Decided to stop paying the dealership so much for simple oil changes and start changing the oil myself... But I couldn't find in the manual how many quarts are needed... My friend works at Dodge said he's pretty sure it's 7, but he's not 100% sure...

Also, what do most of you guys go with, Synthetic or Regular?

 

7 is the magical number. i myself have been using castrol gtx. i was also told that there is no real need to start the truck off with synthetic oil, it will just cost more money. And with gas prices like they are, it's not a bad idea to be a penny pincher.

 

Use what the manual says, at least for the first 5,000 miles, then you can safely switch to synthetic.

 

ENGINE OIL WITH FILTER
3.7L 4.7 L (5.0 qts.)
4.7L 5.6 L (6.0 qts.)
5.7L 6.6 L (7.0 qts.)
5.9L DIESEL 11.4 L (12.0 qts.)
8.3L 10.4L (11.0 qts.)
This info is from a Dodge site that dealers use.

 

After 500 miles, the engine has done a good portion of it's break-in. By changing the oil at 500 miles, you purge the crankcase of the wear-in metals and start with fresh oil. Even if you switched to a 100% synthetic or group 4 oil at 500 miles, the engine will continue to break-in.

Since your into pinching pennies and saving gas, you might be interested in the mileage increases that the majority of people who switch to synthetic oil notice. an increase of 1/2 to 2 mpg is quite common.