Some thoughts from a Dodge Owner

usedtobert · Post by **usedtobert** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 11:27 am

Hi guys, I currently do not own a Hemi Ram, but hope to some day. However I did own a 2001 Dakota R/T and it ran 12.2@110 so I do believe I know how to tune a Dodge vehicle.

Heres some stuff I learned that I believe applies to the Hemi. (Or could one day)

1. Anything from Jet is USUALLY a waste of money. I've tried the Jet Stage 2, It did nothing. Guys with the 5.9L have dynoed and never saw any gains. Get the Superchips programmer or investigate into a custom flash. Some guys at www.bgchrysler.com did some "custom" flashes for us 2001 guys since Mopar didn't release a PCM. Our PCM was actually much better. Higher shift points, rev limiter and more timing advance. Our 01's also suffered from the same torque management and they were able to remove this feature all together. NOTE: Some trucks suffer more than others from the Torque management.. we found out that the later 01's had it bad.. luckily mine was a early truck. Definitly might be worth checking them out and see if they can do anything or will work on it. NOTHING beats a custom flash.

2. For the 03's I believe you guys can get Tri-y or long tube headers. This is definitly the way to go.. Shorties do very little good. You need to find a way to remove the Cat or Cats for the 04 and get a real exhaust. www.krcperformance.com might can help. Our 01's had 3 cats. 1 main and 2 precats, just like the 04's have. We used a o2 SIMMS box to remove the 2 Precats. The main cat could be removed without any modification since it had no o2's. The SIMMS box tells the o2's that the Cat is their and working. The o2's work off of Voltage and the SIMMS box replicates the correct voltage. It may be a while before this is avaible, but it would really help the 04 guys and the 03 guys would be able to lose the main cat. HOWEVER... you may be able to ditch the cats without the box and just suffer a check engine light. As for an exhaust setup... some of us ran a 3.5'' single off the Y pipe from our Tri-Y headers. This worked great, seeing as how our trucks with the correct mods were making 270-285 rwhp N/A. If you go with a true dual system then 2.5" would be preferred. We dumped it right before the rear axle or just after it.

If you haven't ever heard of Spintech mufflers.. then DEFINITLY give them a look. www.spintechmufflers. That's all I will ever use. I used the 3.5" single and a spintech to run the 12.2@110 mph. I've tried every brand... Borla, Flowmaster and I love the Spintechs... They sound great on a Dodge. They will bar none out flow a Flowmaster any day.

3.Stay away from any TB Spacer or similar product.

4. Try AMSOIL synthetic fluids. I ran AMSOIL in my tranny from day one and It held up. I made 127 1/4 mile passes in my R/T and put 20 FULL 10lb bottles of N20 through it on a 150 shot. I believe the AMSOIL syn helped keep it alive. I ran Royal Purple in the engine, but now I would put AMSOIL in the ENGINE, tranny, and diff. Using all synthetics can show a 10 rwhp increase on a dyno. Especially in a vehicle that suffers a lot of drivetrian lose... and ANY dodge does with an auto tranny. 20-22%.

I know the Hemi and the 5.9L are very different. The Hemi is a much better engine overall and has a ton of potential . However the 5.9L was a good dependable workhorse that made over 300 rear wheel ft lb's of torque on the dyno and could take a ton of abuse. I would like to have a Hemi truck one day, but right now I have other things to pay for. I hated to see my R/T go, but I needed something more family friendly.

I would like to Continue to post if no one has a problem with it.

rfc2662 · Post by **rfc2662** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 5:58 pm

I would say feel free to post... seems like you have a lot of good info the add to this forum... Thanks!

Hemidakota · Post by **Hemidakota** » Wed Aug 04, 2004 5:56 pm

Hemi was designed to hold up to 600-HP range before giving up the ghost.

Your posting was great to read.

May what to add, the 03 Hemi came with one large CAT versus three as the 04 model.

Rampant · Post by **Rampant** » Thu Aug 05, 2004 5:57 am

3cats? My 2004 had only two cats. One on each side and four o2 sensors.

Throttle body spacers are ok for one application, nitrous. It gives you somewhere to mount to that can easily be removed when heading to the dealership, other than that they don't do anything.

Hemidakota · Post by **Hemidakota** » Thu Aug 05, 2004 7:57 am

Now that is interesting...

Rampant · Post by **Rampant** » Thu Aug 05, 2004 9:07 am

TheRedneckWay · Post by **TheRedneckWay** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 12:00 am

lol its hard to argue with a guy who has photos!!

PrettyBlueCoffin · Post by **PrettyBlueCoffin** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 7:48 pm

is that off an 04? Because I have an 04 and their is 2 cats, 1 muffler and 1 resinator.

Rampant · Post by **Rampant** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 9:05 pm

Yes off the 2004, the rest of the exhaust is just not in the picture.

PrettyBlueCoffin · Post by **PrettyBlueCoffin** » Sat Aug 07, 2004 9:09 pm

Just wondering. From your pic I am incuring, 2 cats to the Y pipe into the muffler then straight back to another "Device" then out. Is this correct?

If so then the then the "Device" after the muffler is your resinator not another cat.

Rampant · Post by **Rampant** » Sun Aug 08, 2004 1:00 pm

Yes that is correct. On the 2004 exhaust they installed a resonator after the muffler to make it quieter than the 2003 truck due to noise complaints from 2003 owners.