sorry meant to title the thread engine swap

i have a 97 ram 1500 with the 5.2l and the nv3500 trans. im pretty sure the plenum leak was not fixed by previous owner so on my spring break i plan on fixing that. but currently the motor is a dog and my school is in the mountains and my truck struggles with the hills.

so my question is, if i were to swap a 5.9l into my truck, would my nv3500 hold up, (p.s. im not wheeling or towing anything with this truck.)

 

If you are nice to it, it will survive. (but, it won't be happy about it.) If you wheel with it, do burnouts, jackrabbit starts, things of that nature, you will blow it into teeny tiny little pieces.

 

eventually i plan on getting a nv4500 but for now i can get the 5.9l pretty cheap and im on a college budget. is there like a tune up kit i can get for the nv3500 to help a little if i do decide on the swap

 

Nope. Not much in the way of meaner parts. You are just going to have to keep in mind that your engine has the ability to turn you trans into scrap metal, and drive accordingly.

You don't have to drive like the proverbial little old lady from Pasadena.... just don't be abusive, and you should survive until such time as you can upgrade the trans as well.