I am new to the forum, i just purchased a 2000 Ram 1500 4x4 with a 5.2L, I was just wondering how much would be involved with switching the 5.2L to a 5.9L out of a 1997 Ram, Any info would be deeply appreciated

 

I'm guessing you would need the computer from the donor truck, everything else would be fairly close. I think anyway....

If the 360 is gonna be stock, theres no sense in switching out your 318.

The 5.2 (318) is rated at 230 horse and 300 lbs of tourqe

The 5.9 (360) is rated at 245 horse and 335 lbs of tourqe


Hardly seems worth the swap, unless the engine is built [&:]

 

Thank you for the info. I'm not sure what has been done to the 5.9 but i will do more research and get back to you

 

In my opinion I would stick with the 318. I own a 97 1500 with the 318 and my brother has a 98 2500 with a 360 with lower gears and when we put truck against truck I stomped him even after he rebuilt his engine and I had 200,000 miles on my truck.

 

---if the 360 is gonna be stock, theres no sense in switching out your 318.

Very true there. Invest some money in headers - flowmaster exhaust - and K&NN filter pack and you can get some extra HP out of it. Your fuel economy should be better than the 360 and you with the mods you should have the same or more HP as the 360.

Good luck

 

yeah, just do what im gonna do when I do the lifters (ones bad by the way) Im gonna drop in a nice cam, and possibly have the heads shaved (i'm still thinking about that)

 

yeah, i made my decision, i'm gonna stick with the 5.2L, I had a roll bar on my truck and didn't really like it so I traded the roll bar for the 5.9L, the 5.9 needs intake gaskets and nothing else, I will probobly try to sell the 5.9 and use the money towards putting extras on the 5.2L and the truck itself, anyways thank you all for the advise and if anyone is in need of a 5.9L let me know

 

5.9 will require a different torque converter or flywheel than the 5.2. Other than the obvious stuff that's the main difference. The 5.2 is a good engine, but the 5.9 is a better one to base a buildup off of.

If it was me, I'd tear the 5.9 down, pick up a stroker crank and some new rods/pistons, and build it up. Get the machine work done and you'll have a beefy little truck when it's done.

But if you're not into 400+ cubes and massive power, keep the 318 and go with it. My buddy's 318 puts just about identical numbers to the ground as my 360, although he's got a manual and much smaller tires.