Dodge Ram... Supercharger?

[bmwfan1957]

So I helped my dad yesterday change out the whole rear axle on his '97 dodge ram... it was quite a project for one day... especially since I've never touched a Ram truck as far as working on one... BUT I got it done, got rid of the driveline creak... and now all it needs is an alignment... and possibly new U bolts on the lift kit... (for some reason the ends of the bolts seemed to be melted making it impossible to remove nuts without first cutting the ends of with a rotary tool)...

I am considering buying this truck as soon as I have money.. (my dad bought it and has been wanting to hand it down to me as it's been our little project vehicle since I convinced him to buy it...) and i would like to supercharge it...

the only kit that I can find that seems to be somewhat promising is this kit. (http://www.rpmoutlet.com/dramati.htm). Has anybody ever supercharged a ram? And if so what were your thoughts/experiences?

I will post some picutures in a few minutes when my other computer is free.

Bryan

[turbodan]

I personally have never supercharged a Dodge Ram.

[bmwfan1957]

I personally have never supercharged a Dodge Ram.

Haha...

Thanks, I think it would be a fun project though... I feel no need of having any other cars while owning my E28... however I really would like a truck and this one has a lot of emotional value to me.

[bmwfan1957]

Here's some pics of the truck as we were installing the new rear end last night... 13 hours straight to get the old driveline off and install this one... needless to say I am tired today. haha















Some of the pics may be too dark... sorry... I used my camera phone.

[bmwfan1957]

Maybe I should have put this in General Conversation... I guess the FI section doesn't care about trucks! lol...

[chrism]

A friend of mine had a supercharged 2500 ram with a 5.9. IT was not really fast enought to be worth the investment.

[griffith]

There was a company that was making 318 and 360 twin turbo systems about four years ago when I had a '96 Ram 1500 short box with a 360.

If yours has a 360 there are no good heads for that vehicle. Dodge never fixed the cracking flaw between the valves and switched over to the newer engines without an updated cylinder head available to the public.

Jason

[booker]

You mind if I write a life insurance policy on you guys?

[bmwfan1957]

If yours has a 360 there are no good heads for that vehicle. Dodge never fixed the cracking flaw between the valves and switched over to the newer engines without an updated cylinder head available to the public.

Jason

Yes I believe it is the 360... so maybe I won't go that route unless I change the engine...

I didn't really want to make it any faster... I just wanted more torque for offroading and hill climbing and whatnot...

Booker:

Haha... yeah... lifiting a truck with a 6" suspension lift off the ground is quite a task....

actually though it was extremely solid... I made my dad make sure of it before we went anywhere under it... it didn't shake or anything... I've felt a lot less safe under my 535i on jack stands to be honest...

[griffith]

I'd just leave it as is and have fun with it if you're going to buy it,....i'm sure it has plenty of torque for off road applcation.

[bmwfan1957]

it does do pretty well off road.... i guess i could just leave it... but i'd have to be able to upgrade something on it! otherwise i'd get bored with it... haha... and a supercharger would have made it not so slow on the road... but if there's engine problems then i'll wait untill i completely install a new engine.

it already has a cold air intake from K&N on it... as well as a magnaflow 3" exhaust, 6" tuff country suspension lift, 35" tires, the truck is also the towing package with a 3.90 limited slip rear end...

what else could I do to a truck?

[Jeremy]

If you're running factory gears, then re-gear and get bigger tires. That'll give you that extra oomph on the road and off. Add lockers, too.

Or you could get a t-case with rock crawler 4:1 low range.

Skid plates. Lights. Winch. All sorts of stuff you could toss on there.

What's the stock tire size on that truck?

Jeremy

[bmwfan1957]

What's the stock tire size on that truck?

Jeremy

To be honest i'm not quite sure of the stock size... it had 35" off road tires that were almost bald when he bought it... then he had some 33" street tires and I finally got him to go back to a 35" tire but it's still a street tire.

The rim's are either the 15" or 16" wheel... I forget which one.

[griffith]

To be quite honest (brutally honest), that truck is never going to be a really high end offroad vehicle.

If it means a lot to you, keep it, if not, and you want to go offroad, I'd consider your alternatives...namely IH Scout's, AMC 390cid Jeep CJ's, etc.

Jason

[bmwfan1957]

well for the type of off-roading I tend to like this truck is perfect.. I like a lot of trail driving and tree pulling... not to mention mudding... My friend has a FJ40 land cruiser lifted and the short wheelbase bothers me off road.

What my EXTREME plans for this truck would be if i had the money would be a superchaged crate engine, snorkel intake. another 3" body lift, and as big of tires that will fit... allyson transmission, some of those axels off those old military trucks with 4 wheel hydrolic steering, bead lockers, roll bars, seconday gas tank, brush gaurd, skid plates, a fancy transfer case, winch, and a nice new interior...

but now i'm poor. lol