I have a 96 1500 2WD Ram with the 5.9 and would like to know if say an engine from a 2001, 1999 etc.would be a direct fit and are their any benefits to doing something like this.

 

its going to be the same engine so whats the point unless your going to build it up

 

+1. yep same block, same heads, pretty much same everything. If you're engine is tired then yea, you'll pick up some horsepower but if you're just putting in an 01 or so engine cause you want to, no differences. All factory 360 Magnum blocks and heads are identical.

If you're looking for more horsepwoer and torque, do some searhing here in the forum. Lot's of ways to do it, 99% of which cost money though. HS Roller rockers, fastman throttle body, modified kegger intake manifold, long length headers, high flow cat, good quality cat-back exhaust, replacing the factory air intake with a CAI or round style intake. Lot's of things that you can do, and once you've some or a lot of these done you can look into either a custom PCM flash or one of the newer user friendly PCM flashing tools.

 

From personal experience.. going to the 02 and up.. Which i know there the 3rd gens.. but there has been some wonder on if they used the same 2nd gen 5.9 in the '02. the 02's are deffinatly diffrent. Wiring Harness. Power Steering. and a few other things. But it comes down to.. The blocks are the same, if your planning on a rebuild.

 

Also I think your truck may have EGR, but I dont think the 2001's do
I could be wrong though. If this is the case you will need the manifolds also

 

1996's dont have EGR valves, first year of the OBD11 PCM

 

The reason I asked was my engine is dead and I have a friend who works at a dealership who can get me one from either a 2000 or 2001 for next to nothing. I just needed to know if the block was identical thats all. Its used but better than what I have now so that says something. As for building it up it will be slow but this forum has always been my first stop. I just do what I can when I have the money to do it. Thanks for the help, I appreciate it.