2011 RCSB mod time

[powderbrad]

Hey Guys,

So I thought I was gonna leave her alone....guess I don't know myself!

More often than not I don't mod much, but I have on this one. Got myself:

- Vararam Air grabber (hemi orange of course)
-ARH 1 3/4" primariy longtubes with cats (not installed yet...soon)
-14" Mufflex (sounds good so far)
-87mm Throttlebody
-Trinity tuner (not installed yet, soon)

-worth mentioning...BT catch can!

Gonna call it quits after this I think. I just wanted some sound and a little snap to it, this should suffice. Afterall, anything else involves more detailed top end work and teardown. Small bolt ons are good enough for this thing, and should net a quick 50 hp all said and done (crank power)

Curious though, Ive only 9000km's on the truck, its a 2011. Aware the tuner will most likely waive the warranty (hopefully not).

Just wanted inputs on if this will retain smooth drivability. I know this is far less intense than most people mod, but I wanna retain the smoothness and drivability. I cant see it making much difference (other than the tuner playing with fueling and shift points, etc, etc).

Guess im more or less asking about the tuner. Im pretty sure its safe and shouldn't do any harm? (hemifever to provide tuning) if anything, I THINK it should AIDE in pretty much everything....not? Mileage, response to inputs, smoothness and of course power.

Im up for power, but not at the sacrifice of longetivity or anything. Im thinking all these mods should play well together and not sacrifice anything?

Inputs?

 

[Etroze86]

Shoot just the canned tunes made my 2011 RCSB run 10x better than it did stock. I wouldn't be worried about longevity at all. One more thing to improve drivability is a tourque converter. I have been hearing great things after people put them in.

 

[WhiteExpress]

You forgot a torque converter and gears! That'll really add some 'snap' to it!

As for the tuner, unless it's tuned dangerously lean, you shan't have any issues with it.

 

[powderbrad]

Well Ive already the 3.92 LSD and wasn't contemplating a TC just yet. But we'll see how that goes. I don't want just pure speed outta the truck, nor do I want to do any HARD launches. I do use it to haul toys around and general truck usage. But more often than not lately I drive it just to rip around, hence the mods. For speed Ive always got my bike.

I just want basic mods that work in harmony together and wont cause any damage whatsoever. I think Ive got that going (or will have) quite nicely.

 

[Boosted]

We've got the same mind set. That's exactly what I'm doing to my 2012 RCSB

 

[powderbrad]

Ill let ya know how it works.

Apparently, Unbroken has a quick running truck and he had these mods as a basis before. If I remember correctly, I think 370 RWHP rings a bell. Seems appropriate I suppose, apparently the headers make a HUGE difference (more than one would think). Which is why I dropped $1600 on them (d'oh). But Ive always wanted longtubes on SOMETNHING ive owned, and after having 4 stangs without them, this truck deserves them. Hell I DESERVE THEM haha

Wouldn't mind a 2/3 drop though either...and some nicely done 22"s. THEN ill be done...after adding some stripes.

 

[09SMOKINHEMI]

mods are addicting, be careful

the 3.92's and LSD you have now is awesome, which my truck had them stock..... but i think the torque converter would be the final "performance" piece of the puzzle for you, considering that you have the vararam, hemifever tune, LT headers, 87MM TB, etc.

i have pretty much the same mods as you, and my truck is my daily driver to work, and my street rod on the weekends

 

[ST-8]

You need a converter

 

[powderbrad]

Adding power is good, but then adding more friction and heat tot he tranny? I don't consider it good. I realize, adding a converter probably wont add tooo much heat, but itll make it harder on the drivetrain. Couple that with 50-60 more horse, and how long is a tranny gonna last?

I haven't done any tranny mods. Dunno if I will. If the tuner messes with the tranny, harder / firmer shifts, more abuse, its probably smart to safeguard it somehow. Bigger valve body perhaps? I like the smoothness of engagement now, and wasn't wanting to mess around too much with it. But maybe Id like it I dunno.

How reliable are these 545RFE's with some added power?

 

[ST-8]

How reliable are these 545RFE's with some added power?

 

[powderbrad]

That good huh?

Well Im not adding much power, but Ill do what I can to safeguard it. Adding a valvebody doesn't do much to handle power, might make it shift smoother / faster / stronger, which actually probably hurts the tranny with nothing else done, correct?

As far as making it stronger, what can a guy do?

 

[Etroze86]

As long as you aren't going from OD to P'2 you should be fine. You start smoking clutches if you say are rolling at 50 mph and you hit WOT and this will be bad for a stock Ram too with no boltons.

 

[powderbrad]

I wouldn't wanna hurt the truck in that way, it cost too much $.

I remember something about 450 hp/ tq limits , but that was years ago and I could be wrong. Considering these mods are 95% of the way there, if not over slightly (f im lucky on TQ )

Id row through the gears down if I was gonna mash it from OD.

 

[TylerB]

You're on the right track, but you left out gears and torque converter. Gears, torque converter, and longtube headers are the best things you can do for these trucks, they're heavy and they need all the help they can get off the line.
A gear swap would benefit you all around gains, towing or hauling, getting off the line easier, and sometimes even better mileage if you can stay under 70mph. No kidding my average mileage went up from 15mpg to 16.5mpg after going to 4.10s from 3.55s with the factory 275/60/20s, of course it took a dip after switching to the 285/50/20s(30.5"), but that was like doing another gear swap to 4.30s.
Torque converter isn't absolutely necessary, but it adds to the fun factor x10! It'll help the truck get out of it's own way.
I know you said you didn't want to swap gears, so just a little food for thought because tires are usually cheaper than gear swaps. Instead of doing a gear swap you could try a slightly smaller tires say something about 30-30.5" tall will make those 3.92s feel like you swapped to 4.10s or more depending on actual height.