hey, I have a roadtrek 190 class b motor home on a 3500 chassis. basically a 15 passenger van with a toilet and a high top. I pull boats around for a living, my 5.2L is now eating oil and just a little short on hp when pulling the 7200lb van and a 4000lb boat. how can i upgrade the engine. i want to know if i can replace it with a rebuilt junkyard 5.8L or bore out and upgrade the one I have. I'm going to pull it one way or another but need help deciding what's the best way to go. rear end is 3.73 by the way and there is a tranny cooler. thanks

 

Sorry, forgot to mention it's a '96.

 

There's a few mods to increase the hp for the 318/5.2L enigne. However, it wouldn't be a hp like that of the 360/5.9L. If you opt for a 360/5.9L, you will need a bunch of stuff on the vehicle computer side of things. The 318 and 360 share a bunch of stuff otherwise. I'm not an engine expert, but I have poked around on many of the Dodge forums and Dodge engine threads. Your post would be best in those locations. In many instances, several people have done exactly what your looking into.

I know one thing though, you engine year along with the 1997 year is a difficult time to find things without taking measurements first. The engines went through slight upgrades on all sorts of things. Usually, the 1994-1/2 to 1997 kept things very close in common. in 1998 and newer the changes in the engines didn't allow the ability to just swap parts in general with the older pre-1997 engines.

There are threads that talk about dropping a 360/5.9L cam into a 318/5.2L to make the engine size a 349 or something to that level. Also something about the rocker parts need to be changed too. This mod is well known and gives you the hp very near the 360 without the fuel guzzleing.

Peace!