one isnt like the others....

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Dirty D

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Posts
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Location
Auburn, CA
Ram Year
2011
Engine
5.7 Hemi
well i should probably start my own thread since i have blown up everyone elses lol. ive got a 2011 ram 1500 qc 5.7 4x4 with about 113k miles. A few months back i installed a vararam intake, moes 87mm ported throttlebody, 1 7/8 ARH LT headers and a borla S-type cat back, and a Trinity 2 tuner with a hemifever tune. she definitely started to come alive. she had some top end noise and i figured that the lifters were on there way out, and if not i wanted them swapped before they did go. So i got with our friends at MMX and placed an order.

i ordered:
hellcat oil pump (because why not if your not that far down into the engine right?)
PSI 1511 springs with Manton retainers
MDS delete with full set of hellcat lifters
Trend .080 wall premium push rods
full vvt timing set
limiter
and the VVT RAM NSR performance NA cam

none of which was installed before i got a p0305 code and and some grumbling/powerloss (temporarily) on the freeway. luckily i was maybe 1/16th of a mile from the off ramp so i glided off, parked, killed the engine. pulled the code up on the tuner, cleared it (to see if it came back) and then restarted. everything seemed fine so i got my ***** home not going over the posted speed limits (boy thats a first). parked the truck and it sat until this past Thursday when i had the AC system evac'ed and then parked it in my driveway and started the tear down.

the tear down was fairly easy, missed the very bottom fan shroud plastic bolt and the fan shroud ended up splitting in half..oh well. the OEM Efan comes with a shroud if im not mistaken and i plan on going that route anyways. got down to the oil pump pickup bolt and was absolutely determined to NOT drop the oil pan because well eff that. so i found an nice offset box wrench at the auto parts store that fit, and worked perfectly. no additional bolts were removed from the pan, no homemade jigs, nada, 7 dollar offset wrench got it down easyyyy!!!!

image0 (1).jpeg
all the googling and searching for tips on how to remove that darn pickup tube without dropping the pan and not once did i find anyone using this wrench....7 bucks.


anyways got the cam out and heres where we shall see how good your eyes are!!! which one is different from the rest!
image6.jpeg

backing up a few steps, i didnt look down the lifter ports to see the cam before i pulled it but i checked every lifter over pretty well while pulling them out. 1 or 2 on the pass side were rolling but i could feel slight grinding or resistance as i spun them, and then came out the cylinder 5 intake lifter. the rest of the lifters were free spinning smoothly still.

image1 (1).jpeg
image2.jpeg

it was at this point i knew i was F***ed.

so here i sit with a big box full of goodies, and a block with some metal flowing through it. my options are A. install the new stuff and run it or B. give MMX another call and send my block/heads off to become a 392...so i come to you fellas for your opinions. now i know someones going to ask "have you asked yourself what your end goal for this project is?" the answer is yes i have asked myself a lot, the problem is i dont think i have ever answered myself honestly LOL!

if i go with option A i get her cleaned out real good make sure i check for metal everywhere i can and run it, and then start going gearing up for a 8hp70 swap.
if i go with option B i pull it and send it off to MMX and immediatly start going after the 8hp70 swap so hopefully by the time the block/heads come back its mostly done.
 

Wild one

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Posts
13,717
Reaction score
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Ram Year
14 Sport
Engine
5.7
well i should probably start my own thread since i have blown up everyone elses lol. ive got a 2011 ram 1500 qc 5.7 4x4 with about 113k miles. A few months back i installed a vararam intake, moes 87mm ported throttlebody, 1 7/8 ARH LT headers and a borla S-type cat back, and a Trinity 2 tuner with a hemifever tune. she definitely started to come alive. she had some top end noise and i figured that the lifters were on there way out, and if not i wanted them swapped before they did go. So i got with our friends at MMX and placed an order.

i ordered:
hellcat oil pump (because why not if your not that far down into the engine right?)
PSI 1511 springs with Manton retainers
MDS delete with full set of hellcat lifters
Trend .080 wall premium push rods
full vvt timing set
limiter
and the VVT RAM NSR performance NA cam

none of which was installed before i got a p0305 code and and some grumbling/powerloss (temporarily) on the freeway. luckily i was maybe 1/16th of a mile from the off ramp so i glided off, parked, killed the engine. pulled the code up on the tuner, cleared it (to see if it came back) and then restarted. everything seemed fine so i got my ***** home not going over the posted speed limits (boy thats a first). parked the truck and it sat until this past Thursday when i had the AC system evac'ed and then parked it in my driveway and started the tear down.

the tear down was fairly easy, missed the very bottom fan shroud plastic bolt and the fan shroud ended up splitting in half..oh well. the OEM Efan comes with a shroud if im not mistaken and i plan on going that route anyways. got down to the oil pump pickup bolt and was absolutely determined to NOT drop the oil pan because well eff that. so i found an nice offset box wrench at the auto parts store that fit, and worked perfectly. no additional bolts were removed from the pan, no homemade jigs, nada, 7 dollar offset wrench got it down easyyyy!!!!

