I drove my 97 ram on the 87 octane and no problems till i Blew my transmission. She did have 500000 miles though. I now have a 2010 and run 87 and will continue to do so. So yes its safe not gonna cause your truck to self detonate or anything

 

Dirtydog has hit the nail on the head. This thing gets debated more than any other single topic in 3rd Gen. I know a lot of 4th Gen owners either post up the page out of the manual that says "89 recommended but 87 is ok" or jump up and down ranting "lifetime warranty".

BUT, every guy I know with a 3rd Gen who has had a cylinder or multiple cylinder complete failure has run 87 octane for an extended period. I also personally know someone who has had warranty coverage denied because of obvious signs of pre-detonation in the engine - which enables Chrysler to pull the "neglect card".

Now I know Hemi owners with 120k on them who have never run anything but 87 octane. But aside from some '03s with broken valve springs, EVERYBODY I personally know with a failed Hemi has admitted to primarily running 87 octane fuel. I think cheaping out for the lousy $2-3 per tankful and running a much higher risk of long-term engine damage is asinine, but that's just me.

I have one friend I hunt with on occasion. Had an '05 Hemi Ram, ran nothing but 87 octane and used to get downright pissed if the 87/89 debate came up. Engine went with 84k on it and the mechanic said there was major scoring on cylinder walls (a sign of severe pre-detonation). Guy claims to have never heard a knock or ping once. He is now a devout Ram hater and stands on his soap box at our hunting club telling everybody what a POS Dodge is. He now drives a 2010 Ford F150 which he proclaims to be the greatest truck on the face of the planet AND RUNS NOTHING BUT 93 OCTANE IN IT. The thing that really ticks me off is that Furd will probably last 250k miles and the Ram would have had he just run the right fuel. But to this guy and anybody who will listen to him, the Ram is gonna be a piece of sh*t and the Ford is gonna be a great truck...

 

Let's also not forget that higher octane usually has a greater percentage of cleaners as well(depends on brand..Sunoco is One of them). So, not only are you getting better performance w/higher octane, you get additional cleaners as well. So, between the added cleaners AND since higher octane burns cleaner..You have a much healthier and cleaner engine that makes parts last longer..i.e plugs, valves, springs and even electronics!
Guys want to save $3-5 per fill, but yet will go to the parts store and spend $8 on a bottle of FI cleaner. if you use Higher octane, the amount of cleaner needed will be greatly reduced. Here in NY, the price difference from 87-89Oct is generally $.10/gal so at 24gallongs, thats only a saving of $2.40 on an $80 fill up. Your talking about $250/year savings IF you fill up every single week. Guys spend more than that on silly useless mods all the time. I know I have. Can't feed an athlete hotdogs and expect a champion.

 

Wow... I am so glad to have this topic come up. I have been using 87 because that's what i am used to. And well... price. But I think I will switch to 89. Might be a little more expensive, but i plan on running the truck to the ground so I have to take care of it.

 

162,000 on my 3rd gen and 52,000 on my 4th gen. All 87 Octane.
Dodge knows damn well that people will put 87 in it and are not about to have a truck that is gonna have major issues with it and run the risk of negative advertisement from using 87 octane.
Once again 89 is recommended, but it does not say use 89 ONLY!

 

There must be anti knock (ping) sensors i the Hemi?
When you hear a ping it most likely have been pinging long before that!

The sensors can detect a ping long before you ever can hear it!

So even with a 93 oct tune using 87 oct in the tank should´t destroy the engine. The sensors should detect pinging and adjust timing etc. to prevent the engine from damaging.

Or am I completely wrong?

 

I would not assume that. Once you go beyond the factory programming there is no guarantee that your tuner puts in the same safeguards as the factory does.

 

I hear ya, but if you are stock. I would assume 87 should´t harm your engine
But I can be wrong..

 

I agree that 87 is ok for stock - the manual says it is and my truck has run fine using 87. I ran a couple tanks of 89 through early on and noticed no difference except the extra cost.

Using a "93 tune" and then using 87 seems like an even worse idea than using the "tune" in the first place.

 

There are Knock sensors, but that doesn't mean you wont get knock. There has to be knock before the sensors retard your timing! This can happen as much as several hundred times in a 20mile trip. So 20miles and you'll still get all that initial knock before the sensors retard the timing and kill some of the power. meanwhile guys are trying to gain power not lose it...
As far as the 87oct goes, I highly doubt that the manufacturer included 10% ethanol in their gasoline reccomendations. 10% ethanol makes 87oct run and perform like 85/86octane because of the lesser amount of stored energy within Ethanol, not to mention the moisture related issue's! So, when I think of 89oct, I think of it being a step down from what's posted.