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Cdnoilram's build thread v2.0

108K views 586 replies 64 participants last post by  Bruja Azul 
#1 ·
After the demise of my last truck at the hands of a Grand Cherokee that thought my truck was a better way to stop than using his own brakes, it's time to look to the future. In that theme, I would like to introduce my new truck... soon to be dubbed "Green Mamba"

It's an '09 1500 QCRB Sport. The important features from the factory are the 5.7L, 3.92 anti-spin diff, 4wd, and I had the dealership put 17s on it for my winter rubber. The guy that had it before me had added side steps, a nasty fuel door, tailgate extender, rear helper bags, a magnaflow 2-in/2-out muffler, and managed to put 100,000 kms on it. Why did I buy such high mileage? Because the entire drive train and suspension are going to be changed out in the next year, so why buy a low mileage one. The body is in OK shape, the expected dents and dings for a used vehicle, and one box side has been repainted, badly.

In true Cdnoilram fashion, I am going hog wild on the build and I was ordering parts even before I had possession of the vehicle :smiley_thumbs_up: Everything will happen in several phases over the next year, because I want to have the truck to where I'll be happy with it by next year. It would be sooner, but I'm also paying for my wedding that will be in June.

Phase 1 mods, already ordered/received:

Stance and handling
McGaughy's 2/4 drop kit, this will be cut for a 3/5 drop
Spohn adjustable panhard bar, adjustable rear upper and lower control arms
Hellwig rear sway bar
EBC sport rotors, green stuff pads (was going to do SSBC kit but would have to run 18s and I don't feel like paying extra for winter rubber)

A few appearance mods
APM ram-air hood
Spyder smoked LED tail lights
Anzo smoked LED 3rd brake
Street Scenes roll pan

Phase 1.5 makin' it look unique in my own special way: (expected ~March)

2-tone paint job by Airdrie Autowerks. A little snakeskin green ('10 ACR viper green) just for a bit of pop :wow:
Custom '13 sport projector headlights
Shave tailgate badge and antennae
Building a custom grille - this is going to be sweet (I'm keeping this under wraps for now, that's all I'm gonna say)
Spray-in bed liner

Phase 2 mods are all performance, have most from old truck:

Arrington P&P BV eagle heads (have)
ARH 1 3/4" primary LT headers (have)
MGH built 545/68rfe hybrid transmission (scheduled to be built)
ported 6.1L intake manifold (have)
85mm BBK throttle body (have)
Nitrous Outlet 85mm nitrous plate (have)
ZEX wet kit (have)

I am looking for a 370 or 392 forged stroker kit/block to handle the novi 1200 I have, but that might take a year with all the custom fab work I'll need to do to make it all work.

Phase 3, may happen before phase 2... audio:

Pioneer 2-DIN HU (have)
Front door panels to hold 6.5" components + 8" mid sub (have)
Modify center console and build box to hold a JL 13TW5 downfire or cheap out and just get a FOX box for 2x JL 10W6s
JL HD 900/5 + 600/4 (have)


That's the plan so far, there will be plenty of changes and tweaks as I make progress, but this is the first truck that I've actually got a plan and want to stick to it. It's warmed up nicely the last few days which means the snow is melting a bit and the truck is absolutely filthy... so no pics until tomorrow after I wash it.
 
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#535 · (Edited)
Alright, so since I have the heads off again for the 2nd time in 2 months, I decided to go all-out for this and have been taking some serious time to get it all perfect. I swapped the lightweight valves and 1511 spring kit w/ titanium retainers into the ported heads that I spend a full day cleaning up with buffing wheels, 2000 grit sand paper, and 1 burned out Dremel tool. I then spent 6 hours lapping all the valves to make sure everything's nice and seated in the ported heads.







Then I turned my attention to the headers. I can remember a conversation I had with the guys at the local performance store: "Use the black header wrap, it'll look good" ... well it did, until it got heat cycled a few times and cooked the coloring right out of it.



Last time I wrapped one side with a 'Volcanic' header wrap and it held up quite nicely so I wrapped the driver's side this time in the same stuff. I'm getting way too much practice wrapping long tube headers, this is the 3rd time on this truck, not to mention having it ceramic coated at the start only to find I was melting plastic parts 3" away from the headers.







