The Sound of Performance
Ask anyone why he put an after-cat exhaust on his truck and he'll tell you "to get more power," "to sound meaner," or "to get better fuel economy." We're no different from any of you so we ordered a T-304 stainless steel system from Borla to breathe some life into our Dodge. Now when we fire the engine we're rewarded with that smooth performance exhaust sound from the dual mandrel-bent tubes and unique Intercooled Tips. Now the engine doesn't feel like it's working as hard. We did notice a 1-2 mpg improvement, and the aggressive Borla sound was worth the price of admission. With its Million Mile warranty this system should outlast the rest of the truck.
Price: $665
Exhaust Hanger (Up)
Just like you, we end up doing a lot of the work on our own rigs to save money. Most of the time we'd rather pour time into a project than cash. We began questioning this philosophy after spending a couple of hours lying on our backs under this '01 Dodge Ram trying to remove the factory exhaust. The original clamps pinch the exhaust so well that we had to remove the factory system with a cut-off wheel and a sledgehammer. Expect the same on your Dodge too. Installing the Borla system was far easier in comparison but required us to relocate the rearmost factory hanger back 6 inches. Luckily there was a hole in the frame for us to bolt to (arrow), but our customization required us to get new rubber hangers to keep the tailpipe from hitting the sheetmetal where the exhaust exited.
Price: $12
Finishing Touches
The final phase of our installation was also the easiest. We had JET send us its Stage 2 performance module (PN 90002S) to see if we could eke out a little more power from our 360. The JET module plugs into the factory computer and accepts the factory computer connector. This module is designed to work with mildly modified engines like ours but requires the use of 91 octane fuel. If you want to run 87 octane just unplug the module, slip it into its static-proof bag, and store it in the glovebox.
Price: $319.95
So How Much Power Did We Make?
Measuring power increases on our computer-controlled Dodge with an automatic transmission proved difficult but informative. After each modification was made to our 360, we ran the truck on a chassis dyno, but the numbers recorded didn't show us the power increase we thought we were feeling under real-world driving conditions. We hoped the factory Dodge ECM just needed time to adjust so we put more than 1,000 miles on the engine and re-dynoed the truck with much better results. Horsepower at the rear wheels was up 7 points to 200 hp, and torque rose 27 points to 301 lb-ft, and that was the lowest rpm we could measure when the torque curve was on a downward trend. The modifications definitely make the 360 rev quicker when we're on the throttle, and it's now possible to pull grades in Overdrive with 3.55 gears and 32-inch tires--something that used to require a downshift into Third.