Performance Mods

[Brad1331]

I owned a 16' challenger hellcat that I heavily modified and tuned down into the mid 9s before someone stole it out of my garage in february of 19' and wrapped it around a tree less than a mile down the road and instead of replacing it i decided to wait until the TRX came out and replace my daily driver truck and sports car down into 1 incredibly fun and no matter what my wife says practical package. I know the hellcat engine when left stock is incredibly durable and even when modified the only issue I had with the increased power in 12k miles over 3 years was I twisted and had to replace the stock drive shaft the first time I ran it with slicks after tuning and modifications. With the TRX being my daily driver I know I don't want to take it to the track, and I also don't care about hitting the sand dunes and jumping it at 100 mph I just want a daily driver that I can throw myself back in the seat from time to time. My question is how far can I push the performance without risking blowing up the transmission after 100k miles.

My gut tells me since it is the same transmission etc as the trackhawk and the trackhawk is tested by FCA while having a full payload which puts the gross weight at 6600 lbs and the TRX plus me puts it at 6550 lbs that I can push it to around 3 or 3.5 second 0-60 without causing too much extra stress over the life of the truck as long as I don't floor it with a full payload.(I don't plan on ever selling this truck I will keep it until I die or it is totaled beyond cost of parts alone)

But if anyone has any information on why it would be a bad idea (besides possibly voiding warranties) to up the boost and give it a tune I'm all ears

 

[MAXGroup]

I owned a 16' challenger hellcat that I heavily modified and tuned down into the mid 9s before someone stole it out of my garage in february of 19' and wrapped it around a tree less than a mile down the road and instead of replacing it i decided to wait until the TRX came out and replace my daily driver truck and sports car down into 1 incredibly fun and no matter what my wife says practical package. I know the hellcat engine when left stock is incredibly durable and even when modified the only issue I had with the increased power in 12k miles over 3 years was I twisted and had to replace the stock drive shaft the first time I ran it with slicks after tuning and modifications. With the TRX being my daily driver I know I don't want to take it to the track, and I also don't care about hitting the sand dunes and jumping it at 100 mph I just want a daily driver that I can throw myself back in the seat from time to time. My question is how far can I push the performance without risking blowing up the transmission after 100k miles.

My gut tells me since it is the same transmission etc as the trackhawk and the trackhawk is tested by FCA while having a full payload which puts the gross weight at 6600 lbs and the TRX plus me puts it at 6550 lbs that I can push it to around 3 or 3.5 second 0-60 without causing too much extra stress over the life of the truck as long as I don't floor it with a full payload.(I don't plan on ever selling this truck I will keep it until I die or it is totaled beyond cost of parts alone)

But if anyone has any information on why it would be a bad idea (besides possibly voiding warranties) to up the boost and give it a tune I'm all ears

I'm not getting the whole lets get more horsepower as the first mod, or even the 10th one. I had a Charger Hellcat and I honestly never felt I needed more power. And I can count the times that I was on wide open throttle for more then 15 seconds on one hand. In the charger the real issue was grip, there was just not enough grip for all the power. I think that with the TRX all wheel drive this will better and of course its a much heavier vehicle so you may need more power. But I think a tune that gets more power at lower revs and curbs the max power to around 800 should be part of any mod you do. This way you get better performance all the time, and protect the drivetrain. Sure saying I have 1200 hp is way cool, but in the real world, getting another 50 hp 2000 rpm lower makes a much bigger impact

 

[CRS2879]

FCA is claiming 0-60 in 4.5 seconds, which is crazy fast for a truck, but probably slower than the truck is capable of without electronic intervention. My guess is there is a good bit of "torque management" involved in the lower gears for driveline protection given the size of the stock tires. Seems I read that the early prototypes had a tendency to break axles. That being said, given the fact that Hellcat engines have been around for several years, the aftermarket companies are probably already working on power-adder upgrades for the TRX. An interesting item to watch will be CAI mods. The factory intake plumbing looks to be fairly elaborate and functional in terms of enhanced filter capability for serious off-road running.

 

[Jackson]

Not to hijack but the tests are run with the truck in 4WD?

 

[Brad1331]

I'm not getting the whole lets get more horsepower as the first mod, or even the 10th one. I had a Charger Hellcat and I honestly never felt I needed more power. And I can count the times that I was on wide open throttle for more then 15 seconds on one hand. In the charger the real issue was grip, there was just not enough grip for all the power. I think that with the TRX all wheel drive this will better and of course its a much heavier vehicle so you may need more power. But I think a tune that gets more power at lower revs and curbs the max power to around 800 should be part of any mod you do. This way you get better performance all the time, and protect the drivetrain. Sure saying I have 1200 hp is way cool, but in the real world, getting another 50 hp 2000 rpm lower makes a much bigger impact

I'm not talking about anywhere near 1200 hp or even 800, all I want is a 0 to 60 time in the range of a stock challenger or trackhawk which is 3-3.5 seconds which because of the additional 1000 lbs of curb weight over the trackhawk would require in the range of 50 or so more hp and an acceleration oriented tune would be my guess.....even my challenger that was running mid 9s (which is stock demon territory) probably had less than 900 whp i dont know for sure as I never cared to dyno it because I dont care about saying my car has xxx hp as long as it performs the way I want it to

 

[Brad1331]

Not to hijack but the tests are run with the truck in 4WD?

