I have a great 2002 2500 with a 5.9 magnum. Runs great. I have retired and am raising my little grandson ( not important to the thread but the reason.) We pull a 5th wheel camper that probably pushes 10,000lb when it is loaded with appropriate crap. I have purchased an 8L V10 complete with trans, radiator, fan and ECM and harness. I plan to go thru the engine and freshen it up. Pulling around the central States I do great with the 5.9 but I know when I go west to the National Parks out West where we want to spend summers with the grandson the mountains will bring the 5.9 to a crawl. I don't want to spend stupid money on a new truck and I don't want a diesel. Too many headaches. What pitfalls should I expect in the swap and any sound advice. My reading tells me that the 8L is a strong puller and I am building a tugboat not a hot rod.

 

The 8.0 has more horsepower, and quite a bit more torque... than the V-8, but, it is heavier, and thirstier as well. How easy the swap goes is going to depend on what year the donor truck was.

Welcome to DF! Moving this to second gen ram section for ya.

 

HeyYou is correct on the thirsty part, but with pulling the trailer, I think the gas mileage would be about the same. Hopefully, you have the long bed with the bigger gas tank. An issue I would see is getting parts for that engine as it is well obsolete.

 

The donor truck is a 96. I talked to a company that repairs and programs ECM's and the tech thinks the 96 is an OBDII motor which it needs to be. I called to see how deep I would be in if I had to do a Hybrid or convert the V10 to OBDII. I remember years ago when they first came out I was at an RV dealer picking up parts for my camper and a guy was in there with a new Ram V10 and he was complaining of MPG in the low teens. I was pulling with a Chevy with a 454 and would have killed to get that. I was getting around 6 which is what I get with the 5.9 now. I have to think that with my foot in the gas most of the time the V10 should have to work a bit less and I may get better milege. If not it won't be worse and I will have the power I need.

 

96 is indeed OBDII, but, barely. Trouble is, a LOT changed in the body electronics in 98, and the two systems simply are not compatible. You will need a 98 and up PCM/wiring harness to make it work, and you will need to update the electronics in the trans as well. (depending on year of your electronics.....)

 

Thanks for the info. I havent picked up the treasures yet but trying to get ahead of the game. Sounds like I will need to find a correct harness or do some grafting as well as a correct Computer. I would like to know how your truck tows and fuel mileage. I am doing this to pull a 5th wheel thru the mountains when the grandson is a coupl years older. I do fine with my 5.9 in Kansas but I know the mountains will take the wind out of it. I get about 6 towing now so I doubt I will get less,

 

I pull a 4000 pound dump trailer, with around 8000 pounds of dirt/rocks/whathaveyou around with mine. Getting it moving is no trouble at all, the trailer brake controller makes stopping it reasonable..... still, no quick stops with that kind of weight behind me. My truck has 33" tires, and 4.56 gears though, so, I am 'over geared' pretty seriously. With O/D off, at 55 mph, I am hitting around 2800 RPM....... so, gas mileage sucks. (6 or 7 mpg......) which really isn't that much of a drop from my normal 9 or 10......... Gas mileage also drops a bit on winter blend fuels..... I usually see a 1 or 2 point drop when they switch gears for the season. (and of course, all these numbers are fairly relative, as my speedometer lies to me anyway...... I don't think it was ever reprogrammed for the larger tires.... so, gas mileage is probably a bit better than what I am calculating.)

The 8.0 just isn't anything even remotely resembling 'efficient'. Plenty of power, gobs of torque, but, quite thirsty. Matching gear ratio/tire size better would most certainly help. As it is, I won't take my truck on the freeway while towing....... Just spins the engine way to high to maintain even 65 mph.......

 

If i remember correct you will also need a different coolant reservoir, and possibly a different washer fluid reservoir.

 

And the larger radiator. And probably a bunch of other little things.