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08:35:22 - 11/17/2024
Dakota Performance
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Kristian
Dodge Dakota
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12/15/2008
01:43:40
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 Subject: 2000 Dak 4.7 Stock Upgrade Help
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Hey everyone,
I have a 2000 Dak 4.7 V8 that I absolutley love, it is totally stock right now and would love to start messing with for some proformance gains, the thing is I dont have a clue where to start.
If anyone would be willing to give me some idea about where to start in terms of things to upgrade that would be awesome,
Thanks,
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ol dak
Dodge Dakota
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12/15/2008
12:59:02
|  RE: 2000 Dak 4.7 Stock Upgrade Help
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Stick or auto?
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olsarge
Dodge Dakota
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12/15/2008
13:18:51
| RE: 2000 Dak 4.7 Stock Upgrade Help
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4.56 gears, H.O. cams, SCT, cold air intake (along with ported throtle body) made the biggest difference for me
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Kristian
Dodge Dakota
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12/15/2008
15:15:35
| RE: 2000 Dak 4.7 Stock Upgrade Help
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It is an auto, also I should admit I know very little when it comes to the acronyms, so
"4.56 gears, H.O. cams, SCT, cold air intake (along with ported throtle body) made the biggest difference for me"
doesnt mean a ton to me, but thank you very much for the reply, I will try to decipher it
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ol dak
Dodge Dakota
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12/15/2008
18:45:12
| RE: 2000 Dak 4.7 Stock Upgrade Help
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Hi,
I am feeling generous tonight so I will give you some basic hot rod training.
4.56 gears: The gears that come stock in your truck were either 3.55 or 3.92. By going to a 4.56 rear end gear you will generally increase your acceleration a good bit, but you will decrease your ultimate top speed and increase fuel consumption at any given speed. In order to go 70mph with 4.56 gears your engine has to turn over more times than it does with 3.55 gears. Likewise if you had 3.21 gears your vehicle would turn over fewer times at any given speed than it would with 3.55 gears. The higher numerically the gears are the less the top end speed, but the faster the acceleration in general.
H.O. Cams: High Output camshafts. This changes the amount and duration of your fuel/air mixture. This way your engine can suck in more fuel to burn giving it more power.
SCT: A company that sells computer tuning flashes for your vehicle. This electronically retunes your engine. The way they charge for this service it is basically a license to print money as they sell you around $25 worth of software work for anywhere from $350-$700. But it is still the easiest way to greatly change the way your vehicle behaves when you nail it. SCT mods are not street legal in California, but some of the others are.
Cold air intake: change the stock air cleaner/intake box for an aftermarket unit that lets the engine breath easier. An easy though again costly way to get some power boost. If you live and drive on a lot of dirt roads do this at your engine's peril.
Ported Throttle Body: The throttle body lets air into the engine mixed with fuel. Ported means opened up to a larger dimension so it lets in more giving more power.
There is my good deed for the day, which probably means that tomorrow will really suck.
You never mentioned if your truck was 2wd or 4wd. If it is 4wd you will have to change both front and rear axle gears if you want to go with 4.56 gears. This can get real expensive real fast.
If your truck is 2wd you can do a nice cheap mod. Go to car-part.com and find a transmission control module(TCM) from a 2001 or 2002 Grand Cherokee 2wd with a 4.7 engine. If you get the 2001 make sure it is the part number ending in AG. Any 2002 ahould do. Swap this part with your own (TCM). This will give you 5 forward speeds instead of 4. Sometimes it takes a couple of weeks to get the computers used to talking to each other nicely, but in the end you will get better interstate cruising gas mileage. The Jeep TCM's cost anywhere from $100 to $25, and can be put in in a few minutes.
Buy a copy of Chilton's for your vehicle when you go to Autozone or some such place, this will give you a clue.
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modain
GenIII
12/16/2008
11:55:17
|  RE: 2000 Dak 4.7 Stock Upgrade Help
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Small correction about the Jeep TCM. It won't work (properly) with a 2000 Dakota. The 1999 and onward Jeep GC uses the PCI bus, and the 2000 Dakota still used the CCD bus (2001 onward uses PCI).
The TCM won't communicate properly with the PCM - you won't get any PRND2L indicator and the MIL will be constantly illuminated.
From what I have read concerning other people's experiences, the TCM seems to work OK on a 2000, but you can't get past these little issues I have pointed out.
What's your left foot doing?
==============
2002 Graphite QC SLT Plus, 4.7L, NV3500, Superchips 3715, 3.92 LSD, R/T rear swaybar, no chrome, loads o'fun...
2001 Patriot Blue Durango SLT, 4.7L, 45RFE, Superchips 3715, 3.55 Open (for now)
1999 Forest Green Dakota RC Sport, 2.5L, NV1500, 3.55 Open
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jake
Dodge Dakota
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12/16/2008
14:41:17
| RE: 2000 Dak 4.7 Stock Upgrade Help
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i have a 2000 dakota 2wd. will this mod still give me 5 forward speeds? just tryin to save a little money on gas. thanks for any input. and what does MIL mean?
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modain
GenIII
12/16/2008
18:51:06
| RE: 2000 Dak 4.7 Stock Upgrade Help
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To reiterate my previous post: this won't work properly with your year of truck.
As for the rest. Yes you will get five forward speeds. But the shift schedule will change.
With overdrive activated: 1, 2, 3, 4, TCC lockup, 5th.
With overdrive deactivated: 1, 2, 3, TCC lockup.
The Jeep TCM invokes TCC lockup at 50 MPH, with the Dodge TCM it is 40 MPH.
I was not entirely pleased with the Jeep TCM installed on my 2001 Durango. With my 3.55 axle ratio I was turning too few RPMs to keep the speed up when climbing hills. At 2000ish RPM I was doing 75MPH - on the grades in my daily commute it couldn't hold the speed. It took more gas pedal to shift out of TCC lockup. Then when it came out it would dump into 3rd gear. Now I am gaining speed back to 75MPH, but at 3500 RPM. So much for any gas savings. I actually got worse MPG using the Jeep TCM.
If you live in a place where everything is flat you shouldn't have this concern. Since I was less-than-pleased with this combination on my Durango I put the Dodge PCM back on. When I change out my axle gears to 3.92s I'll try the Jeep TCM again. I expect this combination to work a bit better.
MIL = Malfunction Indicator Lamp (Check Engine Light).
What's your left foot doing?
==============
2002 Graphite QC SLT Plus, 4.7L, NV3500, Superchips 3715, 3.92 LSD, R/T rear swaybar, no chrome, loads o'fun...
2001 Patriot Blue Durango SLT, 4.7L, 45RFE, Superchips 3715, 3.55 Open (for now)
1999 Forest Green Dakota RC Sport, 2.5L, NV1500, 3.55 Open
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stevedak
Dodge Dakota
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1/16/2009
19:00:59
| RE: 2000 Dak 4.7 Stock Upgrade Help
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Help me out guys, I have a 2002 Dakota with 4.7 auto, 4 speed. If it has 4 speeds, how does a different TCM get you 5? What is the final ratio of the 5th gear?
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Kowalski
GenIII
1/19/2009
10:18:43
| RE: 2000 Dak 4.7 Stock Upgrade Help
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Don't have the ratios handy, but this is possible because the 45RFE and 545RFE are a different style of transmission, with planetary gearsets.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way
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Kowalski
GenIII
1/19/2009
10:21:21
| RE: 2000 Dak 4.7 Stock Upgrade Help
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Message:
Don't have the ratios handy, but this is possible because the 45RFE and 545RFE are a different style of transmission, with planetary gearsets.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way
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