The truck only has 4 auto 4 hi and 4 low, it won't let you drive in 2wd

 

[LUV2WIN]

The truck only has 4 auto 4 hi and 4 low, it won't let you drive in 2wd

That only if you want to drive in them modes it's 2 wheel other than that.

 

[Brad1331]

That only if you want to drive in them modes it's 2 wheel other than that.

No it cannot go in 2wd it is full time 4wd see attached photo of the transfer case switches off of the ram website there isnt a 2wd option

 

[MAXGroup]

I'm not talking about anywhere near 1200 hp or even 800, all I want is a 0 to 60 time in the range of a stock challenger or trackhawk which is 3-3.5 seconds which because of the additional 1000 lbs of curb weight over the trackhawk would require in the range of 50 or so more hp and an acceleration oriented tune would be my guess.....even my challenger that was running mid 9s (which is stock demon territory) probably had less than 900 whp i dont know for sure as I never cared to dyno it because I dont care about saying my car has xxx hp as long as it performs the way I want it to

I believe this is something a good aftermarket tune will be able to get you. You will be loading the drivetrain quite a bit with these kind of accelerations but if you are doing it with an empty truck and the tune is professional I believe you should be within what the system will take without breaking the transmission and transfer case. You may need to beef up drive shafts to avoid breakage.

 

[LUV2WIN]

No it cannot go in 2wd it is full time 4wd see attached photo of the transfer case switches off of the ram website there isnt a 2wd option

that's because it's in 2wd until you choose a different mode they all work that way. lol

 

[Brad1331]

I dont want to argue but you are wrong just google it the trx does not have a 2wd mode i have been driving 4x4 trucks for 20 years and you are correct that every other 4x4 truck ever made besides the TRX has 2wd 4hi and 4low

 

[LUV2WIN]

How they doing donuts in the videos if not in 2wd 20 years good for you. 45 years here lol.
It's all good .

 

[marksouth]

It always drives in some "mode". All modes are 4wd. The difference is each mode splits power between front and rear differently. I.e. 20% front and 80% rear or 50% front and 50% rear.

There is also a custom mode, but I believe you are still limited with a minimum amount of power for the front and maximum amount of power to the rear.

 

[Brad1331]

How they doing donuts in the videos if not in 2wd 20 years good for you. 45 years here lol.
It's all good .

All of the drive modes vary the power distribution between front and rear with baja mode at 60/40 being the most extreme....if you have lose sand and turn off traction controll you can do tight circles like the promo (there was a ton of sand flying but didn't look like true donuts) I have attached a picture of my 19' ram 1500 transfer case switchex and if you compare it to the switch bank on the TRX where mine has 2WD the trx switch in that spot is axle lock

 

[Nowwhat]

I'm not talking about anywhere near 1200 hp or even 800, all I want is a 0 to 60 time in the range of a stock challenger or trackhawk which is 3-3.5 seconds which because of the additional 1000 lbs of curb weight over the trackhawk would require in the range of 50 or so more hp and an acceleration oriented tune would be my guess.....even my challenger that was running mid 9s (which is stock demon territory) probably had less than 900 whp i dont know for sure as I never cared to dyno it because I dont care about saying my car has xxx hp as long as it performs the way I want it to

I got my last Ram into the 10's....the weak point for that truck was the transmission....but it was a lot of fun....

 

[LUV2WIN]

All of the drive modes vary the power distribution between front and rear with baja mode at 60/40 being the most extreme....if you have lose sand and turn off traction controll you can do tight circles like the promo (there was a ton of sand flying but didn't look like true donuts) I have attached a picture of my 19' ram 1500 transfer case switchex and if you compare it to the switch bank on the TRX where mine has 2WD the trx switch in that spot is axle lock

Yes I have a ram too. Just weird no 2wd oh well , I'll drive the shit out of it . Like I did the Hellcat ?

 

[SportyJames]

• Electronic Full-Time 4WD-Mode- Only Transfer Case

 

[MAXGroup]

I'm glad it is AWD, try and launch a rear wheel drive empty pickup with 700 hp and full throttle. Nothing but smoke and no forward movement : )

 

[MAXGroup]

I got my last Ram into the 10's....the weak point for that truck was the transmission....but it was a lot of fun....

different transmission on this one. From my experience abusing Jeeps and Dodges since this transmission became the standard, it is pretty bulletproof and I personally love how it shifts.

 

[CRS2879]

Again, I am speculating, but my guess is they went AWD because of engine HP and the desire to give people the most traction available, in all conditions. AWD is more common for SUV's but there have been a few trucks that were AWD only...GMC Syclone and Chevy Silverado SS come to mind.