I am the original owner of my 1993 Ramcharger 5.9 Magnum, 2WD. With just over 100,000 miles on it this vehicle has been good to me. Mostly minor routine maintenance/repairs have been performed (2 water pumps,2 radiators,intake manifold gasket,timing cover gasket leak & replace timing chain set while I'm in there; harmonic balancer,power steering pressure hose). My question is, did this vehicle come with the older 360 motor as well as the 360 Magnum motor in 1993? The aftermarket harmonic balancers listed for 1993 were out of balance (I tried 3 different ones before realizing the part numbers were wrong). Although my local dealer didn't have one, they advised me that the correct balancer for my vehicle was listed as a 1994. An aftermarket 1994 balancer did work. Now on the power steering hose, the same issue came up. Gates #356130 listed for my vehicle was wrong on the pump side and would not fit. Gates #365260 listed for a 1994 D150 Pickup did hook-up okay, but was not the same as the original hose (different on the steering gear end). Are there any other items that may be listed with the wrong part number for this vehicle. The dealer told me that the "Magnum" was important on my engine as the previous 360 was different in many regards. Thanks for any input on this.

 

'93 was the first - and ONLY year (in America - they built & sold 'em in Mexico through '96) - for the 360 Magnum in a Ramcharger. The 318 Magnum debuted the year before (what I have in my RC), and YES - the Magnum blocks ARE different than the previous "LA" blocks.

Our RC's have more in common - under the hood - with the Gen.II Dodge Rams. In fact, if it'll work on a '94 360, it'll work on YOURS. In fact, it's easier to look up a '94 318 (in MY case), than it is to look at '92, because the parts catalogs are starting to drop Gen.I Dodge stuff. That'll be our saving grace in years to come, if we hang onto these end-of-the-Gen.I-line of trucks.

 

Thanks to The War Wagon...trying to explain this stuff to the different parts guys has been frustrating...Rock Auto was my most recent contact about the parts and year problem on my RC and they did not really understand what I was telling them...at my age this '93 RC will be my last vehicle (and one of the best vehicles I've owned over the years)...when I special ordered it at the start of 1993, they kept sending me a RC equipped the way I wanted, but with the 318 instead of the 360...took 3 vehicles to get it right...the thing will outlast me if I can get the correct parts to keep 'er going...thanks again...