Lots of Upgrade Questions

[SFD213]

Hey guys,
Im really looking for some advice as to whether or not some upgrades are worth it, be it in price or practicality or price.

Little background info:
2004 Ram 2500 Quad Cab Long Bed
5.7 Hemi with about 125,*** M
S&B Cold Air Intake
Custom Catback Exhaust w/ flowmaster 50 series
With out any question I will be getting a diablosport tuner and custom tune

What I've tossed around and research and haven't decided on:
Ported TB - Depends on supporting mods but what size and is it worth the cost
Headers - JBA shorties are a fortune for no power, LTs would need to be custom so is the cost worth the gains
Cam - something that shows most power gains per $ spent but if my motor is going to go would it be worth getting now or after
Differential - with out a doubt the most pricey upgrade but really gets the power down. want to do 4.56 because i have a feeling 35"s arent out of the question.

Like everyone else here, i started modding and caught the bug so i want to keep going, but are the costs worth the reward? If i just thrown mods on it would it also make sense to rebuild it when it does go?



Sorry this is long but I've been researching alot and nothing really seems to answer it all so I've put it all down here. Any sort of input on any of them is definitely appreciated so thank you in advance.

 

[VolsRam]

If you're getting the Trinity with Hemifever custom tune, then any additional performance mod you decide to add on will just be magnified with the tuner. The ported TB will allow the increased air from the CAI to flow into the intake manifold more, so you'll see better shifting, acceleration, and throttle response. The custom tune will just increase those even more. Check out Moes Performance for size. I know the 2013 HEMIs are suggested to use the 87mm. He has sizes for different years. You can also email Matt there. He's awesome and will set you up with all you need to know.

 

[WulfGang]

When I ordered my Trinity from him Thursday we spent about 15 mins talking about upgrades and it was a real blessing.

After the Tuner he told me the next best bang for buck upgrade I could do to my (stock) RAM was the 4.56 gears.

Yes, it's a little pricey (mostly labor) but cheaper than the cam upgrade and nets more HP and over all ability for MY needs, which is pulling a 6,900lb tow camper.

As far as shorties he advised me to steer clear of shorties as the gain was marginal compared to LT's.

And clearly they are rather honest folk because I was set to buy the VARARAM but was told it was over kill for MY needs. (towing)

 

[RonJon '06]

You could do the gears and tuner now and a cam swap later if you need to tear into the motor at some point. The other thing you could look into is upgrading the torque converter which would be more efficient at getting the HP from the motor to the wheels.

 

[MegaMouseGW]

Have the current motor scoped. Doing that will tell you if it is worth doing a bunch of mods, or doing a complete rebuild on it. If you do a lot of mods and the engine is wearing out you run the risk of destroying it. By having it scoped the mechanic can tell you if it is ok to mod, or it should be rebuilt first. If you rebuild it then you can stick some nice mods in it during the rebuild and have a strong motor that should last a while.

 

[SFD213]

Ok so what im getting from this is i should get the engine checked to guage whether to rebuid first or not

 

[CorDog009]

Ok so what im getting from this is i should get the engine checked to guage whether to rebuid first or not

Yea, I'd do a leakdown test and see where you're at and that'll give you a baseline indication.