ok, so i've seen a few of these type of questions posted, but I haven't gotten a complete answer yet. I have a 99 1/2 ton 360 gas ram that i use for light towing, and daily driving. For a while I was kicking around turbo-ing it, and my friend (who used to work at ATS, conviently) gave me his old holstet turbo and stock intercooler since he was swapping up to a compound ATS kit, so i could mock up the intercooler and turbo, which fit into my truck nicely, although i never got the chance to complete it since i got deployed. Now i want a diesel, but damn are they expensive, and all the used ones i come across have like a jillion miles on them already...

anyway,


soooooo... my friend gets into a little spat with a guardrail with his truck and bends the frame. Axles are ok, springs are not broken, and are straight, just backed it into a guardrail in the ice, and rolled it lightly (almost can't tell from the sheetmetal)

will his drivetrain swap into my truck (97 12v, ATS billet 47RE with the good converter, etc, etc, 241?? (whatever the 3/4 ton transfer case is) and the Dana axles with springs, steering, brakes and everything) bolt into my truck? since i have a donor, I'm more apt to think that it will be less of a headache (his has all the diesel fuel lines and crap going to the injector pump)... but neither of us are sure (and i'm in iraq, he's in colorado, and my truck is in illinois, so we can't put em side by side, and eyeball it all over a 12 pack right now). Anyone done this? Anyone know anyone that's done it? Is there a frame difference?

 

I am pretty sure the half-ton frame is lighter than the 3/4 and up, and the diesel might torque it, butyou might be able to strengthen it though. There will be others here that have a lot more input.

 

First off, thank you for serving our country, I myself have been over there and understand the sacrifice

As far as your swap goes, many people have alot of opinions.. Physically will it fit, yes, is it a good idea? questioable. Your swap is one of the better ideas. Many people wanna just swap in the motor and tranny and call it good. The problem there is the axles and ball joints and steering assembly won't take the abuse and weight of the cummins motor.

Now you are looking to swap in all of that stuff from the wrecked truck. That puts you miles ahead. The other issue you will run into however, is that the frames are different.A 1/2 ton frame can't take the abuse of that power combo. If you looked under a comparable year 3/4 or 1 ton rig you would notice vast differances in design. NowI suppose since your over there and I take it from you Forum tag that your likely Army or Marine Corps, you either have been or will be there for a while. I know the deployment money is good. The question is do you really want to drop that kind of cash, or come home and buy a brand new Cummins for anywhere between 32 and 40k???

 

si si. army. I'm in SF, so our deployments are short, but often.

Thanks for the gratitude. And thanks for your service as well (anyone who's served... you paved the road for us!)

So the frames are different, aye? Well, that makes it easy. 99 ram gasser FOR SALE!!!

I've been looking into a new ram. Although the money i make here is pretty damn good, I have a house, a race car, and a wife that takes most of my money. I can afford it, but I'm trying to avoid a payment... but I do love the look of your truck gunz........ argh. I'm just split right now on what to do. Buy an older 2 gen, like mine (my truck has about 100,000, and little stuff is starting to wear out, plastic interior pieces and stuff), an 04.5+ cummins with over 50K miles for 25,000+, or a brand new 6.7 with DPF for just over 30,000... decisions, decisions....

I like the thought of 4 full doors, but its hard to stomach the 5K less than a brand new truck for the 04.5+... but the 6.7 is still in its infancy, and has some bugs to work out, and the aftermarket has yet to blossom...

ARGH... someone just trade me their truck for mine to make my decision easier.

 

when i bought my cummins its didnt happen over night i went to three diffrent states to find my rig she had 173000 miles great body condition and most important the price was great 14 700 tax and title out the door....i just posted some pictures

here is a nice one donno how far u want to go when u get back but its from the same place i bought mine

http://autoextra.com/vehicledetail/a...e-18995/tp-DLR

 

I personally think you'd be better off finding a diesel than trying to go through an engine swap. There are a ton of little things that must be done like fuel lines, fuel tank, fuel delivery system, making room for the intercooler in the grill, making room for 2 batteries, changing out the exhaust, beefing up the suspensionand so on.

When its all said and done you have a hefty cummins motor on a1/2 tonframe. the cummins is going to weigh at least 600 pounds more than a v8 magnum.

The 2500's already hae problems with ball joints and trac bars because of the extra weight.I could only imagine what it would do to a 1/2 ton.