pressure or fluid inside there, so I just filled the gap in with silicone to keep out water and debris.
The next problem I ran into was my idea of trying to reuse the old y pipe. I tried to figure out how to fab my own new one, but I figured raw material would cost me over $150 and the pacesetter y pipe was only $230. So I made a run to summit racing again to pick up the y pipe and get pack to work. It fit very well and saved me a lot of time and hassle.
Well instead of getting new cats I decided to do a cat delete. I had to add a **** in the y pipe for the downstream o2 sensor since none was provided. I went with the non fouler trick, so instead of welding a threaded **** on, I just drilled a hole in the pipe and welded one of the non foulers in. I just screwed the other non fouler into that and called it good. 18243493864b29346567e31dec1ef328.jpg
The next issue was the fuel and egr relief valve lines on the driver side. They were practically on top of the exhaust collector. I put the fuel line in the next slot up on the bracket on the frame. I found some heat shield wrap at AutoZone and covered the various lines in it. Then I took a piece of sheet metal and bent it over and around the pipe and shot a few screws into the frame to hold it. Hopefully that helps.
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Lastly, since I didn't have cats on the driver side originally, (I'm assuming because I have the 4x4) I had to plug the o2 hole on the driver side header. I went to napa and they had a plug for it for $9.
It definitely changed the exhaust note, gave it just a touch of a chug to it. It sounds pretty good with my summit racing rat back. I haven't driven it much today yet, but it did seem Alittle snappier on the throttle. Can't wait to see if it's any better on the on ramps or not. I'm definitely happy to get rid of the exhaust leak on the driver side and the cracked header on the other side!
 
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chrisp2493

chrisp2493

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Well after driving it for a few days, I've noticed a problem with major exhaust drone at 60-70 mph (1600-1900 rpms). I have a summit racing muffler on right now, will changing out the muffler to something else help? I've had my eye on the spintech pro street 9000 anyways, so maybe this is my excuse to get it


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chrisp2493

chrisp2493

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I did the TMR delete today after reading up on it in forums. I've never heard of it before, but I tried it and was surprised at the outcome. WOT pulls feels so much more aggressive and the shift is way quicker. I guess that's the only perk of an 03 ram


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destroyaYO

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2004
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5.7L V8 Hemi
I did the TMR delete today after reading up on it in forums. I've never heard of it before, but I tried it and was surprised at the outcome. WOT pulls feels so much more aggressive and the shift is way quicker. I guess that's the only perk of an 03 ram


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TMR?


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chrisp2493

chrisp2493

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TMR?


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Yep, apparently 03 rams have a torque management control that slows down the 1-2 shift at wide open throttle. Disconnecting a wire disables it for firmer shifts. I did it and noticed quite a difference


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destroyaYO

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Interesting ...


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chrisp2493

chrisp2493

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Finally got around to ordering the Spintech Pro Street 9000 and it arrived this weekend. 4a54cb5d636d28ab75ae9e96b8506cc0.jpg
Hopefully it will take care of the obnoxious drone that my summit racing muffler has. Can't wait to install it this weekend, seems like I have either time or money, never at the same time though haha. I'm debating on taking it to an exhaust shop to get the pipes reworked to dump downwards 3991f3e4097a21d22c26613df0d428be.jpg


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chrisp2493

chrisp2493

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Pics and storyline of my first Ram

Got the spintech installed last night. It was a major pain removing the old cat back but having a buddy's car lift helped a lot 0b4cf0fd11727bc45ea403b1a97b54d5.jpg
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Overall much better sound then the summit racing cat back, it really sounds how a truck should. It is loud though, very loud on acceleration. I haven't been hearing much drone, especially in the 60 mph range the old muffler had, that in itself was worth the upgrade
https://youtu.be/g-G0BWJEXbQ
 
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chrisp2493

chrisp2493

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Engine
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I finally ordered tow mirrors, and they arrived and were installed this afternoon. They old style mirrors were never my taste, I wanted these changed a long time ago but never got around to it a6ca0fed921a4e03910ce9b089a2e9b0.jpg91258738d7ac6c45a842023b4d6ae8f6.jpg
So far a huge improvement from the first day I drive it home! 61e9ed6cb0ad3a114bb120e97e98552c.jpg


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chrisp2493

chrisp2493

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Warren, OH
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Engine
392 Hemi
The dashboard was all cracked up so last fall I pulled a dash out of a truck in the scrap yard. Never got around to using it after finding out how much work it was to pull the dash out. 7f5c5f12d956c2ffda07b093105927b7.jpgd44d6b5f68434016d716564f86a4b9bd.jpg
This was the previous owners bright idea on fixing the dash 76f9e8f594ac61c4280936f561e5aaa4.jpg
I wanted to try a leather wrapped look one the new one so I got some bargain material from Joann fabrics and some weldwood contact cementef78228745ed04e52650429106eccee6.jpg
After applying the cement it started to soak through the fabric and staining it b80eae7837f998246a02656756ac03f1.jpg a114330e5b75c2117d39b618d5e70447.jpg
Since I only got enough fabric to do it once and I bought a clearance item I had to go back and select a different vinyl. This time I tried some 3M spray adhesive and it worked much much better. c562ddd7252fcac18a523245e5ae7ca6.jpg
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It took almost 9 hours on a Saturday to get it all said and done. I actually didn't even remove the dash from the truck, due to a hacked in remote start under the steering coloumn. It was a rats nest of wires so I didn't bother trying to disconnect them. I just pulled out everything I could and just leaned the dash forward to reach the rear screws
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Finally got it all out back together and the defroster cover wrapped. Now I have to come up with some kind of grille guard for all the vent holes.
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I'm trying to wrap some of the radio bezel and the console lid but I'm not sure how successful I'll be on that. Many thanks to some of the guys on here that sent me links and some suggestions



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chrisp2493

chrisp2493

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All finished, I used gutter guard for the defroster vents and it actually looks awesome. m2b324d67cd56cc76dfeb93cf08197dbc.jpg
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Marciel

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The dash looks great.

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