[1978ramcharger]

Over the past seven months, I've been buying, testing, asking mechanics, and researching the different options made for our RC'S. Here are my findings:
1. Edelbock performer intake manifolds give no additional performance, only weight reduction.
2. The best carburetor and the only other smog legal carb for a RC is the Edelbrock 1905 795 cfm Q-jet.
3. Accel coils are prone to failure using the RC electrical system(beware of accel parts)
4.Msd ignition( box,coil,wires) adds to throttle response, but not gas mileage.
5. The Mile Maker 4x2 set up is not worth it if you buy it for gas mileage, but only for reduced axle wear.
6.The best air cleaner is K&N, hands down. (there should be no debate here)
7.Lift kit brands do not matter.They are all pretty much the same.
8. "Lucas Oil Stabilizer", sold at Kragen, really does work by increasing oil pressure by atleast 5ppsi, and adding to gas mileage. Also it extends oil changes to twice as long.
9. AND finally, Champion truck plugs are the best.

 

[RAMMAN4]

Well said.

 

[Slanted_Mind]

I disagree with 4, 7, 8, & 9

4...my MSD 6A netted me an additional 1-2 mpg

7...There are HUGE diffrences between lifts that merely use blocks and spacers vs lifts that use re-arched springs, longer coil springs, relocated mounts, etc. A lift kit that costs $500 vs one that costs $200 (for the same lift) has a price difference for a reason.

8...I simply do not like oil additives. I will stick with Mobile 1.

9...I have also had good luck with champion plugs, but their QC is going down hill (I have had a few "bad" plugs out of the box), and NGK's perform better in my truck.

I generally agree with the rest of them. JMO

-SM

I should have qualified my statement a little better, I generally agree with, or have no experience with the rest of them. (No experience with 1, 2, or 5. Accel coils are terrible IMO though. I have a brand new one that will not provide enough spark to keep my slant running...)

 

[Sam Simpson]

I agree with Slanted_Mind completely. There are also other alternatives then K&N. K&N usually over oil their filters from the factory, which isn't very good for a turbo diesel. AFE makes the best filter in my opinioin for cummins.

 

[Evildriver-3]

I will disagree with 1. 2. 4. 6. 7. 8. 9.

1. is completely wrong, if you want go and find out how much work is involved in getting a stock intake to flow as good as a edel intake.

2. i got 4 mpg more out of my demon than the qbog could give, not to mention power.

4. im tired of this 1

6. this is not entirely true

7. lift kits are all made wrong

8. i would never use lucas in a motor

9. lmfao only a non thinking person would believe such nonsense (champion = stone age)
When champion says that truck motors have the toughest enviornment that alone makes me trully believe they have no idea WTF they are doing, a truck motor does not have the toughest enviornment.

 

[Chump]

I agree with Slanted_Mind completely. There are also other alternatives then K&N. K&N usually over oil their filters from the factory, which isn't very good for a turbo diesel. AFE makes the best filter in my opinioin for cummins.

I have to agree on the K&N filters being or getting over oiled. This is not so much a problem in our older Rams but when you get newer vehicles that have sensors in the air intake they will coat them with crud. This is especially a killer on Ferds with MAF sensors. I still like Amsoil for synthetic. I will also point out that engine/drivetrain mods are only as good as the rest of the engine or vehicle and using a systematic/logical approach to making the changes.

A classic example is when someone changes their spark plugs to Splitfires and swears that they get Sooooo much performance improvement...they fail to tell you that the rest of the weak ignition system is 20 years old and that the plugs they just removed are caked solid with carbon....so in reality it wasnt the Splitfires..it was poor matainence that caused the original performance degradation.

 

[kyot]

All these points can be debated good or bad, but hey, someone had to start the post!!

 

[macario]

I don't know about your other categories so I won't talk about em, but I can say that any carb that will pass the sniffer and utilizes all of the breather hoses is legal in New Mexico emission checks. Maybe you meant California?

Note, as of the last time I looked which was about 2 months ago Champion does not make truck plugs for a 440.

Mac

2. The best carburetor and the only other smog legal carb for a RC is the Edelbrock 1905 795 cfm Q-jet.

9. AND finally, Champion truck plugs are the best.

 

[big10]

Not all spring steel is created equal, as in Brazillian or other South American spring steels used in cheaper springs that lose their arch real fast and start sagging. You get what you pay for.

 

[chrysler300le]

Its nice to know peoples personal experience with things like this. Saved me from buying an Accel coil. Are the big Super coils crap too? They make coils for the newer rams too and i was seriously thinkinga bout buying an Accel coil for my 94 ram. I personally think Champions quality control has gone up. They are now owned by Federal Mogul.

 

[Evildriver-3]

The big accel coil never lasted for me but that was years and years ago

 

[Guest]

Over the past seven months, I've been buying, testing, asking mechanics, and researching the different options made for our RC'S. Here are my findings:
1. Edelbock performer intake manifolds give no additional performance, only weight reduction.
2. The best carburetor and the only other smog legal carb for a RC is the Edelbrock 1905 795 cfm Q-jet.
3. Accel coils are prone to failure using the RC electrical system(beware of accel parts)
4.Msd ignition( box,coil,wires) adds to throttle response, but not gas mileage.
5. The Mile Maker 4x2 set up is not worth it if you buy it for gas mileage, but only for reduced axle wear.
6.The best air cleaner is K&N, hands down. (there should be no debate here)
7.Lift kit brands do not matter.They are all pretty much the same.
8. "Lucas Oil Stabilizer", sold at Kragen, really does work by increasing oil pressure by atleast 5ppsi, and adding to gas mileage. Also it extends oil changes to twice as long.
9. AND finally, Champion truck plugs are the best.

