5.7 Hemi dealer says needs cam and rockers on driver

loganscuda said
My nephew has a 2016 Ram w/5.7 Hemi. He said it was loosing power and took to dealer and they told him it needs a new cam and rockers on the driver side replaced. Does this make sense. Why would the rockers be bad on one side and the cam. $5300 parts and $1800 labor

This is what I do for a living since 2010 for a Chrysler dealer. Lifter rollers fail and seize up causing damage to cam lobe. Problem is all that metal has to go somewhere. First thing we do is remove intake manifold and remove and inspect the oil control valve. If it’s full of metal we don’t go any further. It will require a new engine. We are unable to properly clean and remove all of the metal debris from all the oil passages for the VVT system. Yes I know everyone’s Uncle Bob at the machine shop can fix all this real cheap but that’s not how it works at the dealership level. We have to be able to honor or workmanship or parts at another other dealership nationwide.
They don’t have roller rockers but we do see them wear and have pitting on the arm where it touches the top of the valve stem. That’s probably why they only quoted one side.
One major problem with these is the cam bearings get major wear on them especially the front bearing. Chrysler does not allow us under warranty to replace cam bearings so once again engine replacement. It’s around 16.0 hrs or so for a 1500 4x4. This includes removing and cleaning the oil pan and pickup tube which has to be done to even have a chance of it making it.
Like I said yes we as hobbyists can fix this much cheaper. Send block to machine shop get hot tanked and new cam bearings and go from there. But at a shop level a new engine makes more financial sense