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Inexpensive mods for your Dodge Truck

104K views 47 replies 32 participants last post by  phx 
#1 ·
This thread has been created for people to give suggestions for how to improve the performance or cosmetic appearance of their Dodge Truck for under $50 and a bit of elbow grease.

This thread is dedicated for inexpensive tips - for those of you with "freebie" hints, use this thread instead:
http://www.dakota-durango.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8011
 
#34 ·
What i have done in the past is takin my saw and cut the cat off and had a muffler shop weld up a pipe in its place. Cost me like 20 bucks. Also i'm not sure about other states but here they will not cut your cat off, you have to do it yourself.......thats unless your replacing it with a new cat. Never threw a code before.

Just my .02 cents.
 
#42 ·
I used some aircraft cable and a 1/8th inch drillbit and two crimps. I didn't want the finger hole in my grills. They are home depot gutter guards btw. Anyhow I drilled 2 holes in the tube brace for the grill and passed the cable through then drilled 1 hole in the finger latch and attached the cable. On the other end made a loop and crimped it. It works flawless and looks like it was meant to be there. Here are some pictures.

 
#43 ·
so i know this is an old thread but i have a few cheap mods i picked up from some jeep friends of mine, first off you can mod your stock kegger and tb as well as relocate your IAT up stream in your intake, thats all old news now some i havent seen on here, you can add a air hat spacer clams it adds like 5hp not sure how big of one we can fit with no hood interference, another is to take out the ac and either get a smaller belt or a bypass pully, another is to insulate the fuel rails using foil backed foam tape (found in the pluming department) then use ss tape also called steam tape (found in the duct department) and cover the whole setup, finally when you decide you want headers the gaskets need the holes to be opened up more so that they don't restrict flow, just use the header flange as a guide and go to town with grinder bit. note all mods are for the 318 and 360 motor i dont know if they will work on the newer 4.7
 
#44 ·
Spacers dont do squat, insulating just the rails and not the rest of the fuel system wont do squat, and if you buy decent gaskets, you dont habe to trim... My gaskets for my headers are a hair larger than the ports... Just sayin....
 
#45 ·
im not talking about a tb spacer ik they are worthless this goes between the tb and the air hat something about more volume, i haven't done it only because i have a old school open element, but my jeep friend runs it and says it helps and he has had 7 zj's 3 of witch he has run in the 12's so i think the he knows what hes talking about. and as for the fuel rails this will help, the higher the temp of gas the more it expands, so the colder the gas is the denser it will be may not help godly amounts but it is a cheap mod, and if u really want to help it add in injectors from the 95 zj, they had the largest injectors from the factory, not sure if the daks are the same way or not as far as what year had the largest
 
#46 ·
Umm bullshit......
Any spacers in the system, on an MPI engine will do jack shit..... Maybe give you 3-5 more lb-ft of tq, but nothing noticeable.... I speak from dyno proven experience.... And not butt dynos either....

The point of a spacer is to make clearance, not power... Plain and simple.....

As for the fuel, like i said... Unless the whole fuel system is insulated it wont do jack shit.... The fuel picks up more heat from the pump than it will the small amount of time it spends in the rails....aaaannnnd the pcm would sense the lean condition of warm fuel and compensate, so theres no change there.... How do i know the pcm can compensate? With my supercharger, i am running 60+ psi for the fuel system at idle... And the pcm tims that extra 10psi back to a 14.7-15.1:1 idle. It can do the same the other way.... I checked.....

Quit while youre ahead... I have hard proof against your claims....
 
#47 ·
Ok guys I haven't been on in a while since I sold the RT but I still have some of the cables I made for the hood release. This is for people that have grill inserts and hate that T-handle P.O.S they give you with it. My method is cleaner and more hidden than any other POS T-Handle will ever be.

I have instructions on how to install it and a video and pictures available. I'm selling the cables for 6.00 each and comes with instructions. You can check out the video Here is the youtube link to the video. Jst send me a PM if you want a cable. I have sold 15 or so over on another Dakota website. Thanks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_z13UWUEa0
 
#48 ·
Surprised none has mentioned the easiest freebie out there... remove that 1" flat piece of steel/stock plate with the hold-down bolt that keeps the top-hat air assembly mounted directly to the top of the throttle body and replace it with a threaded rod bent/shaped to match up the original offset pieces.. The removal of this horribly designed, air obstacle plate will smooth out the idle and help air flow thru-out rpm range
 
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