Then I added a new set of Stage 8 locking fasteners, I love these things.



And since I'm in there already with lots of extra space I've decided to install a remote oil filter so I can get to it easier and not get oil all over my front crossmember every time I change the oil. Got the new filter mount positioned on the inside frame rail just behind the radiator.



Last thing I'm doing this round is to get rid of the OEM A/C hoses that run across the top of the engine. I've always hated them being up there and all ugly and visible. SO, I contacted Vintage Air and they have a few fittings for their resto-mod gen III hemi systems. I picked up their OEM A/C compressor fittings as well as a set of weld-on fittings.



I cut the OEM hard lines and tweaked their shape a bit to better serve the new expected layout. Now I just have to braze the stainless fitting to the aluminum tubing. Once that's done I'll measure out how much PTFE lined hose I need and pick it up from the performance shop.

 
#537 ·
Stopped by Kurtis's place today,i wanted to check out his remote filter set-up.
He's been busy,the heads are back on,and he's getting close to having it back on the road again.
His remote filter set-up sure has me intrigued,he's using 90 degree A/N fittings that turn it into a nice looking install:smileup:
I like it enough,i'm thinking of copying his set-up,lol

Although i caught him being a new home owner,planting flowers and re-seeding his front lawn,ah the pleasures of being a new home owner:LOL:
 
#539 ·
Alright, so finished up the oil filter relocation kit. Was pretty straightforward to install, tool requirements were very easy, a drill, 5/16 drill bit, ratchet with socket (or flat head screwdriver bit), and a crescent wrench.

I used the Tansdapt 1127 remote filter kit, it's not listed for the Ram, but the filter kit works perfectly since we have a 22mm x 1.5 thread pitch with a 2 1/2" ID filter flange.



Now, the kit comes with all the hoses and fittings to install everything, but since I'm a stickler for how it looks as well as how it functions, I changed out the brass fittings for some 90 deg -10AN fittings and some Hose Candy hose wrap to clean it up for a better looking install. If you don't care about looks as much, the install is the exact same, just use the supplied brass fittings.



I installed the remote filter base vertically on the passenger's side inner frame rail but it can be installed horizontally as well with no issues if you want a cleaner install with the brass fittings. I made a paper template of the filter holes and transferred it onto the frame rail then drilled the 5/16" holes and used the ratchet to tighten it to the frame using the supplied screws. I tightened the 1/2" NPT to -10AN fittings into place before installation because of how close I wanted it to the radiator. 90 deg fittings in place just for clearance testing



Then I installed the filter by-pass base onto the block's oil filter mount. This just threads into place, the instructions say that if it doesn't thread on all the way that a few threads will need to be cut off the factory nipple, but this wasn't required. They say to just tighten it as a normal oil filter, but I did take my filter wrench to it to get it the last full turn since there's less to grab compared to a normal filter.



Both the bypass base and the remote base are labelled for the hoses IN/OUT so it's not hard to set it up, but I still managed to do screw it up the first time.



I attached one set of fittings to one end of the supplied hoses, I then attached the hoses to the bypass base and laid them out to get the proper length, marked them and cut them. I then installed the hose wrap and the other set of fittings.



Install the OUT hose from the bypass base to the IN on the remote base, and the OUT from the remote base to the IN on the bypass base. So easy I managed to screw it up, I know.







After all is said and done, I installed a new RP oil filter. It should be noted that the remote base does not use the standard Dodge 22mm x 1.5 oil filter, it uses the more common 3/4"-16 filters which happen to be cheaper too.





Once it was all installed, I fired up the truck, had zero oil pressure because I'm an idiot. Swapped the hoses on the remote filter base and retried, oil pressure jumped right up and all was good with the world. Once I shut it down after running for a while, I checked for leaks, had none, topped up the engine oil as required. My oil changes will now need 7-8 quarts instead of the normal 7 to account for the additional hoses and filter volumes.
 
#540 ·
After I finished bolting everything back together I took it for a quick run and it's moving a LOT better than before. With the ported heads back on I'm only seeing 10psi again instead of the 13psi it was with the stock heads which means it's eating more air which is much better.

I still need to get my passenger's side AFR gauge working as well as get the cutouts fixed since I accidentally pulled a wire out last week, just have to remove the inside center console to do that, just a PITA but it needs to be done.

