Mason Coughlin
Active Member
Hi gang. I haven't been very active in the past few months. My LS Swap in my 70' Swinger was put on hold, and now that I'm revisiting it, I've decided that the smarter choice is to run a Gen 3 Hemi. Our local Pick N Pull has several trucks with 5.7's available to choose from, so I need help decifiering what the best year to get would be. I have read through a bunch of articles and understand the differences with the new coil packs on the 06+, the VVT Eagle motors, and such, but I guess I need more specific help.
Ideally I guess what I would like to do is get an 03-08 engine, toss Eagle heads on it, change the cam, and run a 545RFE transmission. I've been talking back and forth with Blake from DIYHEMI about the wiring and such. Having done several LS Swaps and owning HP Tuners, I would prefer to use the OEM Ram PCM and modify the wiring harness. The 09+ harness information does not appear to be available online, at least not from anywhere that I have found which makes me cautious to use an 09+.
Also, with HP Tuners, I am limited to 2004+ vehicles because the 2003 cannot be accessed. I guess ideally a 2007+ would be the best option because I cannot access the transmission files on anything older than a 2007, and from what I've read about the 545RFE, it sounds like some of the biggest issues with it have to deal with it's computer tuning and not so much it's hard parts. And since it appears to adapt to changes like mechanically adjusting the line pressure, it pretty much limits me to just making transmission mapping changes through the PCM.
Now let's get down to my options:
One of the trucks is a 2004 Ram. Appears just to be rusted out, but there's no physical damage to the truck which makes me cautious. It's a 2wd automatic with the 545RFE transmission which sounds like a good candidate, but again, I can't tune the transmission on the 2004.
There is a 2009 Chrysler Aspen with the VVT 5.7. unfortunately it's 4wd, so I would be just taking the engine and not the transmission from this one, as well as my harness concerns I expressed earlier in the post. This also doesn't appear to have any major damage and makes me question why it's in the junkyard.
There is a 2006 Durango. This already has the better coil packs and valve covers, but obviously not the better Eagle heads. Again, it's 4wd.
Theres a 2wd 2002 Ram with the 4.7 already removed. Is the 4.7 transmission and the 5.7 transmission the same thing minus tuning differences? This would make my life much easier removing a transmission that is nearly falling out of the truck should I decide to get one of the engines that has a 4wd transmission behind it.
Finally, there is a 2007 Ram with a 4.7. Can I take the PCM from this 2007 and use it to run the 2004 Ram engine to allow me to change the tune in the transmission? Would it need a hard reflash to a 5.7 before I could tune it?
To me, the 2004 engine, transmission and harness seem to be the best bet, then rob the coils and heads from the 2009 Aspen with the Eagle heads and control it all with the 2007 Ram 4.7 PCM. Is this a possible combination? Thanks for the help guys!
Ideally I guess what I would like to do is get an 03-08 engine, toss Eagle heads on it, change the cam, and run a 545RFE transmission. I've been talking back and forth with Blake from DIYHEMI about the wiring and such. Having done several LS Swaps and owning HP Tuners, I would prefer to use the OEM Ram PCM and modify the wiring harness. The 09+ harness information does not appear to be available online, at least not from anywhere that I have found which makes me cautious to use an 09+.
Also, with HP Tuners, I am limited to 2004+ vehicles because the 2003 cannot be accessed. I guess ideally a 2007+ would be the best option because I cannot access the transmission files on anything older than a 2007, and from what I've read about the 545RFE, it sounds like some of the biggest issues with it have to deal with it's computer tuning and not so much it's hard parts. And since it appears to adapt to changes like mechanically adjusting the line pressure, it pretty much limits me to just making transmission mapping changes through the PCM.
Now let's get down to my options:
One of the trucks is a 2004 Ram. Appears just to be rusted out, but there's no physical damage to the truck which makes me cautious. It's a 2wd automatic with the 545RFE transmission which sounds like a good candidate, but again, I can't tune the transmission on the 2004.
There is a 2009 Chrysler Aspen with the VVT 5.7. unfortunately it's 4wd, so I would be just taking the engine and not the transmission from this one, as well as my harness concerns I expressed earlier in the post. This also doesn't appear to have any major damage and makes me question why it's in the junkyard.
There is a 2006 Durango. This already has the better coil packs and valve covers, but obviously not the better Eagle heads. Again, it's 4wd.
Theres a 2wd 2002 Ram with the 4.7 already removed. Is the 4.7 transmission and the 5.7 transmission the same thing minus tuning differences? This would make my life much easier removing a transmission that is nearly falling out of the truck should I decide to get one of the engines that has a 4wd transmission behind it.
Finally, there is a 2007 Ram with a 4.7. Can I take the PCM from this 2007 and use it to run the 2004 Ram engine to allow me to change the tune in the transmission? Would it need a hard reflash to a 5.7 before I could tune it?
To me, the 2004 engine, transmission and harness seem to be the best bet, then rob the coils and heads from the 2009 Aspen with the Eagle heads and control it all with the 2007 Ram 4.7 PCM. Is this a possible combination? Thanks for the help guys!
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