Upgrades for Performance/Towing

[ramitrick]

Hey there gurus, looking for some help. Looking at increasing HP, Fuel Economy and stopping power. I just bought a 2007 1500 with a Hemi.

Here's my thoughts, and the yours would be appreciated.
1) K&N air intake upgrade
2) Magnaflow exhaust
3) SSBC brake systems

Seriously, I do not have money to waste, so those who have ventured first I appreciate your thoughts. I want it all- HP, Fuel Economy, and Towing Stopping (camper is not huge) but I do not want to run through standard brakes too.

Thanks,
RamItRick

 

[Silverbullet08]

superchips tuner 3865

 

[truckin151]

Gears

 

[03MopaRamman]

Definately Superchips 3865. Truckin is right bout the gears but it is not cheap. If you have 3.55's then forgo the 3 mods you listed and take the Thousand bucks and do the gears. Apparently they are the best Mod of them all and I can't wait for it.

Fuel economy fingers crossed for the MDS Gods and run 89 Octane Minimum.
BTW Welcome to RF the best place of all for Dodge Rams .

 

[OlDirtyJohn]

tuner and gears. both will get you more HP and better MPGs.

 

[ramhunter9]

another vote for tuner and gears ...

also welcome to RF .

 

[ramitrick]

Thx to all of you. Sounds good. What gears should I go with? Also, brake systems, your thoughts

 

[HKkid]

Most guys go to 4.56s...

 

[Hemiguy0302]

Well what kind of gear you run has to do with what gears you have now and what size of tires you have on the truck right now. Are you a 2wd or a 4wd? I will agree though if you can swing it try to run the gears and the tuner like everyone else said. Also I will assume this in an in box camper right? If so then you will also want some airbags to help even that ride out and improve driving dynamics while under load. As for the brakes lots of people here have upgraded the rotors with slotted units from ebay but I am not the guy to ask about brakes.

 

[Redtruck-VA]

Ditto, No brainer tuner and gears......

 

[ramitrick]

Good stuff. I know where I am heading. The camper is a travel trailer.

If these questions seem like they are from a beginner, then you are right, that is me. I appreciate the info, and I certainly will have more. My goal is simple to have the Baddest Ram in town!

 

[Hemiguy0302]

Okay well you will still want airbags. Does it have brakes if so I would not be too worried about upgrading truck brakes, rather I would run a quality brake controller like the Tekonsha Prodigy or the P3. What gears do you have in your truck have now.

 

[ramitrick]

I am with 3.55 right now. The truck is an 07 Hemi 1500 4x4 Big Horn, my first full size truck. All of your help is greatly appreciated

 

[Hemiguy0302]

Okay so if you are gonna run stock sized tires I would run a 4.10 gear if you wanna go bigger tires run a 4.56 gear. With your 4wd it will be about 1500 to 2g to install gears with parts. The tuner will certainly help but the gears will be great. Unless already equipped the first mod needs to be a brake controller if your camper has electric brakes. Buy the ones I mentioned above.

 

[ramhunter9]

I have to disagree , 4:10's are a good gear for bigger tires . I love my 4:10's better than my old 4:56's . and both gears i used heavy big ass mud tires

 

[Marx]

i got my brakes from brakemotive on ebay, i got 4 drilled and slotted rotors and 8 ceramic brake pads for $280, i've had them for 5 1/2 months and there are still going strong.
and discs are really easy to install just 4 bolts that hold the caliper on

 

[cwboyjohnny24]

Like everyone says:

4.56 gears
a tuner

if you haul the trailer quite a bit later you may also want to think about:

a trans temp gauge
also as mentioned before probably some rear air bags. They only run about $200 and will keep the rear end from sagging, especially if you want to put a lift/level on.

You don't need to buy an expensive K&N cold air intake unless you want to. There are less expensive ones on the market that do the same thing or you could make one for under a hundred bucks. This is mine that was home made and I have a K&N filter on it.



Just remember that CAI's are a helper mod. You won't really see any noticeable gains from just installing one. Exhaust, tuner, etc. is where it starts to shine.

 

[okarche_TA]

What's the HP gain with the sc?

 

[shadow11]

If you want to upgrade your brakes you can get the Ram SRT-10 front 4 piston calipers and rotors. I upgraded my brakes to these and they are simply amazing. It aint the cheapest but its the best.

 

[ramhunter9]

What's the HP gain with the sc?

25 i think it says .

we have a SC thread on this site to ask these types of questions .
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