I just did the plugs on my wife's 2010 Commander Hemi @ 32K, same plugs as you listed, and they looked great. Way easier to do than I thought, took me about an hour and a half taking my time. I just traded my 2010 Ram in on a 2012 so I didnt have to do the plugs on it The 2012 Ram manual says plugs at 32K now and 8K oil changes.

I asked my dealer if they do the plugs at 30K and they said they have been waiting for 60K to do them after seeing the plugs that are coming out of people's trucks. I did it just in case there was a warranty issue, they could blame something on the plugs not being changed.

 

x2 2010 Hemi

 

I found that access to the right rear-most and the plugs under the brake booster on the left side to be difficult. My lack of dexterity (age) and an oversized waistline (also age) made the operation almost painful at times. After finding the right combination of socket extensions and the proper physical position (interspersed with a short visit to my chiropractor) I think it took me about two hours.

I'm not sure why Chrysler has chosen to use a rather mundane copper core plug instead of one rated to go to 100,000 miles like their competition. Of course I paid just under $3 a piece for the plugs, considerablly less than a plug for a Ford or Chevy.

Can't say I'm looking forward to doing this again. On the other hand I don't have to worry about seized plugs ripping out threads in a cylinder head every 100,000 miles!

Regards,
Dusty

2010 Ram Big Horn 1500 Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 545RFE, 3.92 LSD, dual exhaust, 20” wheels

 

Personally, I think this is exactly why they do it, and why I don't mind they do. Even in my Sierra, GTP, Cavalier, and all the other GM vehicles I owned, I took out the 160k kms plugs, and swapped to 50k kms plugs the first summer I owned the vehicle.

Reason why? I had a 95 Sunfire that had 2 of 4 plugs seize and break off when I tried to change them @ 160k kms. I swore then, never again would I let a plug go that long without changing.

It is a 1 - 2 hour job at the most, my father-in-law and I will do it in a year, when I hit 50k kms. A couple beers on a sunday afternoon. No big deal, IMO.

 

As Dusty48 stated, I too can compare myself to him. For those of you who do a lot of your own maintenance, may I suggest the TOP SIDE CREEPER. One of the best thing I've purchased. I am not connected in any way with the TSC, just think it is a good product.

 

Well, I've seen this on various web sources but there's some things that don't make sense.

Copper

• Melting point = 2000 F
• Brinell harness = 875 MPa
• Thermal conductivity = 400 W m
• Electrical resistance = 16.78 nano ohms

Platinum

• Melting point = 3200 F
• Brinell harness = 392 MPa
• Thermal conductivity = 71 W m
• Electrical resistance = 105 nano ohms

Iridium

• Melting point = 4500 F
• Brinell harness = 1670 MPa
• Thermal conductivity = 147 W m
• Electrical resistance = 47 nano ohms

The significantly higher melting points of Platinum and Iridium, in theory, should better tolerate the temperature environment inside a modern combustion chamber, of which the most likely advantage is decreased conductor loss resulting in reduced electrode erosion.

As far as the electrical resistance differences between the three metals, I see no influence at all. Electrical resistance affects the flow of current, not voltage. It is voltage that results from the electrically stored energy in a spark coil and ultimately is what causes enough electrical potential to cause a spark.

The electrical resistance of the spark plug electrode can only effect a complete circuit. The spark plug is a device in the secondary winding of a high voltage coil and never operates in a complete circuit. The secondary voltage of the coil is produced by a collapsing magnetic field (back EMF) after the primary coil current has been shut off.

Even if the law of electrical fundamentals were cancelled, the difference between 16 and 105 nano ohms in the typical secondary circuit of a coil producing 2-4 milliamperes of DC current would be so negligible as to to be practically non-existent.

I suspect that overheating of a platinum or iridium plug is more likely the result of an improper heat range match due to the basic construction of the plug, not because of the electrode material itself. My suspicions are supported by the fact that the overheated plug stories seem only to occur in situations where platinum or iridium plugs are being substituted for a factory specified, non-platinum or iridium plug.

Based on cost and efficiency, copper plugs are probably more reliable and perform just as well within their designed mileage limits as any other plug type.

Best regards,
Dusty

2010 Ram Big Horn 1500 Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 545RFE, 3.92 LSD, dual exhaust, 20” wheels

 

I understand and agree that the safest bet is factory style plugs, but i was most annoyed that they contracted NGK to make the plugs, and then make it only available at the dealer and charge almost the same price as the platinum plugs availble everywhere else.

if its so good to run that plug, why cant any other NGK dealer sell them.

 

I paid $4.00 a piece for the NGK factory plugs at my Dodge dealer (they gave me .20 cents off each plug). I paid $7.19 a piece for Bosch 4418-Platinum4s for my Dakota 4.7 at an Auto Zone.

I do remember I couldn't find the NGK at any store or online. I guess I didn't realize that they were dealer only.

Regards,
Dusty
2010 Ram Big Horn 1500 Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 545RFE, 3.92 LSD, dual exhaust, 20” wheels

 

I shopped plugs for a few weeks. Called plug manufacture and talked to their tech assistance. NGK,Denso,Bosch, Autolite. Pulse duration plugs cause running issues. GM has a TSB on running and charge system issues due to wrong plugs used. I used Autolite Iridium. Their Tech Assist line was the most helpful and very informative on their product. All of these plugs I mention really wasn't much difference between them other then price. All said their plugs caused NO running issues. The Autolites had a 5 year unlimited mileage warranty. I've had them in about 4000 miles with no difference in how it ran before. Idle seems smoother but that could be weather(cold) Before Christmas there was a $2.00 rebate per plug and Amazon.com had them on sale for $6.00 each. Then Autolite had the $2.00 rebate. $4.00 each after rebates. Heck of a deal on Iridium's! Some Denso's were $14/$16 each! Others were $10.00 each. You can buy the NGK platinum used in the hybrid 5.7 and the cop car 5.7 over the counter at Dodge stores. Told they will at sometime be over the counter at auto part stores. Told biggest reason that 100,000 NGK plugs not in trucks was cost. Not because of driveability issues.

 

Yeah, I think you're right. After all, there are sixteen plugs in a 5.7 Hemi, and only eight in everybody elses. At full list price from a Dodge dealer that's $8.40 per cylinder. A co-worker had to replace plugs in his F150 and I think he said they were $13 each.

Regards,
Dusty
2010 Ram Big Horn 1500 Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 545RFE, 3.92 LSD, dual exhaust, 20” wheels