New guy here, comin off a 05 F250 powerstroke. Didn't feel I needed a diesel any more and its a full $1 a gallon more so i picked up a new to me 08 2500 QC LB 4x4 with a hemi under the assumption its 345hp 375tq. The build date is 2-08 and have had a dealer tell me when I was pickin up some things that some late build 08's are the new 390hp hemi. If this is true how do I know what hemi motor I have? Thanks all.

 

Rear manifold tb or forward tb facing upwards?

 

Welcome to the Forum, hope you enjoy your new truck. I can't answer your question but check out www.allpar.com they have just about everything Mopar under the sun.

 

Ok. I'm assuming TB is throttle body?, what am I lookin for here? Gotta get these gas terms in my head again, been 10+ yrs.

 

Yep If the TB is located at the rear of the manifold then you have the 1st gen 5.7L.
i.e below

If its upfront with it facing upwards then most likely you have the 2G 5.7

 

1st gen it is then. Thanks much, jesse

 

Your dealer is being a dealer (lying), not only did NO 3rd Gen Rams come with the 4th Gen Hemi, but the 2500s lagged a year behind and aren't 4th Gens until 2010...

 

Ha, go figure. Least I wasn't expecting the different motor. Is it a real noticeable gain between the 3rd an 4th gen? Besides a SC tuner, CAI, and exhaust what are some other simple upgrades to the hemi? What's the 545RFE (?) Gonna hold up to for hp n tq? I know I'm not gonna get the modded diesel #'s I had but I like to tinker no matter what it is. I only pull our camper few times a summer at 6500lb's and a 14' enclosed sled trailer so I didn't see the need to spend $6-8k more on an older truck with more miles just to get the diesel. I really like the no hassle and cheaper maint of gas, and bein able to stop at any GAS station and fillin up. Findin lots of good info here, thanks guys! Jesse

 

I was in the same boat as you, I used to tournament bass fish the whole southeast. Didn't need a diesel for bass boats, but the mileage I tacked on in a season dictated I did. Stopped traveling to tourney fish in '02 and gave it up altogether in '05 (sold my last bass boat in '08 which marked the first time since '89 I didn't have a bass boat).
Now, my truck averages less than 8000 miles a year and although I will tow a 7700# load (tractor, rough cutter and trailer) to mow my small piece of farmland, I only pull it 14 miles and only three or four times a year.
When I bought my '04, new off the lot, they were offering GREAT incentives on 1500s that 2500/3500 trucks didn't have AND they were not only NOT discounting diesels, but charging a $2500 over sticker surcharge on them. Couldn't justify a diesel or really even a 3/4 ton at the time.

The 545rfe is the first Dodge Truck/SUV tranny designed solely by Daimler (Mercedes) and probably was about the only good that came out of their ownership. It's light years better than the 46re that the 2nd Gens have and is at least on par with GM gasser truck trannies and probably a good bit better than Fords.

If it has an Achillies' heel it's the torque converter which loses a good bit of power on it's way from the crank to the rear wheels (about 24%). It also doesn't like power adders that bring HP much over 400 at the crank, but up to that point will hold it's own.

 

Mines not a daily driver either and prob see maybe 5000 miles a year. Pullin camper, sled trailer, trips to lumber yard and the occasional blizzards. I'll prob stick with a sc tuner, CAI and exhaust as I know all to much about weak tq converters. These things throw codes if I decided to remove the precious metal from underneath and into a dual free flow set up? I'm only on page 52 in the SC sticky thread and you got lots of good things to say about SC so that will be comin here after christmas. Thanks for takin time to reply the good info.