New to the forum, this is my project

[RAMbqqst]

Hey all, just figured I would finally join up with a forum instead of lurk. Earlier this year I picked up a 2012 RAM 1500 5.7 reg cab 4x4 to haul my dog since my boosted M3 wasn't really dog friendly. Well since selling the M3 earlier this month and being without boost I pulled a trigger on a D1SC kit from ProCharger. Still very much in the build phase and still my DD but right now she is rocking the D1SC, step colder plugs, waiting to install my 90mm TB and JBA long tubes/3" Y-Pipe to magnaflow exhaust. Most definitely impressed with the driveability and the power gains from the S/C and canned tune but it is definitely time for a dyno tune. Unfortunately until I leave Hawaii I think I have to wait for a better individualized tune:

And for good measure ye olde boosted M3:

 

[TerraNewf]

Welcome to the forum, Nice ride. Looks like you have been busy

 

[charonblk07]

Welcome. If you ever need to ask specific questions or need any help with issues on your boosted hemi truck feel free to ask, I've been boosted for over 3 years now and know these trucks inside and out.


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[PARay]

Welcome to the Forum! Good looking truck and cool project! Keep us updated!

 

[Statcher1]

Welcome aboard. And it looks like you have been very busy.


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[DarthMegaHD]

Quite the interesting change in vehicle type

 

[00R/T]

Sweet! It's cool to see another regular cab 4x4 since there aren't too many around. I bet that thing is a blast to drive.

 

[CMil527]

welcome... nice rig!

 

[bamagrad03]

Aw man, e92 M3 at that! I just moved from a B8.5 S4 into a Ram truck. And before my S4, I had 3 consecutive BMW 330/335s, my last being an e92.

The e92 M3 is going to be a collector's item too, being that they've moved away from the v8. Running boost on a high revving v8 like you had, that thing must have been a monster.

 

[Ryan1126]

that M3 is a beautiful car, but you will have fun with that ram! which island are you on? still odd to me when i see someone driving any truck but a tacoma there.

 

[RAMbqqst]

Hey guys, thanks for the positive reviews! It's been kind of a pain, the kit from ProCharger wasn't all correct so there was a lot of back and forth and brain teasing to make sure everything was good to go. Right now I am fighting with a vender who I ordered stuff from the first week of april and it still hasnt shipped yet....quite frustrating. But it most definitely is a blast. Love the surprised looks when the whine and BPV kick in lol.

The M3 was a fantastic car, high revving, gorgeous and in immaculate shape not to mention low miles for a 2009. However maintenance costs were ridiculous even doing it myself. Fluid change was 700$ in just fluids and factory rotors and ebc pads ran me just shy of $2000.00. It was getting to the point where more things were going to fail and time to replace it thus I figured time to unload one project and start a new one. $2000.00 is a good chunk of change towards a built tranny for the truck lol.

I am curious about failure points as far as boosted 5.7 on the 4th gens. I think just being at 7psi on stock internals and drive line that she is pretty close to maxed out, but I am not quite sure. I guess I will just have to break it and upgrade to see for sure haha

 

[Treburkulosis]

Awesome! I miss my e46 330 ci vert. One of my favorite cars that I ever owned.

 

[hankRam2015]

Welcome to the forum! Nice truck

 

[charonblk07]

Hey guys, thanks for the positive reviews! It's been kind of a pain, the kit from ProCharger wasn't all correct so there was a lot of back and forth and brain teasing to make sure everything was good to go. Right now I am fighting with a vender who I ordered stuff from the first week of april and it still hasnt shipped yet....quite frustrating. But it most definitely is a blast. Love the surprised looks when the whine and BPV kick in lol.

I am curious about failure points as far as boosted 5.7 on the 4th gens. I think just being at 7psi on stock internals and drive line that she is pretty close to maxed out, but I am not quite sure. I guess I will just have to break it and upgrade to see for sure haha

Yeah, that look is great, people just don't expect it from a truck. What was wrong with the kit from Procharger, they're normally pretty decent when it comes to their kits?

