50BMG
Senior Member
Yes, modding does get a hold of you doesn't it! But yours looks great so far!
One suggestion from the peanut galley (me); remove the RAM 1500 from the door, if not the engine badge too. They are only stickers, so on a hot Florida summer's day, leave the truck out in the sun for a while, get some dental floss to work in behind the badging, and they will peal right off once you get them started usually. If not, careful use of a heat gun can allow you to do this work in your garage. Any glue residue is easily removed with store bought adhesive remover and a cloth, or even mineral spirits and a soft cloth works very quickly for this too. Rewax the door/panel after either.
I only have the engine badge on mine, but even with just the engine badge minimally, the truck looks so much "cleaner" without the big-ass RAM 1500 badging, let alone it makes it so much easier to clean and wax, especially after doing some mud-whomping...
Just a personal pref. and suggestion. Your mileage may vary...
;-)
Also, being in Florida (usually at least 40+ degrees all year where you are, right?) , have you even thought about upping the weight of your motor oil to a 10W30?
Believe it or not, I did this one summer up here in MI. (semi-accidentally) and I realized @ a 10% INCREASE in fuel efficiency!
I've discussed this phenomenon with Dodge, Ford, and even Chevy engineers (being in the Detroit area CAN be handy in this respect) and all of them scratch their head as to exactly why, but I've documented it on multiple occasions and IT IS true in my experience. My only personal conclusion is that the heavier weight oil "sticks" to the metal surfaces better or minimally, the amount that does "stick" is a thicker/more substantial film than the 5W variety, so it must reduce internal engine friction to cause the slight increase in fuel economy, especially at start up and when the engine is still running "cold".
Granted, due to MI. winters, I would never run anything but the designed 5W weight when it gets as cold as it does up here, but if you don't deal with those temps ever, in reality, you barely even NEED the dual weight oils.
Another thing which IS true about modern/dual weight oils is that the farther the numbers are apart, the worse the oil will "behave" at either extreme. This is due to the increased number of additives/dispersants that are needed to be put into the oil to make it behave "differently" than it naturally wants to. So, even though it isn't a "ton" different, a 10w30 oil will act slightly "better" at high temps, and more like a "real" straight 30 weight oil in that temp. range than a 5w30 oil will act like "30" at those same higher temps.
Of course a 5W variety WILL be more "fluid" in cold (sub 40 degree) weather than the 10w variety will, but this is only a real issue if it actually gets "cold" in the first place... Again, there are not a lot of "cold weather" differences between straight "5" and straight "10" anyway... Again, YMMV... ;-)
In my fun-car (Superformance AC Cobra replica, 520 Cu.In. Big Block) I usually run straight 30 weight oil in that because that car never sees driving in anything but warm weather. When I DO drive it I'm "on it" which sometimes includes track driving or the drag strip runs. Since I even store the car inside my warehouse in the winter, when I periodically start the beast when the snow is flying outside, that too is not a really an issue which requires the use of a dual-weight oil...
Just a thought (or two)...
Again, NICE TRUCK!!!