I decided to rework the fuel system a bit, relocated the fuel pressure sensor to the y-fitting behind the engine so it's not right on the fuel rail anymore, no longer an eye sore.



And lastly, now I can send AJ another tune to work on so we can dial it in some more. I MAY even get the nitrous in play before Friday when I hit the track hopefully. Shitty DA is expected though, last Friday was a 4000DA.
 
#541 ·
You were busy on Sunday,lol.
When i seen it Saturday afternoon,it wasn't all that close to running
The remote filter set-up looks good,think i might just copy your set-up:smileup:

Long range forecast for Edmonton looks alot better then our long range forecast.

If Thursdays open for you,you know where mine will be if you want to drop over to Matt's.
 
#543 ·
Roasted my rear main seal after accidentally hooking the remoter filter hoses back up backwards again and not checking for oil pressure before I took it for a jaunt around the block to check clearances for the new drag radial setup. I'm pretty sure the bearings are still good, never heard any issues in the bottom end, there was a loud tapping in the top end but after I ran it for a while the oil got back into everything and no noise whatsoever anymore. I've done the ear to a pole test all over the engine and aside from normal lifter and injector noise all sounds good. I have the truck up on jacks right now and I'm pulling the transmission tomorrow to do the rear main seal.

I will also being heading to the border next week to pick up my hidden hitch, some double adjustable QA1 rear shocks, an ATI 6% overdrive pulley with a few other little tidbits.
 
#546 ·
Ok, big and fun update to the truck. Now that we have a renter in our condo I have a little extra disposable income again as I'm not paying 2 mortgages anymore!

I changed out the rear main seal on my last days off to cover all bases from the oil leak I learned that it's worth spending the money on a quality piece of equipment. I picked up a trans jack from Princess Auto which is the Canadian version of Harbor Freight, well as I was repositioning the trans for the reinstallation the side-to-side adjuster failed which resulted in the transmission tipping sideways and falling off the jack (yes it was chained, the whole assembly tipped over); and with my luck it tipped over onto the side where the cooler hoses screw in and they were open so it dumped ALL the trans fluid onto the floor of my garage and almost landed on me in the process. Needless to say, there was about 10 minutes of some choice vocabulary followed by an attempt to clean up 9 liters of ATF. 3 rolls of shop towels and one of the wife's picnic blankets later I'd absorbed most of the oil and I walked away from it for the night. All is well and it's back running again.

That's the bad/annoying news, on to the good news!

Well, ok, so-so news first. I'm sick and tired of Procharger's bracket with the 6-rib belt, I've got lots of belt slippage and the tensioner's maxed right out and I've swapped to a larger idler pulley to try and tighten it up some. So I was looking at going to an 8- or 12-rib setup and I ran into the same problem, nobody makes a pulley swap kit so I'd have to build a bracket and run an independent drive. So I decided to say 'puck it' and I have ordered everything to go straight to a cog drive, to hell with belt slippage. I have to build a custom bracket myself anyways so I may as well go all out. I have the ATI sprag cog pulley which will make the kit street friendly and keep the blower spinning at a higher RPM while the engine ramps down which should stop me from shearing belt teeth.



The ATI sprag is a 45 tooth pulley so I tried to get a 100 tooth crank pulley to spin the D1SC at it's max rpm but nobody makes one so I ended up with an 88 tooth that will bolt to the ATI 6% OD pulley I have to install. I figure I'll be able to make 18 psi with no belt slip with the pulley combo and if I upgrade to an F1-C in the future then I'll be able to downsize the blower pulley for more power. The whole project will probably cost me $2K by the time I'm done but then there will be blueprints for anyone else looking to do something similar in the future with either a cog or wide belt setup. I've found a few similar brackets that I can use for reference off the LS engines so it should look something like this



And lastly, I now have a cam ordered through Modern Muscle Performance. We are still talking about the specs for it but it will most likely be a 218-230 cam with about .600 valve lift which will still clear my Manley pistons with the phaser limiter installed which will still give me 18 degrees of phase shift.



I will have a bunch of goodies waiting at the border for me when I get back home from work next week so I'll have a nice drive to the border one day. Will be picking up my hidden hitch to sit behind the roll pan, some repair parts for my e-cutous since I blew the butterfly off of one of them, and a few cosmetic items like techflex for more wire covering. I have also decided to do the 4.56 gear swap with a DTT, so I'll have to save for a few months because I have to pay for everything I just bought! Don't tell my wife!
 
