billy2500
Junior Member
Hello Everyone, I’m here hoping to exchange information and share a wierd build I am currently taking on.I will start by stating that I am not a ASE Mechanic, but I do have a lot of experience and I am OCD and research is my thing. I came across what I thought was a great deal on a 2012 Ram 2500 Laramie loaded out with a 5.7 Hemi with the knowledge that the engine was probably a loss. I got it home and on the lift and confirmed what I thought might be the case as the lower end suffered a catastrophic rod failure. I am including pics of the carnage, because who doesn’t love to see it (when it’s expected). After a lot of deliberation and consulting with a local friend and dyno tuner/builder who specializes in Hemi, so I decided on building a replacement 5.7 in Lou of moving to a 6.4. I also understand that there are 5.7 stroker options available that yields a 6.4, but man those things are pricey! This decision to go back a 5.7 was based on bang for buck. My tuner/builder friend is confident and provided his opinions on how we could accomplish the same HP and performance with the modified 5.7 as with the 6.4, so I started the teardown and parts ordering and thought I would share my experiences here throughout this process. This was a great opportunity for such a build/experiment as I plan on being in the truck including engine build for under market value should I decide to part with it (not a fan of taking huge losses). The damage to the bottom end was suffered as a result of apparent rod failure. This unfortunately yielded a scrap block, however I was lucky enough and the heads are salvageable. I was able to find a good core block to build on Facebook marketplace for $300 with good pistons/rods and crankshaft. This is currently at the machine shop for freshening up, cleaning and standard R&R service. Everything with it is able to go back standard sizing. The heads are part one of the modification for upgrading performance. They are being port matched with the new ported intake, and polished. The eagle heads flow pretty well, but little increases here and there are what adds up. I am still on the fence on whether or not the added expense on larger valves will be worth while for a naturally aspirated build (not planning on boost at the moment hence my leaving the oem pistons and rods). This engine is good proof that the lifters themselves are defective and not just the MDS system which is also a issue. This engine was a factory non-MDS and it suffered a lifter failure on cylinder 3’s exhaust valve (roller seized) and it a bent pushrod on that lifter. I think that the lifter/cam issues these engines have is a result of a cumulative series of small problems: largely horizontal positioning of the lifter respective of camshaft position hampering oil flow, no pass through allowing oil to the needle bearings in the roller on the lifter combined with the aforementioned issue, the core alloy material itself in the oem camshaft and lifters, and the lower oil pressure at idle exacerbating all these issues. This was noticed in a lot of fleet vehicles that had a lot of idle hours vehicles being a lot more prone to having the lifter/cam failure. So I found a good alloy core cam with the right grind at Scoggan Dickey performance. I opted for upgrading to a hellcat oil pump for more oil volume and and I have decided to pull the trigger on a set of Johnson 2356ST lifters that have axle oiling. I believe that if you do this you will have to run the hellcat oil pump or the melling HV due to the potential for lower oil pressure especially at idle due to the lifters allowing oil to pass to the needle bearings. The cam kit that Scoggan Dickey provided comes with the performance oem valve springs (used to come on the viper heads) and the correct sized shims as well as chromolly pushrods. I plan on checking the pushrod tolerances to ensure the correct fit even though SCDY states that they are correct as long as any head deck resurfacing is less than .0010”. This is important because the lifter depends on the tolerance spec to be in the correct range to operate, and there is no adjustment in the rockers. The kit from SCDY also includes the required cam phaser lockout kit required for these cams. Texas speed offers a very comparable cam kit, but I liked the alloy and grind of the SCDY a bit better as well as a few hundred dollar savings (Texas Speed has been a name for a long time in hemi, and Scoggan Dickey is new to the Hemi world although they have been a reputable name in the LS build world for quite a while also). The newness in the Hemi world is why I believe they are currently a little better priced as compared to the Texas Speed product. I will be using a Felpro master kit for the build. It will be also getting a new melling timing set complete with the new phaser because I don’t know how badly the rod failure torqued the one I have already. It will also be getting a new water pump, 180 deg thermostat and electric radiator fan conversion. The rest of the build will be for the most part standard with King XP or Chevite H bearings, ARP fasteners, and Chevite P series rings. I was able to find a brand new OEM full catback exhaust system from a 2020 TRX for cheap that I hope to incorporate with headers to free up restrictions in the stock exhaust system for this 5.7. The rest of any gains will be accomplished by a custom dyno tune using HP tuners by a local expert that I referenced above. Call me wierd but I’m enjoying this process on a budget friendly, performance minded, naturally aspirated, baby 2500 engine! If you are still here at this point in the post, I look forward to sharing this project with you and by all means, if you have input I would love to hear it! Happy building my Ram friends!
