Best Bang for your Buck mod for 3.0

[RumpRanger98]

Im curious what you guys have to say for a best bang for your buck mod...
Im new to the ranger so I was just curious. I know on my maxima it was the y-pipe alone, not the full exhaust, just the y-pipe alone made the car sound awesome, free'd some ponies up, and helped a slight bit on mileage, and was about $180 by itself.

From what im reading it sounds like intake/exhaust doesn't help much on this motor.

 

[Ranger44]

ReGEAR. Lower gears help alot. 4.10's or 4.56's. That's my vote.

 

[coffee]

Everybody knows speed = money. A 16" fan and undwerdrive pulleys will (I've seen dynosheets and used my assdyno) add around 15 Hp and 20 ft/lb of torque. A cold air intake helps some but can't really work unless you can get the air out.

 

[Snorky]

underdrive pulley. from underdog at

www.stuffforyourranger.com

 

[PSJRanger]

+1 on the underdrive pulleys.

 

[dru]

+1 on the regear. ive heard good thing about the pullies too. im going with the pullies in a couple months. hopefully!

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

underdrive pulleys, regear, roller rockers, tuner. these are the ONLY cost effective improvements for this engine. after that, its cheaper to go v-8, turbo, or what have you.

the factory intake is already cold-air. e-fans CANT work (the laws of physics prevent it). and your factory exhuast is already tuned to provide optimal performance given your engines CFM.

 

[RumpRanger98]

How hard are the pulleys to install? just remove belt and swap pulleys, and reinstall belt? $199 for the pulley kit is not a bad deal at all. are there any seals to be replaced behind any of the pulleys? i think theres one behind the main underdrive pulley, at least thats how my maxima is.

How much would regearing cost if i had a shop do it? Is it something I can do myself? FYI Ive only owned a FWD car, im new to this 4x4 drive train stuff..

Mine is a 5speed... do they make lightened flywheels? I would think that would help as much as the pulleys?

Looks like if I decide to mod this truck it will be pulleys, regearing, the rogue roller rockers, then intake/exhaust.

thanks for the info guys

 

[fatboyf150]

remove the coolant circuit from the throttle body. that will keep from heating up the air entering the throttle body.

 

[rurouni20xx]

do not remove the coolant circuit from the throttlebody it preheats the air so it will atomize better hence smoother idle and crisp throttle response.

 

[Beef52751]

do not remove the coolant circuit from the throttlebody it preheats the air so it will atomize better hence smoother idle and crisp throttle response.

Why dont we all put on HAI's then???

 

[RumpRanger98]

phenolic spacers would of never been invented if air was to be warmed up in the intake...

 

[dru]

How much would regearing cost if i had a shop do it? Is it something I can do myself? FYI Ive only owned a FWD car, im new to this 4x4 drive train stuff..

my regear was $300 for labor $196 for the ring and pinion, $50-75 for a master install kit.

no, you probably cant do it yourself.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

youll need a shorter belt to go along with the pulley. its easy enough to install, but you will need a puller to get the old one off. dont mess with the main seal if its not leaking.

being a 4wd, you will have to regear both axles to match. your looking at a few hundred for gears and a few hundred for labor per axle...so near a grand to regear both axles. NO, you cant do it yourself.

there are no lighter flywheels for the 3.0 that im awair of.

dont waste your time and money on intake and exhuast systems unless you like the way it sounds. you will not recieve any improvement in performance.

the heated throttle body is there to prevent TB icing. it can certainly be disabled, but you arent likely to notice much of an improvement.

 

[RumpRanger98]

great info, thanks

im just so amazed on how intake/exhaust does almost nothing on this motor...
btw what are the stock hp/torque?
have there been dynos done with stock 3.0 vs exhaust/intake only 3.0? im just curious how little of a gain it really is. not that I don't believe you, just suprised.