2014 Ram RC SWB 1500 4x4 Rebuild

[MOPAR78]

My Ram has close to 292,000 miles on it and is still running strong. I had a new Ram ordered but decided to cancel, keep this one, rebuild it and save a ton of cash. I've done a lot research, considerations and have begun the process. I drive 35,000+ miles a year so I wanted the end result to be a dependable slightly modified build.

Yesterday my Stainless Works Headers, cats, X crossover & complete exhaust out to back with custom black tips were delivered....to the wrong house about 2 miles away!! Thank goodness they were honest and contacted me. I called a friend to go get them and now they are at the house. I can't wait to see them when I get home this evening.

I also bought a brand new complete factory 5.7 hemi yesterday after much consideration. I've heard the horror stories but I've never had any issues with the Hemi (knock on wood) to include my last Ram with over 362,000 miles on it. It should be here next week.

I'm going to do the job so I'm picking up my hoist on the way home. Engine stand tomorrow. I'm thinking of taking a week off (12th through the 20th) to do the engine swap, install the headers and exhaust system. Unfortunately the Whipple Supercharger estimated to ship on the 28th. So I haven't made up my mind to do it in two phases or wait and do it all at once. I've read the install on the SC and it seems like waiting to do it all would be the most practical route.

Attached are pictures of the Hemi as is before shipment.

What say you all?

 

[Wild one]

My Ram has close to 292,000 miles on it and is still running strong. I had a new Ram ordered but decided to cancel, keep this one, rebuild it and save a ton of cash. I've done a lot research, considerations and have begun the process. I drive 35,000+ miles a year so I wanted the end result to be a dependable slightly modified build.

Yesterday my Stainless Works Headers, cats, X crossover & complete exhaust out to back with custom black tips were delivered....to the wrong house about 2 miles away!! Thank goodness they were honest and contacted me. I called a friend to go get them and now they are at the house. I can't wait to see them when I get home this evening.

I also bought a brand new complete factory 5.7 hemi yesterday after much consideration. I've heard the horror stories but I've never had any issues with the Hemi (knock on wood) to include my last Ram with over 362,000 miles on it. It should be here next week.

I'm going to do the job so I'm picking up my hoist on the way home. Engine stand tomorrow. I'm thinking of taking a week off (12th through the 20th) to do the engine swap, install the headers and exhaust system. Unfortunately the Whipple Supercharger estimated to ship on the 28th. So I haven't made up my mind to do it in two phases or wait and do it all at once. I've read the install on the SC and it seems like waiting to do it all would be the most practical route.

Attached are pictures of the Hemi as is before shipment.

What say you all?



View attachment 229297

View attachment 229298

Have you gave any thought to regapping the rings if you're leaving the actual engine itself stock. That's your weak link with the stock pistons and boost.Rings get hot,swell up and butt the ring ends together,breaking the pistons top ring land.

 

[MOPAR78]

No I have not. I know that's on of about 5 weaknesses of the hemi. From what I've researched, most of those failures are from excessive over heating as you pointed out. I'm not planning on racing or adding any other mods and hope that I'll have no issues with just running 6 psi and the tune that comes with the kit. I appreciate you pointing that out and welcome any further input on how to safeguard against that without having to re-gapping the rings.

Thanks!

 

[Wild one]

No I have not. I know that's on of about 5 weaknesses of the hemi. From what I've researched, most of those failures are from excessive over heating as you pointed out. I'm not planning on racing or adding any other mods and hope that I'll have no issues with just running 6 psi and the tune that comes with the kit. I appreciate you pointing that out and welcome any further input on how to safeguard against that without having to re-gapping the rings.

Thanks!

It's not from the engine physically overheating,it's from the heat that occurs in the combustion chamber.When you add boost which adds more air to the combustion chamber along with more fuel ,the combustion chamber temperatures sky rocket,causing the rings to expand,and thats when they break the top ring land of the piston. Make sure you have a big enough budget to rebuild the motor with forged internals when it blows up.Boost and a stock Hemi do not go together very well,but as long as you have enough money stashed away to rebuild it properly,you'll be okay. Price out a 6.4 SRT engine,if it's not much more then the blower,that might be your best option,it won't be all that far off a boosted 5.7 on 6lbs,as far as power goes,and it'll be reliable,then sell your 5.7 to recoup some of your money.It's not a matter of "if" your 5.7 self destructs it's a matter of "when". If you have no intentions of racing it,or running it hard,why do you want to add boost to it.Nobody adds boost and doesn't utilize the power fairly often,even if just showing off.Just warning you,that you're venturing down a very expensive path,buying the blower is the cheap part,keeping it running afterwards is the expensive part,lol

 

[RLJ10X]

I don't understand why you're pulling out an engine that is "running strong".

I get it. It's going to go bang one day. And I understand the reasoning behind having a spare engine. But if it isn't broken, at least not yet, why fix it?

