Preferred gas engines for 1 ton pickups

[FlaDon]

It is very common to have two engines of the same size from the same maker produce different torque and HP specs. Change a camshaft and the torque curve can change. Change a camshaft and the top end HP can change. Change the exhaust and both can change. Same with the intake design. That's why you could find Chevy 350s with ratings all over the place. Now all it takes is telling the computer what to do to produce different specs.

 

[dodge man]

Well D.P. I can't argue with facts. The curves I showed don't look exactly like the ones on my 2007 Dodge Ram brochure, but are pretty close. My 2007 shows 300 ft-lbs available at 1200 rpms. That makes it pretty strong down low. For some reason they have done away with the low end grunt. My guess is they did it for durabilty issues, to save the transmissions and such but that is a guess on my part. They did a fairly large re-design last year on the 5.7 hemi and went with an active intake. I would have thought that would have held the low end torque and improve the top end power, but it appears that is not the case. In my opinion you are correct, they did not improve the torque curve on the 5.7 hemi in terms of a truck engie. Look at the curve I showed and that is the way it was until recently.

My guess is the entire issue is torque management by the computer, you can actually feel my truck back off the power curve a little bit on the shifts to save the transmission. An after market computer takes care of that problem but sacrafices durability. My guess is that a aftermarket computer would restore the low end grunt of the newer hemi also and I'm sure that Chrysler had a good reason to lose the low end grunt but for the life of me, I can't figure out why.

The numbers don't check on the curve either, they don't match the max hp and torque, but what the heck it came from Dodge and you'd think they make it to their advantage.

 

[RobertN]

I mentioned this somewhere else in the thread.

My Uncle had a stock '66 SS396 4spd Chevelle. My Grandfather had a '69 GMC 3/4 ton with a 396/auto.

The intake, carb, aircleaner, and exhaust looked very different. I do not think it was because of a 3 year difference, I think it was because the Chevelle was made to go fast, the truck was made to pull.

Reminds me of the 413 Mopars used in motorhomes.

Nowadys, they probably do the same, but probably also do a lot with the cumputer pgrogramming.

It is very common to have two engines of the same size from the same maker produce different torque and HP specs. Change a camshaft and the torque curve can change. Change a camshaft and the top end HP can change. Change the exhaust and both can change. Same with the intake design. That's why you could find Chevy 350s with ratings all over the place. Now all it takes is telling the computer what to do to produce different specs.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Well D.P. I can't argue with facts. The curves I showed don't look exactly like the ones on my 2007 Dodge Ram brochure, but are pretty close. My 2007 shows 300 ft-lbs available at 1200 rpms. That makes it pretty strong down low. For some reason they have done away with the low end grunt. My guess is they did it for durabilty issues, to save the transmissions and such but that is a guess on my part. They did a fairly large re-design last year on the 5.7 hemi and went with an active intake. I would have thought that would have held the low end torque and improve the top end power, but it appears that is not the case. In my opinion you are correct, they did not improve the torque curve on the 5.7 hemi in terms of a truck engie. Look at the curve I showed and that is the way it was until recently.

My guess is the entire issue is torque management by the computer, you can actually feel my truck back off the power curve a little bit on the shifts to save the transmission. An after market computer takes care of that problem but sacrafices durability. My guess is that a aftermarket computer would restore the low end grunt of the newer hemi also and I'm sure that Chrysler had a good reason to lose the low end grunt but for the life of me, I can't figure out why.

I guess like you said it was to save the tranny. I never said I did not like the Hemi, just not found of it in trucks. I would love to have a new Challenger with a Hemi sitting in my garage right now.

Lets be honest here. Dodge has not been know for Automatic trannys. I went though 2 rebuilds on my 2500 Hemi. Never had a problem with the engine, just the trannys and other small items on the truck like cooling fan, power steering pump, and AC compressor. It really left a bad taste in my mouth but will give Dodge and the dealer credit. 100 times better than my dealings with GM dealers, they just had the "I don't give a crap attitude". look where that got them. I traded my truck at around 70K with the tranny acting up again. First rebuild was by the dealer the second was a Jasper. Maybe they did as you said and backed off the engine to the weakest component, the tranny. If they would bump it like your graph and just put a tougher tranny behind it they would have something.

Chris

 

[FlaDon]

I guess like you said it was to save the tranny. I never said I did not like the Hemi, just not found of it in trucks. I would love to have a new Challenger with a Hemi sitting in my garage right now.

Lets be honest here. Dodge has not been know for Automatic trannys. I went though 2 rebuilds on my 2500 Hemi. Never had a problem with the engine, just the trannys and other small items on the truck like cooling fan, power steering pump, and AC compressor. It really left a bad taste in my mouth but will give Dodge and the dealer credit. 100 times better than my dealings with GM dealers, they just had the "I don't give a crap attitude". look where that got them. I traded my truck at around 70K with the tranny acting up again. First rebuild was by the dealer the second was a Jasper. Maybe they did as you said and backed off the engine to the weakest component, the tranny. If they would bump it like your graph and just put a tougher tranny behind it they would have something.

Chris

What ever happened to the days when a TorqueFlite/TorqueCommand 727 was the tranny to beat?

 

[dodge man]

My wife has a 2005 300C with a 5.7 hemi and my truck has a 5.7 hemi and is a 2007. There is very little difference in the engines between the cars and trucks. At least for our year vehciles, the torque and hp curves are very similar.

I have had great luck with the transmissions in my Dodge trucks, but the truth is, mine is used more like a car 90% of the time. When I do use it hard, it usually having a little to much weight in the bed, which isn't really going to hurt the transmission.

 

[Diamondpilot]

My wife has a 2005 300C with a 5.7 hemi and my truck has a 5.7 hemi and is a 2007. There is very little difference in the engines between the cars and trucks. At least for our year vehciles, the torque and hp curves are very similar.

I have had great luck with the transmissions in my Dodge trucks, but the truth is, mine is used more like a car 90% of the time. When I do use it hard, it usually having a little to much weight in the bed, which isn't really going to hurt the transmission.

See I am the exact opposite. I just bought a Titan back in May and it now has about 17,000 miles of which I know 15,000 plus is with 7K or more behind it. Same thing with my F-350. It has at least 80% of the miles with 12K to 25K behind it. Our F-250 has led a easier life with probably 25,000 miles of its 70,000 miles pulling 7,000 to 16,000. The little lady really like to drive it as a daily driver and its now used mainly as a Marina Truck.

My mechanic had about a 2005 Jeep Cherokee with the Hemi. Not sure what tranny it has or if it shares any components with Dodge. He pulled a 2 horse trailer and my 7K car hauler from time to time with it and similar results with the tranny but only had 1 rebuild and had to have the rear axle replace. He traded it at 40,000 miles. He now has a V8 Mercury Mountaineer and has had no issues pulling the same load with over 60,000 miles.

Chris

 

[PapaPerk]

Forget gas. Get a GOOD not abused Dodge diesel with stick trans.

 

[flusher]

Forget gas. Get a GOOD not abused Dodge diesel with stick trans.

I'm leaning that way.

 

[wkpoor]

8' flatbed with short boxes underneath. With gooseneck and 5th wheel hitch ability. And LOTS of rope hooks.

That, should be the default truck "bed".

Extended or double cab trucks with 6ft beds are just plain yuppy. They were designed for just what DP said. Fits in the attached garage to keep mommy happy. Used to be resale on a 6ft bed truck sucked, now its probably better. For me it would be double cab with 8' w/Hillsboro type flat bed with under body boxes. Got no use for standard bed unless I lived in town and did the grocery shopping for mommy.