4.7 to 5.7 Hemi swap ?

[FXR99]

Hey gang ! Newbie here ! I just purchased a beautiful 2002 regular cab short bed out of NC and very interested in doing a drop out Hemi to replace the 4.7... Has anyone done this and is it reasonably straight forward ?

 

[HemiLonestar]

Define "reasonably straightforward" lol. Is it a straight drop in like the old days? No. Physically no problem. Electrically is where the easy fun part stops.

 

[FXR99]

Haha ! Yeah I figured the electronics slash wiring would be no fun, so are you saying it is nightmare status ?

 

[FXR99]

Sweet ride by the way !

 

[HemiLonestar]

Haha ! Yeah I figured the electronics slash wiring would be no fun, so are you saying it is nightmare status ?

It is doable, but it isn't exactly easy, especially if it isn't something you do routinely or have the proper tools and know-how. Typical engine swaps pretty much stopped happening on the regular back in the early 90's unless all elex was bypassed or was within the same engine family. Even then, sometimes the built in elex itself is the problem. I have an 03 hemi truck, say I wanted to put a larger hemi in or some such, due to the factory PCM I won't be able to properly tune it without swapping to a newer PCM and altering the harness. 04 and newer the only real obstacle to same engine family swaps is the trans in the 04-13 models (same one behind your 4.7).

Sweet ride by the way !

Thanks!

 

[FXR99]

Great thank you for the info. So my guess is even with a drop out with harness and PCM it is still quite the challenge... Sucks because I will never find anyone around here who has any experience swapping one UGH !

 

[HemiLonestar]

It's not that simple anymore lol. You can however use parts from the 2008+ 4.7 that had 310hp. The heads with cams have been tested to work on the older block along with the newer intake manifold. The heads are better than yours but they're twin plug so you'd have the fun of making that work, bt if you can (and add a custom tune) there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to get close to that mark. Pretty much your option for more juice besides nitrous or forced induction. 4.7 trucks also respond well to gear ratio changes, depending on what you have already. If you end up going with a lower gear (higher numerical) then you could offset some of your mileage loss with a TCM swap that would give you 5th gear (second overdrive).

 

[Fast69Mopar]

It's not that simple anymore lol. You can however use parts from the 2008+ 4.7 that had 310hp. The heads with cams have been tested to work on the older block along with the newer intake manifold. The heads are better than yours but they're twin plug so you'd have the fun of making that work, bt if you can (and add a custom tune) there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to get close to that mark. Pretty much your option for more juice besides nitrous or forced induction. 4.7 trucks also respond well to gear ratio changes, depending on what you have already. If you end up going with a lower gear (higher numerical) then you could offset some of your mileage loss with a TCM swap that would give you 5th gear (second overdrive).

The 2008+ 4.7 cylinder heads work great on the 1999-2007 block. I have a 2002 Ram 1500 4.7 RCSB. It has a 2006 model 10.6:1 short block w/2008 dual plug 4.7 cylinder heads/cams and it runs pretty damn good with a 4.56 gear.

 

[HemiLonestar]

The 2008+ 4.7 cylinder heads work great on the 1999-2007 block. I have a 2002 Ram 1500 4.7 RCSB. It has a 2006 model 10.6:1 short block w/2008 dual plug 4.7 cylinder heads/cams and it runs pretty damn good with a 4.56 gear.

So curiosity question, what did you do to fire the second plug? The only two other people I've talked to about it, one didn't bother and the other didn't answer lol.

 

[FXR99]

Again great information guys thanks, you're not making my Hemi swap any easier ! Anyway Lonestar, you mentioned forced induction I have found nothing for the 4.7 when searching ? And yes I'd also like to hear the trick to the dual plug heads but then again it may be the same trying to properly wire in the Hemi ?

 

[HemiLonestar]

Again great information guys thanks, you're not making my Hemi swap any easier ! Anyway Lonestar, you mentioned forced induction I have found nothing for the 4.7 when searching ? And yes I'd also like to hear the trick to the dual plug heads but then again it may be the same trying to properly wire in the Hemi ?

Airram.com
All things 4.7. They have an interesting intake manifold and they have an adapter manifold to use the Eaton from a cobra mustang.

 

[HemiLonestar]

Linking to other sites is against forum rules, but if you google "4.7L Ram Eaton M112 Supercharged Build with Pics/Vids" it's an interesting read.

 

[FXR99]

Fast69Mopar ! Could you elaborate more on your 02 dual plug engine build ? I also own an 02 SBRC 4X4 so that said I would probably stick with the 3.92 gearing...

 

[FXR99]

Question for both Lonestar and Fast, If I decide to dive into the Hemi project in your experience what year and model donor would be best case scenario for this venture, notice I didn't use the word easy lol ! Kinda sucks upon research I kind of already know you will probably come back with 03-05 and just searching ebay that is not any easy find and if you do it has a million miles on it....

 

[HemiLonestar]

To do just a stock swap/install, engine is the easy part (03-08 identical except for EGR); you need to choose a control system. Easiest to integrate to your truck would be a 2003 PCM, TCM & harnesses. Down side of this you have virtually no useful tuning ability if you want to seriously modify it. If you want to seriously modify it (custom tuning for say cam, heads, boost, etc) then you want a 2005 PCM & harness, but you'll also need the e-pedal too.

 

[FXR99]

Thanks Lonestar... Question do the early Hemi's have any oil burning issues? I found an 05 with 122k the J-yard said it huffed when first started but cleared up and runs smooth... They also listed that the truck was totaled in a rollover so wishful thinking tells me that was likely the culprit of huffing episode ? Hell I remember replacing valve seals on the old 350 Chevys with the heads still bolted to the block but haven't heard of hard valve seals in 20 years !

 

[HemiLonestar]

Thanks Lonestar... Question do the early Hemi's have any oil burning issues? I found an 05 with 122k the J-yard said it huffed when first started but cleared up and runs smooth... They also listed that the truck was totaled in a rollover so wishful thinking tells me that was likely the culprit of huffing episode ? Hell I remember replacing valve seals on the old 350 Chevys with the heads still bolted to the block but haven't heard of hard valve seals in 20 years !

Not as a known problem, not anymore than any other high mileage engine with worn rings and seals. I have 160K on my 03 Ram, 140K on my 05 Magnum and had over 180K on my 06 Charger before it was wrecked. All 1st gen 5.7's, no smoke on start up.

 

[FXR99]

Ok so I find a low mileage 05 at this J-yard in MO so I email the dude asking about the harness PCM TCM and E-pedal and says it doesn't come with the engine but has Challenger motors that do ? Am I missing something here ? Why the hell wont you sell me the needed parts for the project ? Oh and the smoker is out also no harness with that one either UGH !!!

 

[FXR99]

I'd buy the entire dam truck if it wasn't so far away I'm not shelling out a grand for shipping a donor...

 

[FXR99]

Will a Hemi and electronics from an 05 Durango create a wiring nightmare in comparison to a Ram engine ? Just stumbled upon one on them too...