Hey all. I've been absent from this forum for quite a while and I would like to get more in the habit of reading and posting some more. That being said, I finally changed my spark plugs in the hemi on sunday. It was a task I had put off since I bought the truck a couple years ago. I would usually never put off routine maintenance like that but it just seemed like such a daunting task given the shear "pain in the assery" of getting to the spark plugs in the back of the motor. I just bought OE champions to replace them with. I also had my dad with me to give me a hand. Overall, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. As long as you have a rachet with a head that swivels and the proper extensions it is not impossible. I didn't even have to resort to taking the wheel and fender lining off to stand in the motor or remove the brake booster. Just be careful and deliberate with what you do and it will be fine. Don't just start wrenching on them without thinking and have a good feel for what you're doing. It also helps if you only work on one coil pack at a time. Overall it took me about 2.5 hours, which is the same amount of "book time" the dealership will charge you for.

Anyway, I bought the truck about 40k miles ago and I didn't even know if they had been changed before. luckily it looks like someone changed them not long before I bought it. The plugs all looked good with a nice tan sandy color meaning the air fuel ratio is right. Ive been running the diablo 93 tune pretty much since I bought it so I was a little worried about that. The gaps on the old plugs were pretty bad, ranging from .045 to .060. Now with the new plugs the truck idles rock steady at 650 RPM and has better throttle response and overall seems to run a little better.

Moral of the story, save yourself about 250-300$ by doing it yourself. It's not easy, but not impossible.

 

I did my plugs about a month ago. The front 4 were definitely harder than the rear 4. I have no idea why this is; I didn't go through the wheel well either.

 

The back 2 on the 4.7 are a living hell to get out.
The front 4 were easy, middle 2 were a pain.

 

I did my recently too and was dreading it but it was not bad. I didnt have a swivel either but on the back ones if u do like a stacking method by puting in your socket then exthention then the next extention it can be done fairly simple

 

Exactly^^^^^^^

 

Both are bit of a pain but you guys with the 4.7's should feel lucky. These hemis have 16 plugs to swap.

OP I had basically the same experience. After reading up on it, I dreaded it but I didn't want to pay a lot for it but I also panicked because I didn't know that they should be changed every 30k. I already had over 60 on it. But with patience and the right tools, I got it done by myself and it wasn't as bad as I expected.

 

The plugs on my 360 are easy to swap.


The plugs on my 76 with its 400 are even easier.

Gotta love old school.

 

The old school trucks are a bit easier. I have done my 08 Hemi twice now and it took about 1.5hrs each time. Like mentioned above, having the correct extensions is key, especially under the brake booster. I used NGK V-Powers the first time and went back to OEM champions the last time, Not a big difference, but the NGK's were barely worn after 30K and seemed to run just a little smoother. I will go back to NGK next go around, but it will be awhile since I chenged jobs last year, I went from 80 miles a day to 24 miles a week

 

Changing mine out right now, got the passenger side 100% done, now going to tackle the driver side. 1 hour into it so far just stopped to have lunch. Went with the OEM champs, maybe will give NGK a try next time around.

 

Fresh plugs make a huge difference. When mine were bad before I changed them out acouple months ago I could hardly make it up a hill haha. Yea do it yourself and save $300 to put to another mod