programmer or flashing the ecu?

[RAMpage]

Im needing to get more power out of my crate motor and ive heard some mixed reviews about both flashing the ecu and throwing a programmer on it. its an 03 ram 2500 with a 5.7 with forged internals. all srt8 6.1 components in a 5.7 block and head with 5.7 heads machined for 6.1 valve train and a srt8 6.1 hemi race cam. not sure if thats still a 6.1 cam or something a little more radical still waiting on the shop that built it to call me back and give me the full specs on the motor. its got 2958 miles on it since it was put in and i have to rebuild the tranny but im wanting the electronic controls of the engine to give the potential its got. what do you guys think would be best. its also got gibson s.s. shorties, vararam hemi under glass ram air, offroad y pipe, flowmaster super44 extreme and im gonna throw on an efan and underdrive really soon.

 

[RAMpage]

Im needing to get more power out of my crate motor and ive heard some mixed reviews about both flashing the ecu and throwing a programmer on it. its an 03 ram 2500 with a 5.7 with forged internals. all srt8 6.1 components in a 5.7 block and head with 5.7 heads machined for 6.1 valve train and a srt8 6.1 hemi race cam. not sure if thats still a 6.1 cam or something a little more radical still waiting on the shop that built it to call me back and give me the full specs on the motor. its got 2958 miles on it since it was put in and i have to rebuild the tranny but im wanting the electronic controls of the engine to give the potential its got. what do you guys think would be best. its also got gibson s.s. shorties, vararam hemi under glass ram air, offroad y pipe, flowmaster super44 extreme and im gonna throw on an efan and underdrive really soon. the new tranny will be rated at 650 hp with a line pressure boost. shift kit and a tripple disk stall converter set up for the cam. thanks for the input!

 

[Redtruck-VA]

Austin,
What is it you want your truck to do? Sounds like you have a solid engine in it, but it being a 2500 I'll assume it is set up as a grunt truck. Since you are a 03 and it is apparently idling without issues I'll go out on the limb and say you have a stock 5.7/6.1cam in it. If you don't intend to run it past the stock rev limiter then a DSP custom tune will probably be what folks will recommend. I don't like DSP as I had issues on my 03 using a U7137 unit. So I'll recommend that you research everything you can about 03 uniqueness and develope a plan for what you want to do with the truck. Good luck...

 

[RAMpage]

wow didnt mean to post that three times lol. stupid smart phones lol. well it is a 2500 but its not really a grunt. i just want a powerful all around truck. im not a drag racer or anything like that i just love power and goin fast. usually when i do race people its from a roll and my motor already produces gobs of power up top. but i do want more out of it all around and some bottom end too cause i do pull stuff with it on an occasion.

 

[OlDirtyJohn]

what gears are in the rear? the 3.73s that come in a lot of the heavy duties are seriously lacking in low end grunt. i switched mine to 4.56s and love it.

 

[RAMpage]

it does have the 373s. usually people dont beleive me about the 373s. im wanting to regear it but i drive it back and forth to work twice a week which is 60 miles one wayand dont want it to be runnin at 4500 doin 70 lol. and yes it does lack alot of low end, even with the built motor its even worse because the 6.1 cam is more top end. what rpms are you turning runnin 70 to 80?

 

[OlDirtyJohn]

it does have the 373s. usually people dont beleive me about the 373s. im wanting to regear it but i drive it back and forth to work twice a week which is 60 miles one wayand dont want it to be runnin at 4500 doin 70 lol. and yes it does lack alot of low end, even with the built motor its even worse because the 6.1 cam is more top end. what rpms are you turning runnin 70 to 80?

at 70mph i turn about 2100-2150 rpms. and thats with 33" tires. putting in the 4.56s actually increased my mpgs both city and fwy.

if you are driving a big heavy quad cab/heavy duty, your truck will only benefit from the taller gears. you need something for some extra lowend if your cam is mostly top end. if you have larger than stock wheels 4.56s would be a good choice, if you have stock sized or smaller wheels 4.10s MIGHT be better for you. dont fear the gear, these trannies are geared in a way that really compliment a taller diff gear.

 

[RAMpage]

after i get this trans built ill have to see what rpms im turning at 70 to 75 and go from there with it. i do have 35s on it and id didnt really hurt the truck to be honest ive just always felt it needed a lil more bottom end. im pretty sure alot of it has to do with that stupid trq managment. and props on the hd hemi. dont think theres a whole lot of us

 

[Redtruck-VA]

I believe I was probably one of the folks who questioned your 3:73 gear when you posted it. I suspect many of us didn't realize you have a 2500 and to honest I don't know anything about the model. As for torque managment, I would think you can simply do the TMR mod to remove it same as on a 1500.

 

[RAMpage]

I believe I was probably one of the folks who questioned your 3:73 gear when you posted it. I suspect many of us didn't realize you have a 2500 and to honest I don't know anything about the model. As for torque managment, I would think you can simply do the TMR mod to remove it same as on a 1500.

Tmr mod? Please explain. I've learned of so many things I had no clue about from this forum. Would this tmr mod make my tranny wear more?

 

[Redtruck-VA]

Tmr mod? Please explain. I've learned of so many things I had no clue about from this forum. Would this tmr mod make my tranny wear more?

Anything other than driving normal wears your vehicle more than necessary.
Look on the 03 thread for post (03 TMR Delete Mod) I just posted this for future reference for 03 guys.