Hello I am just curious about the best cam for my situation. I am putting a 5.9 magnum in my dakota. The truck is a 96, current drivetrain is a 95 5.2.
I have a 5.9 out of a 99 ram. The 5.9 has 105k on it and my 5.2 has 240k and a leaking freeze plug in the rear.
I want to do a mild build very mild. I know the stock came aren't great nor the springs. Wanted to change both but not require a performance tune or higher grade gas to run.
I have shorty headers, an m1 intake, timing chain set and a complete gasket kit for the 5.9.
I want to get a little more power out of it.
I have heard putting the 318 cam in a mostly stock 5.9 will provide some power gain and switching to 1.7 ratio rockers as well.
Just looking for advice from others on where to go. I am reusing stock heads I cant afford aftermarket ones.

 

First off, make sure your current heads aren't cracked; you may do better to pick up after market heads rather than go hunting for stock replacements if they are cracked between the valves.

I'd talk to a tuner (Ryan Hogan @ Flyin' Ryan Performance, frptuning.com / Flyin' Ryan Performance and on Facebook, or Marty Fletcher @ UT Awesome Performance, UTAWESOME PERFORMANCE - Home , also on Facebook in the Dodge & Jeep 5.2 & 5.9 Magnum V8 Performance & Tips group) and see what they recommend with the caveat that Marty will probably recommend one of his cams.

I suggest that because if the truck is a 1996, and you still have the OBDII wiring, an OBDII ECU is fully programmable to allow you to use whatever you need to use the cam.

RwP

 

Yes I had the heads checked at a local machine shop. Well the truck and body harness is 96, the pcm and wiring harness is 95. I got the engine and trans and wiring harness from a 95 with a broke frame but a rebuilt trans with less than 10k on it. I had to switch the harness due to the different plugs in trans. My old harness was for a 46re this one is 46 rh. She's kind of a basket case but I love this truck. I've had it since high school (13 years)