hello all.
I'm getting out of the drag racing scene for right now and have recently picked up interest in building and fooling around with mud machines! I picked up a 2001 dodge 1500 that has a major lift and currently on 44's. although i know from common knowledge im gonna wanna swap the axles out to more heavy duty capable axles. The current motor is a weak 318. thats gonna need to be replaced anyways. which brings me to my tech question! how much trouble would it be to put a older carb'd engine into this truck?? I APPRECIATE ANY AND ALL FEEDBACK!! thanks.

 

I wouldn't think it would Be all that difficult. The 360 was used on older vehicles so the mounts would be the same. Probably would be able to just get rid of the computer entirely.

Again, i'm not too sure. I've never put a carb into an fi vehicle, only the other way around.

 

Moved to 2nd gen for you.

 

I had been toying with this idea myself. Only problem I could see is the issues with the dash. Without the computer I don't think the speedometer will work, nor will volts/oil/temperature. If it's just a mud truck I can't see how any of that would matter though. You can get aftermarket gauges that would fix pretty much all of those problems, even the speedometer if you wanted to. What I've been thinking about is putting a built 440 CID Six Pack in my truck, but I haven't looked into clearance issues/etc yet since I haven't had a chance to get the measurements from the engine bay yet.

 

why dont you just build that 5.2l with a stroker and top-end kit?
with out the computer your trans wont shift, guages wont work, even the doors wont open... alright i made that last one up! lol

 

you could use after market gauges but there should be no reason the stock gauges should not work as long as they are hooked up to the sending unit. now i don't quite understand how the speedometer and sending unit work but i don't see why you couldn't just leave the computer connected and install the carbed engine and use the sending units from the 2001 and just add the basic electrical you will need for the carb.

 

Wouldn't it be easier just to switch transmissions also? I am pretty sure an A727 Torque Flight will fit without much coaxing. Which means that it would bolt right up to the 440 Six Pack, then it's just changing the rear gears/driveshaft to something a little better and I've got one mean truck ... wouldn't that work for the OP also? (Changing the transmission, that is.) Now if only I could find a reasonably priced 426 Hemi I would go that route ...

 

yes you would definatly need to change trans, no computer would not allow the electrnic torq contoller for the converter to work that trans depends on a LOT of signals reading corect. long story short u can smoke ur converter and trans jus becuse an improper o2 sensor reading. but 426/726 n 44 would be 1 B.A. S.O.B! deff need 2500 axles tho.lol that 9.25 and front 44 would be like toothpicks!

 

Isn't the TC lockup done with a voltage across two wires? If you knew the wires to the torque Converter you could cheat the TC to lock up for you.