Lost my old CJ. So picked up Grandpa's old Farm

truck. 2000 ram 1500 5.2/318

Goals for the truck are to rebuild and modify lightly for it to basically be the truck that I wanted as a teen but couldn't afford. Read through the subs and got a better starting point then I had.

Feel free to advise or nitpick.
Stock starting point.
Build:
Kegger mod
Big gulp throttle body
14x3 air filter
Rollers
Cam
Exhaust
4.10 gears
​​​​​LSD
SCT
Slight lift
16 wheels 33 tires
Body work/paint/tint/interior
Cattle guard

Dreams
Build a flat bed for it
1 tons axles
Manual swap

I'm coming at it from a jeep background but this should be a good daily while still doing some farm work. Currently all I've done is change all the fluid and do general maintenance cause it's an old farm truck from Missouri with 300k

 

Keep in mind, a 318 will always be a 318. It's a good engine, but it's not very large. Bigger wheels will need a gear change. Just remember, when it's a 4X4, you have TWO sets of gears to change.

 

Meant to add I picked up a 5.9/360 from a junk yard to build and swap in.
Yea, I'm coming from the jeep 4wd world so some of this is old hat.

 

You will also need the transmission for the 5.9 as well as the computer. The 318 and 360 are balanced differently and Mopar changed the method of balance during the 2nd gen run.

 

Not the trans, just the flexplate for the 5.9, 96 or newer. Should be able to flash his PCM for the 5.9, but, looking at what he has in mind here, a custom tune is going to be in order anyway. Fortunately, his is OBDII, so, that's not an obstacle.

 

As long as they are the same size. I've run into that on older Mopars. Nothing like dropping an engine into a car with a 9 inch flex plate only to find the transmission requires a 10 inch flex plate.

 

Thanks hadn't read about the balance change. I was hoping that one of the nv5600 that I have for a jeep would bolt up or use and adapter plate. The 5.9 I picked up came with all the electronics

 

Jeeps used a lot of the same engines as the dodge trucks, so, that nv5600 might just bolt right out. Need the correct flywheel for the 5.9 though.

 

Ah, a manual. You'll need the proper bell housing and flywheel. No flex plate on a stick shift.

 

I'm definitely looking at a custom tune at the point I swap in the 5.9

Figured that I'd have to grab one and a whole new clutch assembly.