1. Absolutely, we've been saying that for quite some time

2. Don't know about smog legal, but it is the best carb if you know how to tune it. If you don't, you can always call it a Qbog

3 I've seen several Accel coils blow up. Why do they make them so big?

4 Like Chump says, this one is more dependent on maintenance and your driving habits

5. No opinion, I've never used it

6. Best for what? Airflow, easy to maintain, filtration, ??

7. There's a huge difference. The top name brands will vary little but the cheaper brands do not compare

8. If you need an oil additive, there's a problem with your motor. Today's motor oils come with everything your motor requires. Frequent oil changes are the best thing to "add" to your vehicle

9. They used to be. But the competition is every bit as good or better. Some people call Splitfires junk. I've used them in both my vehicles and never had a single problem. With plugs it's more the quality of the build rather then the design.

 

[SeahawkDodge]

Oh man PG, I can't believe anyone still used crapfires. I bought two sets of them when I was in high school (at like $6 a piece ). One was for my Honda, and one was for my 64 D100. Neither set was worth a crap. I had to readjust my gaps every week, because they would change once in the engine! Some would spread, and some would shorten. I ended up getting my money back from both sets, and just running NGK's (honda) and Champion (D100). They were cheaper, and they didn't change the gap on me. Not to mention some years later I found out how they bought the plugs from Autolite and put their forked ground on it.

As for MSD, I gained about 2-4mpg when I put the MSD6 on my 64. It also stopped that annoying miss that the slant has.

I had the same Accel coil in my 64 for almost ten years. It finally gave up the ghost last summer. I bought another one for my 85. I think the MSD coils are a lot better though, and next time I will buy a blaster 2 coil, MSD cap and rotor, and heli-core wires.

 

[ramit87]

Edelbrock performer has to be a lot better than the 2 barrel on my 318

Match the intake with a 600cfm edelbrock carb

Never had any problems with accel coils

MSD6 is on the work bench waiting to be installed

Not worried about full time 4 wheel drive

Already have a K&N filter for it

Mine already has a superlift on it

don't mess with oil additives

I like bosch +4

 

[Bummo]

I agree with 1, 5, 6. Some of the others are maybe and some are no and one is I dont have a clue.

 

[Guest]

Oh man PG, I can't believe anyone still used crapfires. I bought two sets of them when I was in high school (at like $6 a piece ). One was for my Honda, and one was for my 64 D100. Neither set was worth a crap. I had to readjust my gaps every week, because they would change once in the engine! Some would spread, and some would shorten. I ended up getting my money back from both sets,

You know, after installing the Splitfires in both my vehicles, I heard from quite a few people that they were going to give me problems. They never did. In fact, I left them in the truck for so long that the ground electrodes were almost paper thin. Never so much as a misfire. I wonder what the difference was between the plugs you had and the ones I had?

 

[CLRracer]

Oh man PG, I can't believe anyone still used crapfires. I bought two sets of them when I was in high school (at like $6 a piece ). One was for my Honda, and one was for my 64 D100. Neither set was worth a crap. I had to readjust my gaps every week, because they would change once in the engine! Some would spread, and some would shorten. I ended up getting my money back from both sets,

You know, after installing the Splitfires in both my vehicles, I heard from quite a few people that they were going to give me problems. They never did. In fact, I left them in the truck for so long that the ground electrodes were almost paper thin. Never so much as a misfire. I wonder what the difference was between the plugs you had and the ones I had?

we use split fires in the race car, never had any problem. we have 2 championships and a ton of wins, so i guess we'll stick with them.

Duane

 

[KThaxton]

Since we're talking about Splitfires, I'll share what Christopher Jacobs, of Jacobs Electronics, test's revealed: He didn't claim to have any problems with them. His test showed the only advantage with Splitfires (or any other plug with different electrode geometry) was with a weak ignition. If the ignition was weak, the plugs made a performence improvment. If the ignition was good/average, his tests showed no improvement, but also no reduction in performence either.
I used Splitfires many years ago with no problems or improvements. I took them out when I got my Jacobs system as Jacobs does not recommend them with their system, nor do they don't recommend Platinums with their system either. That's one good thing about all the money I spent on ignition, they recommend good old fashion cheap Autolights.

 

[MoparMurdoc]

I havn't heard much about splitfires causing problems, I just hear their a stupid gimmick. All of these points 1978ramcharger made are opinion based. You ask people and they tell you what they think, and what they've heard, but its not always the truth.

 

[SD3quarterPW76]

hmm.. Newbie over here...so forgive my very LITTLE wealth of knowledge...
1. don't know much about it, but i just bought a Weiand to place my 2 barrel.
2. don't know that either...but gonna try out the truck avenger(since every local person says they kick @$$.
3. never used them, but did use MSD coil and it wouldn't barely spark across the plug OUTSIDE the engine...hmmm
4. gonna try MSD 6AL in truck once i swap old 440 for 400
5. huh?
6. yeah...i'd agree, but my experience is in cars
7. hmm. don't have 1 yet, so no idea...but people out here are all divided between BDS and cheap stuff..
8. no clue...stickin with mobil 1
9. Champion truck plugs? ya gotta be kidding...i burn through regular Champ plugs in a month or 2, get real, what could be better about em?...i'll stick with Autolite, NGK, & Accel.