scuzman00

Well, I have had Red for 3 weeks now. I have put her through her paces and am thoroughly happy. She gets 11mpg towing my 6500# BBQ pit, 15.5 in around city driving and 18 on the highway cruising at 65 mph. With the independant front suspension (4wd) she rides waayyy smooth and with me just crossing the 3000 mile mark yesterday. With gas at $0.45 a gallon cheaper than diesel here, I figure I have already saved around 90 bucks in fuel costs.

The truck has plenty of power while towing the pit (my travel trailer only weighs 1500# more and is within the towing capacity). I think I will be a happy camper, especially since DC gets ALL of the repair bills since I bought unlimited warranty on parts other than drivetrain pieces.

I still miss the straight pipe sound of my Cummins though, but I guess I can get a throaty catback system and plug er into the Hemi......

Gary

Need95-00CTD

Good deal man, I'm heading the same direction you are, selling the 97 for a 02+ QC 1500. Really hoping to find a Hemi in my price range, but IDK if that'll happen or not. I think I'd be ok with a 4.7 as long as I still have my diesel toys to play with. Mileage seems decent too, I will be taking quite a few road trips here in the near future and gas is definitely cheaper than #2.

rustyshakelford

get one of the newer ones with mds(or whatever its call) should help out with the fuel milage

brett

MikeyB

I would think twice before putting a catback on a Hemi with MDS. They drone and sound like crap when in four cylinder mode.

MikeyB

Allways_Lost

It really isnt that bad. Its really kinda nice when you punch it and the beast just comes alive. The MDS really doesnt help all that much on the wifes magnum. It does a little maybe .5 mpg at most. Better than nothing I guess.

steelblitzkrieg

Hemi's are 03+, 02 was still the 5.9 Magnum...I had one 10.5 in town and 16 (If lucky) highway.

I thought the Hemi's required 91, wouldn't that make it about 10-15 cents less than Diesel?

Rednecktastic

Unless you are working it hard you can run 87... That's what the tag says that hangs on the cigarette lighter from the factory. I always ran 87 in mine though.

scuzman00

I have been running 87 because of that same tag. When I plan to tow heavy for any length of time I will up the octane at fill up.

Gary

Hunter11

We have been running my wife's on 89 octane mid grade since day one. I have her Superchips Flashpac set to the 87 octane tune and she loves it. We have tried it on the performance tune on 91 octane and after a month went back to the 87 octane tune because she notcied no difference in performance.

MikeyB

I'm running 87 octane in the Maggie. But I also have a 180 thermostat instead of the 210. Can't really tell the difference between the 87 and 89.

Allways Lost, I'm thinking about installing a set of 5 or 7db Blastin Bobs on the Maggie. I hear they sound great with no drone when in four cylinder mode.
I think there's a sound difference when removing the suitcase muffler and having true duals. I have heard Ram Hemi's with aftermarket exhaust (single pipe) and sounds funny when in MDS. Think ricer....

MikeyB

Hunter11

The 180* thermostat works great on her truck here in Texas. The wife's truck has no drone I know of with the Magnaflow exhuast but it is a 24" S/I with D/O muffler to dual 3" stainless angle cut tips out the back. I actually think it is a little to loud but she likes it.

HotRodK

Man, the Hemi must have come a long way since '04. I had a Q/C 2wd and it only got 13ish in town and high 15s/low 16s highway, but I never drove 65mph. More like 78-80.

BlackSheep5

what does the 180F thermostat do for a Hemi?

HotRodK

I did that in our SRT-8 and it didnt do much. In town it runs right about 205 and on the highway around 180ish. Not worth the time IMO.

MikeyB

It's because the electric fans don't kick on until it's pass 200 degrees.
To me the 5.7L is a little more perky with the 180, especially when running 87 octane.

MikeyB