View attachment 497284
all the googling and searching for tips on how to remove that darn pickup tube without dropping the pan and not once did i find anyone using this wrench....7 bucks.


anyways got the cam out and heres where we shall see how good your eyes are!!! which one is different from the rest!
View attachment 497285

backing up a few steps, i didnt look down the lifter ports to see the cam before i pulled it but i checked every lifter over pretty well while pulling them out. 1 or 2 on the pass side were rolling but i could feel slight grinding or resistance as i spun them, and then came out the cylinder 5 intake lifter. the rest of the lifters were free spinning smoothly still.

View attachment 497286
View attachment 497287

it was at this point i knew i was F***ed.

so here i sit with a big box full of goodies, and a block with some metal flowing through it. my options are A. install the new stuff and run it or B. give MMX another call and send my block/heads off to become a 392...so i come to you fellas for your opinions. now i know someones going to ask "have you asked yourself what your end goal for this project is?" the answer is yes i have asked myself a lot, the problem is i dont think i have ever answered myself honestly LOL!

if i go with option A i get her cleaned out real good make sure i check for metal everywhere i can and run it, and then start going gearing up for a 8hp70 swap.
if i go with option B i pull it and send it off to MMX and immediatly start going after the 8hp70 swap so hopefully by the time the block/heads come back its mostly done.
Option C,start with a 6.4,instead of boring/stroking your 5.7. Rod/stroke ratio sucks on a stroked 5.7,puts a pile of stress on the cylinders and piston skirts,and isn't really a long lifed combo.The 6.4 is a better basis to start with
 
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OP
D

Dirty D

Member
Joined
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Posts
61
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Location
Auburn, CA
Ram Year
2011
Engine
5.7 Hemi
Option C,start with a 6.4,instead of boring/stroking your 5.7. Rod/stroke ratio sucks on a stroked 5.7,puts a pile of stress on the cylinders and piston skirts,and isn't really a long lifed combo.The 6.4 is a better basis to start with
interesting i had not considered this option. different fuel rails and injectors right? would the ARH lts i have still fit? the heads/block are fairly close in design if im not mistaken, im going to have to look and see if theres a 5.7 to 6.4 swap thread and check this out.
 
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OP
D

Dirty D

Member
Joined
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Location
Auburn, CA
Ram Year
2011
Engine
5.7 Hemi
Option C,start with a 6.4,instead of boring/stroking your 5.7. Rod/stroke ratio sucks on a stroked 5.7,puts a pile of stress on the cylinders and piston skirts,and isn't really a long lifed combo.The 6.4 is a better basis to start with
if i opt for option C....that gives me the option later of having the 6.4 stroked out to a 426......:flamingdevil:. yea i have problems LOL
 

Wild one

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5.7
interesting i had not considered this option. different fuel rails and injectors right? would the ARH lts i have still fit? the heads/block are fairly close in design if im not mistaken, im going to have to look and see if theres a 5.7 to 6.4 swap thread and check this out.
The 6.4 is a direct bolt-in using everything off your 5.7. If it was me,i'd be seriously looking into a 6.4 long block from MMX.

 
Last edited:
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Dirty D

Member
Joined
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Posts
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Location
Auburn, CA
Ram Year
2011
Engine
5.7 Hemi
The 6.4 is a direct bolt-in using everything off your 5.7. If it was me,i'd be seriously looking into a 6.4 long block from MMX.

since u mentioned it i went straight there and started digging into other 5.7 to 6.4 swap posts lol. i think option C is the winner here. and it looks to come with some nice gains LOL. wonder if the MDS delete kit i have would work on the 6.4. definitely need to get on the horn with MMX on Monday. thanks for the option C. it honestly never occured to me to just swap it lol. wonder if i would get some core credit if i sent in my 5.7 LOL
 

Wild one

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Posts
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since u mentioned it i went straight there and started digging into other 5.7 to 6.4 swap posts lol. i think option C is the winner here. and it looks to come with some nice gains LOL. wonder if the MDS delete kit i have would work on the 6.4. definitely need to get on the horn with MMX on Monday. thanks for the option C. it honestly never occured to me to just swap it lol. wonder if i would get some core credit if i sent in my 5.7 LOL
You'd need to swap the cam if you used the engine in the link as it's auto tranny 6.4. But i'd ask if they have the Challenger manual transmission 6.4,it has a little more aggressive cam then the automatic version,and is already a factory MDS delete engine. No MDS with either the stick 5.7 or stick 6.4,but the Challenger is the only car they sell with a manual transmission
 

crazykid1994

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Ram Year
2017
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Hemi 5.7
@Dirty D yes correct. 6.4 is a straight drop in. It will require a different bigger cam though. If you order just a short block you can use the 5.7 heads and it bumps the compression up a bit. If you do end up stroking the engine the 6.4 Apache heads would definitely flow better. My long term plan is a 6.4 bge long block. Debating on 5.7 heads to bump up compression with a smaller 6.4 cam or the Apache heads and a slightly larger cam. My thoughts is something that I don’t have to change the TC out but if I do the bigger cam I will most likely have to. Honestly looking for around 500 crank HP in the end so it stays reliable as a daily vehicle and very street friendly as I use my truck for off-roading and long distance treks to go camping.
Bge short block
6.4 short block
 

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