Upgrading my 5.2 in a '97 1500

[jpilk99]

Hi all,

I'm back in RAM country after about 10 years. Owned a beautiful black '96 short bed for a few years, and it was great. I'm about to buy a really nice running '97 with only 60K miles, no rust, sweet interior though will need a paint job someday.

My first order of business, after going through all the 'normal driving areas' (brakes, etc.) I'd love to give this truck a little more ...UMPH. Not a ton, but, enough to pick up the horses a bit and give it some throaty exhaust.

Had thought about headers, but, not sure how well these engines adapt to them. Maybe just a free'r flowing exhaust?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Jay

 

[crazykid1994]

Shorties do well on those engines. I did the keg mod and it moves your power band up in the rpm slightly. I only took 1/2” of my runners out to maintain low end torque and cut them slanted and knifed the edge And rounded the front lip to maintain good airflow. I ran an mds blaster coil and some upgraded 8mm plug wires and a dizzy and cap with brass terminals. Everything helped the spark be stronger and helps burn fuel. I also ran ngk v power plugs gapped to .45 instead of the stock .43 since the mds coil is hotter. New o2 sensors if yours are old make a big difference in vehicle performance. And a good trans tune and maybe a patc kit if they’re still around to help the trans last longer. These engines are fogs but they love the torque. Not sure how many people still make cams for them. Maybe look up Hughes engines for some parts like a new plenum pan or flying Ryan performance on Facebook and talk to him about a shaved and ported Tb to aid in airflow. Not sure if the 97 had the split plenum But if it does removing that helps airflow as well.

 

[jpilk99]

Shorties do well on those engines. I did the keg mod and it moves your power band up in the rpm slightly. I only took 1/2” of my runners out to maintain low end torque and cut them slanted and knifed the edge And rounded the front lip to maintain good airflow. I ran an mds blaster coil and some upgraded 8mm plug wires and a dizzy and cap with brass terminals. Everything helped the spark be stronger and helps burn fuel. I also ran ngk v power plugs gapped to .45 instead of the stock .43 since the mds coil is hotter. New o2 sensors if yours are old make a big difference in vehicle performance. And a good trans tune and maybe a patc kit if they’re still around to help the trans last longer. These engines are fogs but they love the torque. Not sure how many people still make cams for them. Maybe look up Hughes engines for some parts like a new plenum pan or flying Ryan performance on Facebook and talk to him about a shaved and ported Tb to aid in airflow. Not sure if the 97 had the split plenum But if it does removing that helps airflow as well.

Thank you! Sadly (and I thought I was a solid driveway mechanic) I only understood about 1/2 of what you said . "took 1/2" of my runners out"? "slanted and knifed the edge"? "these engines are fogs"? - did you mean "hogs"? I think I got most of the rest - thanks again.

I guess my big question is, before I start re-doing the distributor/cap/wires, etc.: Would headers alone make a solid improvement?

Thank you.

Jay

 

[crazykid1994]

Thank you! Sadly (and I thought I was a solid driveway mechanic) I only understood about 1/2 of what you said . "took 1/2" of my runners out"? "slanted and knifed the edge"? "these engines are fogs"? - did you mean "hogs"? I think I got most of the rest - thanks again.

I guess my big question is, before I start re-doing the distributor/cap/wires, etc.: Would headers alone make a solid improvement?

Thank you.

Jay

Sorry yes. I meant they are dogs. Not sure why my phone decided to change that. If you google “keg mod ram” the first thing that shows up should be what I’m talking about. I did it slightly different when I cut the runners. Most people cut the runners straight across. I cut mine angled and knifed the sides of the runners and did a mild curved lip on the front section. If you cut to much of the runner off you will lose more low end which really hurts these engines unless you’re really building it up. Shorties should definitely help. Also changing the exhaust up helps a little. Again that pushes your power curve slightly higher into the rpms. Look up Flyin’ Ryan Performance on Facebook if you can and maybe talk to him. Ryan hogan would be the man you want to talk to.

 

[jpilk99]

Sorry yes. I meant they are dogs. Not sure why my phone decided to change that. If you google “keg mod ram” the first thing that shows up should be what I’m talking about. I did it slightly different when I cut the runners. Most people cut the runners straight across. I cut mine angled and knifed the sides of the runners and did a mild curved lip on the front section. If you cut to much of the runner off you will lose more low end which really hurts these engines unless you’re really building it up. Shorties should definitely help. Also changing the exhaust up helps a little. Again that pushes your power curve slightly higher into the rpms. Look up Flyin’ Ryan Performance on Facebook if you can and maybe talk to him. Ryan hogan would be the man you want to talk to.

Ahhhh, yer awesome, Mate. I totally appreciate the info on the Keg Mod Ram but ...I am not going to go to that extent. (I guess it's hard to draw a line between someone like me saying, 'Upgrading my 5.2..." --- and thinking mostly about exhaust improvements, to someone like you with great ideas inside the intake, distrib, cap, wires, plugs, etc. I say tomAYto, you say tomAHHto.

I'm going to focus on exhaust, see if letting her exhale more easily will get me a little more giddyeup and some throaty tone. Other than that, I may just leave it as it. I always remember with my snowmobiles, and friends with theirs, and they'd be doing carb upgrades, clutch kits, etc. and could never get the thing running reliably....

Just psyched to have a truck again. Thank you.

 

[crazykid1994]

I never had problems. And honestly the truck ran a lot smoother and felt like she breathed a lot easier. Changing those things does not affect the way The a/f ratio is since that goes by o2 sensors on these trucks. The cap, rotor, and wires just reduces the amount of resistance to spark which increases your spark strength thus increasing your fuel burn efficiency per stroke.

 

[dapepper9]

 

[EvilSpirit]

I did this write up on fabbing an exhaust for my Ram about a year ago and it came out well. It was more for the sound - and rusty parts replacement - than to increase power.

https://www.ramforum.com/threads/96-ram-exhaust-build.148660/