#548 ·
Actually, just got back from the border this afternoon with a arm load of goodies. Also, did my first long drive with the hydroboost brake system and it's night and day compared to the vacuum booster, I recommend this swap to everybody! using a vacuum booster if you actually like stopping.


And now, the real fun stuff I picked up today


Everything arrived except the ATI 6% overdrive pulley so I'll have to make another trip in a month and a half when I'm free again.

The cam specs are as follows:
 
#549 ·
113 degrees lobe seperation??
That's a pretty mild cam on paper,you sure you have enough exhaust flow to offset the intake,but i'll be the first to admit,i'm behind the times on VVT cams.
Cam looks good for an open header set-up,but you won't be running open headers as much as closed Kurtis.
 
#550 · (Edited)
Well is it back together and running yet?

I'm planning on heading up to Castrol on Friday.
If it's together and running,bring it along.
There's a few of the LX guys wondering if it'll live up to the hype Kurtis,me included,lol.
Some of the northern guys are wanting to see it run

Side note that you might be interested in: Diablo is sending young Chris from CCMR over to Winnipeg to tune one that Johan can't seem to get right from a remote tune.
They're paying Chris his dyno rate to go over and tune it on another outfits dyno +all his expenses:smileup:.
Once you're ready for tuning,you might want to hunt Chris up,as he's getting a hell'va rep for tuning radical Dodges these days.
 
#551 ·
It's been back together for quite some time and I've had it out for several drives including a border run. The cog and cam will be a fall/winter project so I'm just going to drive it in its current form until then and stop messing with the performance things and just get the audio cleaned up. I'm still weary about Chris tuning the cam, it'll be his first supercharged VVT truck and there's a definite learning curve with the VVT cams but I'm getting pissed with AJ, I haven't heard anything from him in over a month.

As for racing, I'm working for 2 weeks, going to Vancouver Island the next 2 weeks, then working the 2 weeks after that. I'm enjoying my summer in other ways while the air sucks, we'll see what goes on in the late summer/fall.
 
#552 ·
Have you talked to him lately,i thought he'd done a couple Maggie's on the newer trucks.
That's not quite the same as your set-up,but it's a VVT blown application.

As long as the AFR and exhaust temps don't go unreal,i think i'd trust him.
You're forged with a decent ring pack,so you have a little wiggle room,before things go south.
 
#554 ·
2 1/2 more weeks before I get home to play with the truck, between work and vacation I haven't been home for a month and I'm heading to work again for another 18 days. Gotta pay for the truck somehow.

I did get a new tune revision from AJ and I no longer have a high rpm misfire which has been very nice and my VE tables have been activated in the tune now by Diablo so the truck's driving a lot better with the AFR between 11.8 and 12.4 which is a little lean for the blower but the forged pistons seem to be taking it nicely. I'm going to have to replace a few injectors on the passenger side I think, it's running richer than the driver's side if my AFR gauges are telling me the truth, I'll switch them to see if it's just the one system or if it's actually running rich.
 
#557 ·
LOL,just razzing ya,but they would make tuning it easier.
Was up to Red Deer today,seen a wicked SRT10 RCSB 6 speed truck,honking big turbo on it.
Truck was stripped clean under the hood,no A/C or nothing left,and sounded pretty lumpy when it drove in.
Never talked to owner,but the truck was beautiful,and looked impressive.
Another little RCSB SRT10 was parked beside me,truck was immaculate,with a 25 grand asking price,along about the time i'd talked myself into phoning the wife about buying it,a guy walked up and wrote a check,damn thing went up for sale at the show,and sold with-in an hour,lol.
The Badlands crew made a showing,they're a bunch of pretty decent truck guys.
A couple of them knew about you,lol
 
#559 ·
By my calculating,that means you're home for the Labour Day long week-end,better leave Friday Sept 4th open.
There's a few guys headed north to Castrol,and a few of us would like to see if this thing will run the numbers and back up your paper dyno claims Kurtis.
You can be back easily by 1:00 AM Friday night,leaving your Saturday wide open.:smileup:
 
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