New to Dodge

[Dredai]

Morning all! I’m Andre from TX just received a 2003 1500 5.7 from my old man. Itching to start building my first street truck. I know nothing about dodge but am familiar with building trucks. I’m an old school ford guy. Plans for this truck are so far Comp cam, 3.93 gears and Eaton LSD, heads ? not sure what works best with these engines yet. Dual exhaust with X pipe and maybe flow master 40s just cause I like the sound of em and long tube headers. Not sure what to do to bulletproof the tranny yet. Still researching that.

Any suggestions, tweaks/adjustments and/or advice welcomed and much appreciated!

 

[Papa Red]

Welcome to the forum.

Red

 

[Tom Davis]

Welcome

 

[Southern Ram]

 

[NCRaineman]

Headers and true dual exhaust are a great place to start if you plan on adding power, as better airflow out of the engine will support anything you add later on down the line. A cam and lifters would be a good second step, as the stock lifters are known to fail and eat the cam.

If you are going further than that make sure to check the transmission, as too much power over stock will break things there.

Good luck!

 

[Dredai]

Headers and true dual exhaust are a great place to start if you plan on adding power, as better airflow out of the engine will support anything you add later on down the line. A cam and lifters would be a good second step, as the stock lifters are known to fail and eat the cam.

If you are going further than that make sure to check the transmission, as too much power over stock will break things there.

Good luck!

Thanks! If you don’t mind me asking a couple of questions right here I’d like to get a few things understood…

1. What are my best options to make a solid tranny out of the one I got? I’m thinking a cooler, shift pack or valve job and a tc. But again I don’t know much about these trucks so I’m going off my blueprint for my old bronco. As in that’s the way I would go about working on a C6 or the electronic transmission they came out with in the later years.
2. I’m looking at the comp cam on this page

XFI 208/212 Hydraulic Roller Cam for Dodge HEMI 5.7L/6.1L 2003+

The XFI 208/212 Hydraulic Roller Cam for Dodge HEMI 5.7/6.1L 2003-2008 has excellent torque throughout range, slightly noticeable idle. Slight tuning modifications and programmer required.

www.compcams.com

The specs look ok but it’s saying I’ll need a custom tune and to my understanding that’s almost non existent for my year truck. Any suggestions on that? And also could you explain exactly what it is about my PCM that makes it so frustrating to tune?

Thanks again!

 

[NCRaineman]

Thanks! If you don’t mind me asking a couple of questions right here I’d like to get a few things understood…

1. What are my best options to make a solid tranny out of the one I got? I’m thinking a cooler, shift pack or valve job and a tc. But again I don’t know much about these trucks so I’m going off my blueprint for my old bronco. As in that’s the way I would go about working on a C6 or the electronic transmission they came out with in the later years.
2. I’m looking at the comp cam on this page

XFI 208/212 Hydraulic Roller Cam for Dodge HEMI 5.7L/6.1L 2003+

The XFI 208/212 Hydraulic Roller Cam for Dodge HEMI 5.7/6.1L 2003-2008 has excellent torque throughout range, slightly noticeable idle. Slight tuning modifications and programmer required.

www.compcams.com

The specs look ok but it’s saying I’ll need a custom tune and to my understanding that’s almost non existent for my year truck. Any suggestions on that? And also could you explain exactly what it is about my PCM that makes it so frustrating to tune?

Thanks again!

From my understanding the transmission in early 4th Gen Rams is good for around 500lb/ft of torque. Anything beyond that you're gonna run into issues. I'd suggest using a line booster to up the pressure if you are doing any serious mods and just be prepared to rebuild or replace when she finally does grenade. Exhaust and a mild to moderate cam won't put you in the 500 range, so less to worry about there. If you start adding boost or put her on the bottle you'll have more problems.

YES tuning is required for a cam. Really you'll want to tune for just headers and exhaust too, as increased airflow can cause the engine to lean out. There are tuners available for the older Hemis, but a true custom tune from a reputable shop will be loads better than any "canned" tune from Diablo or Bully Dog or whomever.

 

[Harley Harrold]