If it was me, I put the super charger on the old engine first. With that many miles your ring gap may have opened up a bit, and you may get some bonus miles out of the original engine, have some fun, and learn something in the process. I read an article once; They took a junkyard truck Hemi with 150,000 miles on it, (they may have opened up the ring gap, I can't remember) and put a turbo in it and made some crazy horse power with it.

Just a thought.

 

[MOPAR78]

It's not from the engine physically overheating,it's from the heat that occurs in the combustion chamber.When you add boost which adds more air to the combustion chamber along with more fuel ,the combustion chamber temperatures sky rocket,causing the rings to expand,and thats when they break the top ring land of the piston. Make sure you have a big enough budget to rebuild the motor with forged internals when it blows up.Boost and a stock Hemi do not go together very well,but as long as you have enough money stashed away to rebuild it properly,you'll be okay. Price out a 6.4 SRT engine,if it's not much more then the blower,that might be your best option,it won't be all that far off a boosted 5.7 on 6lbs,as far as power goes,and it'll be reliable,then sell your 5.7 to recoup some of your money.It's not a matter of "if" your 5.7 self destructs it's a matter of "when". If you have no intentions of racing it,or running it hard,why do you want to add boost to it.Nobody adds boost and doesn't utilize the power fairly often,even if just showing off.Just warning you,that you're venturing down a very expensive path,buying the blower is the cheap part,keeping it running afterwards is the expensive part,lol

I may be wrong, but it seems that pretty much all the brand name superchargers have intercooling systems built into them to address this. It would be nice to see how many on the site have blowers on basic stock motors and what success/issues they have had. It's hard to believe that they would sell a product that would give them a bad reputation. You may be right and I'll be eating "crow pie". I certainly hope not. Time will tell.

Oh buy the way, I did a lot of research on several companies engines and was considering MDS delete Jasper engine that addressed the 5.7 Hemi's weaknesses, but was not impressed with theirs and others rebuilds reviews. I looked into the 6.4 options to include MMX forged 6.4 but did not want to see a drastic MPG drop. Locally I was trying to get a price on a 5.7 forged/blower built, not stroked long block from a local reputable company (Allpar) but they must be extremely busy because I could never get the quote. So I figured why not take a chance on a complete brand new (not rebuilt) complete engine.

Thanks again for you input!! But I hope your wrong! Lol!

 

[MOPAR78]

I don't understand why you're pulling out an engine that is "running strong".

I get it. It's going to go bang one day. And I understand the reasoning behind having a spare engine. But if it isn't broken, at least not yet, why fix it?

If it was me, I put the super charger on the old engine first. With that many miles your ring gap may have opened up a bit, and you may get some bonus miles out of the original engine, have some fun, and learn something in the process. I read an article once; They took a junkyard truck Hemi with 150,000 miles on it, (they may have opened up the ring gap, I can't remember) and put a turbo in it and made some crazy horse power with it.

Just a thought.

I'm looking at this at a couple of way. Preventive maintenance. Nothing worse than down time on your ride. The mileage is up there and though it's running fine, I hate the down time. I commute 4+ hours daily and need a dependable means of transportation. Also, why take a chance on catastrophic failure and ruin a well seasoned engine or transmission. Putting a new motor and transmission in now just makes sense to me. I know in several years, there will be close to 300,000 miles on the replacements. This trucks a keeper so I will have the original motor & trans that's well seasoned and will make a perfect start to a properly built boost motor and trans. That's just my thoughts.

Thanks for you input!!

 

[Wild one]

I may be wrong, but it seems that pretty much all the brand name superchargers have intercooling systems built into them to address this. It would be nice to see how many on the site have blowers on basic stock motors and what success/issues they have had. It's hard to believe that they would sell a product that would give them a bad reputation. You may be right and I'll be eating "crow pie". I certainly hope not. Time will tell.

Oh buy the way, I did a lot of research on several companies engines and was considering MDS delete Jasper engine that addressed the 5.7 Hemi's weaknesses, but was not impressed with theirs and others rebuilds reviews. I looked into the 6.4 options to include MMX forged 6.4 but did not want to see a drastic MPG drop. Locally I was trying to get a price on a 5.7 forged/blower built, not stroked long block from a local reputable company (Allpar) but they must be extremely busy because I could never get the quote. So I figured why not take a chance on a complete brand new (not rebuilt) complete engine.

Thanks again for you input!! But I hope your wrong! Lol!

