I have the 99 Ram in my signature. The motor has not been running well and I'm considering options. The top end of my 318 is built up with lots of goodies (cam, shorty headers, AirGap intake, throttle body, injectors, improved iron heads) but the bottom end is stock. The crank seals are shot and the harmonic balancer threads were mostly stripped during an unfortunate and completely unavoidable attempt to install the harmonic balancer with the factory bolt instead of a proper tool. Long story short, I'm considering a 3rd gen donor; I have a kiddo now and the true four doors would make doing truck things with the boy a lot easier. This truck would receive my 37" tires, have a manual transmission (I'm a huge fan of three pedals), be a weekend warrior type with both off-road and at least medium towing capacity and be road-friendly enough for wifey to drive in a pinch. Don't worry, I taught her to drive stick shift. I've found a couple of options.

First option: 2003 Dodge Ram 3500
This truck has a Cummins and a manual transmission that is missing. The ad claims the engine runs fine but the trans was pulled for a rebuild and the mechanic never returned it. It is a 2WD, quad cab, long bed Dually. Towing this beast will be a problem but is doable. I suspect this truck has the solid front "dead" axle which would let me swap it for a live axle. I think that my NV4500 could be installed using a Cummins input shaft and bellhousing. Eventually, I would convert from duals to single rear wheel. Going this route would mean my "go fast goodies" would be useless, but I understand it is much easier to make power on a Diesel than a gas engine. I worry I would lose my V8 rumble, but am hopeful there are exhaust options to still make it sound mean.

Second option: 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 5.9 Magnum
This truck is running but has an automatic transmission that is on it's way out. It is a 4WD, quad cab, short bed. Having the 360 Magnum means that my engine mods could be swapped over. However, I worry that my engine mods may "fix it till it's broke" and I'm left with a poorly running truck again. I contacted HemiFever about transmission and PCM tuning. He said that with the change in years at the time, proceeding is tricky. He suggested investigating a re-flashed PCM for the manual conversion. I'm still reaching out to see if he can tune a Magnum.

I'm having to do this on a shoestring budget at the moment. All the work will be done by me. I appreciate any advice and guidance I can get. Thanks!

 

Diesel is not inexpensive to mod......

Hemifever should be able to tune the 5.9...... he's been doing it for years. Another option would be Flyin' Ryan..... He also does tunes.

A four door long bed truck is LONG..... and being a dually, it's also WIDE..... Just not fun in parking lots.

3500 likely has independent front suspension. I think.....

If you live somewhere that there is actually "winter", I am a BIG advocate of 4x4.....

Transferring parts from old to new though...... Yep, may be introducing problems on your 'new' truck. I might be tempted to just run it as is, and try and iron out the issues.

 

Yeah, my wife had to bring logic into it too lol! I would miss the rumble. I would not miss the truck struggling to pull a dump trailer or turn 37" HMMWV rims/tires though. Kinda considering buying the diesel, getting it rolling, and finding a 4WD quad cab short bed later. I can swap parts and have more tools than money. Plus, at least I would have a truck to get the second one. Right now I'm trying to find someone with a truck that will tow a truck. I'm currently thinking that buying a Diesel, already programmed and set up for a manual transmission, would be easier than trying to convert a gas truck to a manual. Plus, I think I would be happier with the end result

 

Can y'all share any advice on checking a Cummins over? I think I'm gonna go look at that one. I plan on yanking two batteries and bringing them with me; I assume with it being a manual it should crank without a transmission (right?). I know about general gas engine checks and checking the oil fill cap for blow by but is there anything else?Also, does anyone know what frames are interchangeable? I assume a 1500 frame is different, but are 2500 and 3500 frames similar? Eventually, I would like to make this one a 4WD.