TOPIC: '99 Dodge Ram 1500 5.2L Magnum V-8 Grooved

Here's another Gadgetman Groove website customer's Grooved TB. This one went out to Bryce, and I'm certain he'll be quite pleased. These throttle bodies, IMHO, require custom epoxy work in the center between the throttle bores. This is because the Idle Air Control, dumps air across the inboard portions of the Grooves. I've done a few of these Dodge TB's before. I had to first roughen the areas where epoxy would go, then create temporary epoxy dams to control where the JBQuick would stick. Once the epoxy set, I sanded it down flush to the base, then cut a trench from the IAC port to the center between the throttle bores.
Now Idle bypass air will dump at center at the axle shaft, away from the Groove. This prevents the idle air from disturbing the Groove's waveform, preserving the benefits of all this! These Grooves are with the Large bit.

Tracy G

What kind of gains are folks getting on these Dodge 5.2 engines?? Mine is a 2000 Dodge Ram Van 2500 with only 46000 miles.

Hi Paul. Well, it depends...with a van, it's likely being used to haul things around, so bottom end torque is important. The Groove will increase available power through the operating range, and especially right off idle. So it helps noticeably. You don't need to use a much throttle as before the Groove.

If you apply some of the standard Gadgetman tricks, like blocking the manifold vacuum to the PCV valve, and increasing spark plug gap by 20-25% then the Groove's effects are increased.
Then there are common sense things like increasing tire pressure to the sidewall rating, etc.

The thing with the Groove is, that to get MPG gains, you need to USE the added power. Meaning that- if you follow conventional wisdom that worked on old carbureted vehicles, and try to drive like Grandma to save gas...with injected computer controlled engines, you need to use aggressive throttle from time to time to get real economy gains w/ the Groove.
That's because, if you DO drive like Grandma with the Groove, the computer will just stick with it's baseline settings. Using full throttle makes the ECU adjust timing and fuel trims, that's what w
e all want!

Tracy G

Yessir, I'll corroborate that there is indeed a particular technique to driving with the groove to achieve mileage gains.
You DO need to put your foot into it to get moving (like all cars)...but once you're up to cruising speed, you can back right off. This is where the magic kicks in: you'll be surprised at how little throttle (comparatively to your pre-groove experience in the vehicle) it takes to keep the thing rolling at speed. i surprise myself sometimes when I lift my foot off the gas to start to come to a stop at how little pressure there was on the gas pedal...as in, light as a feather