Since you have a 2012, your limiting factor will be your transmission, not the engine. The engine will handle 7-8psi regularly and can handle 9-10psi with a good tune + water ****. The crank is cast but it and the rods can take a decent amount of pressure but the upper ring land is the weak point of the engine. Lean it out under boost and you'll touch the top ring ends and it will pop the upper ring land on the pistons but you can't just swap the piston like the 6.1/6.4L because the wrist pin is pressed in to the rod, not free floating.

Since you're running the D1SC I would start looking at a new trans because yours is on borrowed time. I highly recommend L&M customs, I've had their trans behind my build for 3 years now and has held up to quite a bit of abuse and hasn't cratered like most 'built' 65/545s.

 

[RAMbqqst]

Yeah, that look is great, people just don't expect it from a truck. What was wrong with the kit from Procharger, they're normally pretty decent when it comes to their kits?

Since you have a 2012, your limiting factor will be your transmission, not the engine. The engine will handle 7-8psi regularly and can handle 9-10psi with a good tune + water ****. The crank is cast but it and the rods can take a decent amount of pressure but the upper ring land is the weak point of the engine. Lean it out under boost and you'll touch the top ring ends and it will pop the upper ring land on the pistons but you can't just swap the piston like the 6.1/6.4L because the wrist pin is pressed in to the rod, not free floating.

Since you're running the D1SC I would start looking at a new trans because yours is on borrowed time. I highly recommend L&M customs, I've had their trans behind my build for 3 years now and has held up to quite a bit of abuse and hasn't cratered like most 'built' 65/545s.

Thanks man, thats exactly the info I have been looking for. Due to the car scene out here being very minimal/ bought vs built stuff I think I am going to baby her until I transfer off this rock so I can get back to the states and get some quality stuff custom built.

As far as procharger goes, I would say about 90% of the kit was spot on and I was incredibly happy with it. However there was some disparity between some of bracketry they sent me vice updated parts in their inventory. There is a sub bracket that fits to the passenger head that allows the main S/C bracket to line up to the rest of the pulleys on the engine. I had mine powder coated and when they cut the threads into the aluminum bracket they didnt run them all the way through, thus when threading the bolt through she bound up, and trying to pull it out it snapped the bolt. Trying to drill out a hardened bolt out of an aluminum bracket didnt end well so I had them overnight a new bracket. It looked completely different although the mounting holes lined up fine. I bolted it up and finished the kit. I then could not fit the belt they sent, so I had to go find the last 2 belts on the island that were 1" longer. I then threw one of those belts and just destroyed it. Looking at the mounting of the main S/C bracket it appeared to be off just a tiny amount. After tearing the whole thing back down to parade rest, come to find out the new bracket they over nighted me was about 1/4-1/2" too thin thus threw off the alignment of the entire pulley assembly. I was able to repair the old bracket and put it all back together though. I was also missing some hardware from the kit, as well as having to build custom intercooler mounts as the way the designed kit works I was only able to align 3 of 4 mounting locations.

I love their kit and customer support, however I think because this isn't as common of a build as say a Camaro, Corvette, Mustang etc it was kind of destined to have a few issues. I will be writing them to try to give some feedback to help out when others go to buy the kit.

As far as retrofitting a built 8 speed, is anyone aware of this being accomplished and any issues associated with it? I have to say this is my first Mopar, but I have built everything from 80's G bodies to F bodies and even 5.0 Swapped volvos and blown M3's. This is an entirely new animal for me.

 

[charonblk07]

The new bracket they sent is the one that came with my '09 kit, they may have updated the kit to give you more belt wrap or to deal with the bracket flex issue I had.

You currently can't swap an 8 speed into a non 8-speed truck, the computers don't play well with each other and there are no standalone controllers for them. You can swap a TH400 or a 4L80 with a standalone controller with the required frame modifications and driveshafts or you can get a manual. The 65/545rfe from L&M or True Street Performance have been holding the power so it's what I would recommend first before going for the complicated swap.


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