sugestions please

[pitbull]

Ok keep in mind im not a mechanig so you may have to explain things. I have some knowledge in mechanics but its common sence knowledge so if you explain like your talking to a mech moron i wont be offended it might help lol. What im looking to do is some maintence/upgrades to my truck 2000 ram 1500 2wd 5.9. Other than normal maint ( tune ups and oil changes) what are some things i can do to help improve ride,handleing,mpg,and performance on my truck. I dont haul heavy loads often and im not lookin to trick my truck atm. I use it for every day driving hauling small amounts of lumber,dirt,and misc things u can get at Lowes, and band equiptment on ocassion no real stress to the truck. I have done tie rod ends,ball joints,front shocks and normal maintence so far. I dont know what drive train or rear end is in it and dont really know how to find out.

 

[To3z]

A Cold Air Intake would be a simple mod to boost your MPGs a bit and give your truck a deeper sound.

 

[Okiespaniel]

I would e mail your vin off the dash to Chrysler and they can send your build sheet which lists everything your truck was equipped with from the factory.

Some real basic items or "upgrades" if you will would start with a low restiction exhaust. I'd do a single tailpipe from the converter back.

Then a drop in performance air filter like a K&N or similar. These replace your stock filter element and only need to be cleaned once a year or so. They flow twice as much air as a stock element. Your stock system is already a cold air system.

Last...I'd buy a tuner like a SCT. This reprograms your trucks computer and gives you a nice power boost and a bit more mileage too. Sean (Hemifever) is a vendor here. Ask him to hook you up with the tune he sent me.

 

[pitbull]

cool ill look into the cold air intake To3z. as far as the tunner,exaust and filter the go, tunner sounds good but the exaust doesnt make sence but like i said in the original post im no meck i dont understand how things are related to each other in this case exaust to mpg and performance so im not against it. Maby it makes the engine burn more stuff before it gets exausted out i dont know id like more info on that if you would Okiespaniel. And as far as the filter To3z's sugestion would cover the filter am i corect in thinking that?

 

[Okiespaniel]

The exhaust allows your engine to expell its burnt fuel more efficiently than the stocker. It also makes your truck louder...but if that isn't a goal of yours the stock exhaust is fine for what you do with your truck. Put a fancy chrome tip on your tailpipe and most folks won't know the difference.

I can say from experience (I've owned my truck 11 years) that the tuner is the best bang for the buck. My exhaust and intake mods did NOT do anything mileage wise for me, and at one time I had one of those fancy cold air intakes on my truck. Personally, I think most of them are a scam. Buy the drop in cotton recleanable filter for your stock intake.

 

[Sagebrush2500]

The short answer is that if your truck isn't able to exhaust the extra air going into the engine through the CAI, the engine will be dealing with excess air when it could be pumping out more horses.

The better air flows through your engine (this is air captured at the CAI/airbox, routed through the engine, and out the exhaust), the more efficient your truck's engine will work in producing power leading to better MPGs - and the truck will be able to produce more power.

My best advice for learning more is to keep reading forums like these, take the time to learn what's being discussed, spend time learning what's under the hood (e.g., like HS biology when you dissect something and learn what all those parts inside are called and where they're located).

Maybe even pick up an old lawn mower someone's giving away - take it apart and pay attention to the internal combustion process. It's essentiallly the same as what happens with your truck, just far less complex.

I remember when I was young, I wanted to learn all of this stuff but didn't have the benefit of the internet. I had to hang out with shadetree mechanic types and ask lots of questions and slowly learned a little about wrenching. I'm not ASE certified, but knowing the parts of an engine and how they work together goes a long way when it comes to knowing and understanding your vehicle.

Glad to see your're interested.

 

[Sagebrush2500]

My exhaust and intake mods did NOT do anything mileage wise for me, and at one time I had one of those fancy cold air intakes on my truck. Personally, I think most of them are a scam. Buy the drop in cotton recleanable filter for your stock intake.

When I put duals on my '97, I did notice a HP increase (didn't have to downshift as frequently) but no MPG increase... I was disappointed until I realized that I was getting into it a little more frequently to listen to that throaty rumble LOL

 

[pitbull]

So basically the stock exaust causes ecess pressure thats not needed so opening up the exaust would reduce that pressure letting the engine work less to produce power am i understabnding correct ?

 

[Okiespaniel]

So basically the stock exaust causes ecess pressure thats not needed so opening up the exaust would reduce that pressure letting the engine work less to produce power am i understabnding correct ?

In theory that's correct...and in older non computer controled cars that worked...because the ignition/fuel system could not learn the newer leaner air/fuel ratio. The low resriction exhaust leaned the system.

In todays vehicles, the pcm will detect the leaner mix and add fuel accordingly. What happens is most owners seen a mieage increase fro the first couple of fills and then the mileage returns to "normal" This is what I observed in my truck.

The tuner changed all that because the person who wrote the code could compansate for the mods already to made a produce a tighter a/f mixture.