Need help fixing a 1998 5.2L SRT

[DamnSkippy]

Hey guys, this is my first post here so bear with me.
I'm about to recieve a 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 from my somewhat close aunt as a gift in a few weeks.

It was bought as a christmas gift for my uncle a handful of years back, not sure when. It's been taken care of very well, aside from missing clear coat on the hood and power steering pump/hoses that need to be replaced. Couple years into owning it he installed a newer 5.2 engine, other than that I don't know much about it's history.

1998 Dodge Ram 1500
123,164 miles on it as of yesterday, new tires/rims installed in Jan, fluids kept up to date.

THE CHASE -> With my budget at $1,000 (atm) what can I do/replace in the vehicle to perk it up, get more power, longer life, etc. ?
Ie. Spark plugs, plug wires, fuel filter, dist cap, so on so forth.

Really appreciate the help in advance, guys.

 

[MagSport]

A tune up would definitely be a great idea. After that, it totally depends on what you want to do with the truck. Do you want to race, fourwheel, or just drive it like a rational person should (don't choose the last one lol).
A plenum fix would be good no matter what you do, and a free flowing exhaust set up can help as well. After that it's more application specific, but the plenum mod is good all the way around and should be done first.

 

[bassslayer25]

Id get your power steering hose and pump fixed first. After that like mag said just whatever you wanna do with it. But who am I to tell you what to do when I still need to fix my power steering hose but I feel like its completely rational to purchase a 300 dollar grille guard.

 

[MagSport]

Because brush gaurd!

 

[bassslayer25]

Because brush gaurd!

That was my thought process when debating on buying it or not

 

[DamnSkippy]

Much appreciate guys!

Magsport - At the risk of sounding dumb, what's a Plenum fix? Is it something I can do myself at my home? And I do drive rationally for other peoples sake but most times I'm putting it to the floor haha which is sort of the reason my first truck got totaled. Also on vehicle #2 I was going to redo the exhaust system and slap a cold air intake on it, any input?

Bassslayer25 - Those'll be the first things to get fixed because I tend to do alot of driving and I want zero problems, any advice about replacing both of them? Ie. my last one I had to replace the transmission lines because they got in the way of a project with the starter and nearly burnt my truck to the ground. Took 3 days to replace them because of a lack of certain tool I had no knowledge of and warped the metal pinch caps basically making it impossible to get the ***** out.

Thanks guys.
-D

 

[MagSport]

Much appreciate guys!

Magsport - At the risk of sounding dumb, what's a Plenum fix? Is it something I can do myself at my home? And I do drive rationally for other peoples sake but most times I'm putting it to the floor haha which is sort of the reason my first truck got totaled. Also on vehicle #2 I was going to redo the exhaust system and slap a cold air intake on it
Thanks guys.
-D

Check out the sticky in the engine and performance section for plenum fix. As far as exhaust and cold air intake. That is one of the grayest areas on this forum. As far as exhaust goes the only mods that can really increase power are replacing the restrictive y-pipe and using hi flow cats. Mufflers are your choice as well, no clear advantage over each other just sound. Cold air intakes can make power if set up correctly but unless you have the need for extra air (cam, forced induction) or just want it for the sound, the stock set up will flow enough air to do what you need. Best performance mods are tuners, intake, cam, gears, and, if you have the budget for it, aftermarket heads. Stay away from snake oil products like fb spacers as well, they work really good as paper weights but not much else.This place is pretty good about providing information so if you ever have any questions, make a thread or pm someone.

 

[dapepper9]

Good set of stainless shorty headers from jba or Gibson is good too for exhaust. Going with a free flowing muffler night lose you a tad bit of low end torque but will make up for it at higher rpm. If you want some examples of how some mufflers sound check the exhaust video sticky and YouTube.

Cold air intakes are fairly useless unless utilizing a ram air system. Drop in filter or a 14x3 is a better option cost wise. I have a spectre system just because i like the sound when i get on it.