You're not quite getting it,lol. Doesn't matter how much intercooling you have,that just cools the intake charge into the cylinder,allowing you to pack more air and fuel into the same size space.It's what happens when the sparkplug ignites the air and fuel inside the cylinder.That bigger air and fuel charge packed into the cylinder by the blower,creates a bigger burn which in turn creates more heat inside the cylinder and onto the rings,which is what causes the issues with the rings getting hot and expanding till they butt ends. If this is your daily driver that has to make a 4 hour trip daily,and you can't afford to have it down,why are you considering boost or even building it into a high performance truck. Personally i think you're a bit nuts to build your daily driver with a blower,and not at least gap the rings on the replacement motor. All i got for you is good luck with your adventure,but you might be wise to invest in a AMA membership if you don't have one. BTW with 292,000 on it,what are your plans for the transmission,it's not exactly a low milege tranny either,lol

 

[MOPAR78]

You're not quite getting it,lol. Doesn't matter how much intercooling you have,that just cools the intake charge into the cylinder,allowing you to pack more air and fuel into the same size space.It's what happens when the sparkplug ignites the air and fuel inside the cylinder.That bigger air and fuel charge packed into the cylinder by the blower,creates a bigger burn which in turn creates more heat inside the cylinder and onto the rings,which is what causes the issues with the rings getting hot and expanding till they butt ends. If this is your daily driver that has to make a 4 hour trip daily,and you can't afford to have it down,why are you considering boost or even building it into a high performance truck. Personally i think you're a bit nuts to build your daily driver with a blower,and not at least gap the rings on the replacement motor. All i got for you is good luck with your adventure,but you might be wise to invest in a AMA membership if you don't have one. BTW with 292,000 on it,what are your plans for the transmission,it's not exactly a low milege tranny either,lol

Forgot to mention the transmission, it's on the way too!

 

[RLJ10X]

You do whatever you want. I don't care, it's your life. But if I was commuting 4 hours a day I would:

A. Move closer to my place of employment.
B. Get a job closer to home.
C. Get a 5 year old Toyota Carolla.

I drove my son's Carolla for 2 years (I bought it) while he was deployed. At that time gas was $4 a gallon. That was a great little car.

 

[Ashkon]

My procharged setup went about 6k miles on it before it did what everybody else is saying. It popped the top ring land, right where the gap is in the ring.

 

[ScLeCo]

Only took 3K miles for me to grenade mine.

I'm going to repeat what you've already been told but I suspect you know better and won't listen.
Gap. The. Rings.
Do it now while you can and while it's an easy job.

Listen I respect your ability to listen to guys with actual experience and totally disregard their advice.
Not everyone can do it, so cheers to you!

 

[Wild one]

Well guys we warned him,if he wants to listen or not,is up to him.There's very few boosted stock 5.7's or 6.4's that make it to 10,000 miles.He might be one of the lucky ones,but i think you have better odds of winning the lottery,then having a stock hemi live with boost,lol.All i got for him is to buy the good AMA membership if he doesn't have one already,lol

 

[Adrian Tycki]

What did the factory engine cost? Where did you get it?

 

[MOPAR78]

You do whatever you want. I don't care, it's your life. But if I was commuting 4 hours a day I would:

A. Move closer to my place of employment. Pay's not good! Not possible...
B. Get a job closer to home. Not possible for the pay.
C. Get a 5 year old Toyota Carolla. I've never owned nothing but Mopar!

I drove my son's Carolla for 2 years (I bought it) while he was deployed. At that time gas was $4 a gallon. That was a great little car.

The worst I had to pay back when it was rough was $250 + a week. I'm not going to sacrifice ride for commute time. Especially spending 4+ hours daily in my ride.


So yes, I'm going to do what ever I want like I've always done!!

Thanks for your input!

 

[MOPAR78]

Well guys we warned him,if he wants to listen or not,is up to him.There's very few boosted stock 5.7's or 6.4's that make it to 10,000 miles.He might be one of the lucky ones,but i think you have better odds of winning the lottery,then having a stock hemi live with boost,lol.All i got for him is to buy the good AMA membership if he doesn't have one already,lol

I really appreciate the heads up... Maybe I'll be the Lucky one...I'm hoping the engineers of design have done there work. If not, I'll get another one gapped properly...

Thanks!

 

[MOPAR78]

What did the factory engine cost? Where did you get it?

$6,200 from Jeep Speed in California. That includes tax, shipping & no core charge! I know it's an awesome price for all the components that comes with it.

Thanks!

5.7L HEMI Ram Truck Replacement Engine (jeepspeedshop.com)

 

[MOPAR78]

My procharged setup went about 6k miles on it before it did what everybody else is saying. It popped the top ring land, right where the gap is in the ring.

That sucks! I'll check with the tech's and see what they are saying. I appreciate everyone warning and I defiantly don't want no catastrophic engine failure. That's what's awesome about these threads, sharing important information. I'll be researching this more!

Thanks everyone for the advice!!

 

[MOPAR78]

Only took 3K miles for me to grenade mine.

I'm going to repeat what you've already been told but I suspect you know better and won't listen.
Gap. The. Rings.
Do it now while you can and while it's an easy job.

Listen I respect your ability to listen to guys with actual experience and totally disregard their advice.
Not everyone can do it, so cheers to you!

I defiantly respect those with experience! And I appreciate the advice! I will be checking into this!

Thanks all!

 

[Wild one]

I defiantly respect those with experience! And I appreciate the advice! I will be checking into this!

Thanks all!

Good luck on your venture,but start saving money to rebuild it right when the time comes.Be forewarned if you drive it even remotely aggressive every once inawhile,that time will come all that much sooner,stick a block of wood under the gas pedal,lol