I bought a 97 ram sst today. Body is not terrible but rotting out in the normal areas. Trans slips once it warms up but otherwise the 5.9 runs strong. I could tell the owner does still love this truck so I didn't have the heart to tell him I'll be stripping it down. The entire drivetrain and posi rear end will be going in my 51 ford f1 rat truck. So I will be rebuilding the transmission before swapping it in. So my main question is:

On these trucks is the transmission controlled by same computer as the engine? Is the ECM the only control module on the 97 trucks?

I will be fabbing the frame from scratch so I'll build it to suit the 97 drivetrain then build the rear axle into a 4-link setup. I will have to comb through the wiring to keep the necessary ones and cut the unnecessary wires. All the wiring and computer will be getting tucked under the dash and kept out of the engine bay.
Since this is a low budget build I will only be cleaning the engine and resealing everything while it's on my engine stand. Plenum fix of course. Really the only upgrade it will receive right away is a tuner as I saw the sticker on the core support with the death flash done. I would like to do a cam upgrade but they aren't particularly cheap on these engines. I want to keep the stock intake since I want to keep it fuel injected. The posi unit will get ripped apart and rebuilt cause while I'm in there I'll be putting 4.56 gears. I'm planning on running 275/65/17 tires and the original SST rims. At 70 I'll turn 2400rpm but this is going to be a fun toy for around town and trips to closer shows.

I searched for some time for a good donor truck with the 8.0l v10 but apart from being difficult to find, everybody wants too much for them. Doesn't matter if it has 300k or the body is about rotted off the frame.

On these sst trucks aren't the manifolds different than the regular trucks? Value on them? I'll be custom fabbing headers so I won't need them.

 

So you are going to steal everything out of it and strip it down for parts? WHY? There must be thousand other trucks you can strip down for parts why sacrifice a SS/T? The drive train and computer is the same as any other truck. This makes no sense what so ever. Dodge parts in a furd. You cant find a mustang to steel parts from?

 

Around me 2wd trucks aren't overly common. I like these magnum engines. Frankly I hate Ford's. I don't like their engines, drivetrain or suspension. I like the 50s bodies though. Wisconsin has claimed the body of this SST. Not many people around here are going to pony up the cash to replace rockers, cab corners, full boxsides, fenders and doors on a 20 year old truck with 170k on it. Instead of letting it rot away in a driveway or scrapyard like every other truck around here I might as well keep part of the truck alive.

Don't get me wrong, I understand what this truck is. If the body was good yet I would rebuild the transmission, slip it back in, slam the truck and drive it.

 

Only one PCM that runs the whole show. No central timer module to worry about either.

 

Alright cool. That will make it easier to straighten out wiring and tuck everything under the dash.

I apologize to anyone who is angry I'm stripping down a SST lol.