I know they are gas hogs and way tuned down but I love mine.

Only Brand New Vehicle ever for me. Special ordered ('96) with a Reg cab 2500 V10 stick, Dana 80 and 60.

Of all the treasures collected in my lifetime, my oldest boys both think it is the most valuable.

I often pondered turbo charging it? Just think how badly ANY of the big three Diesels would run with NO boost?

I used to get the strangest looks pullin' a #4200 boat up steep reservoir ramps.

Granny gear just off idle and nearly SILENT!

Great to hear.

I refer to my 99 CTD as the garbage truck, no way going up the launch ramp quiet

My 96 v10 Ram is stil going strong. Rusting to nothing but still runs great with 165000 on it now. It is still almost all original except for belt, battery, brakes and front steering parts.

Wish I would have kept the 96 V10 Club Cab long box 2WD I bought new, but when the engine blew at 1000 miles I was soured even though the dealer put a new engine in right away. The other issue was I ordered it two tone white and aqua and it came in all aqua like my buddy's truck! I did have another 2001 V10 5-speed which was a great driver, but it ran out of steam quickly with the 4.10 gears...

Back in the 1990s a computer tech living near Boston had pretty good results supercharging his V10 Dodge. He online name was Ramhack.

He later removed the supercharger but kept the 34 lb/hr injectors and reported that the 8L ran better with them.

I have always felt V10s needed a lower over drive top gear than 0.69 when running light.
This is the main reason they have gas hog reputations.

The SAE paper about the then new iron V10 bragged that it had better fuel economy than a GM 454 V8 at the same loads.

For those that have not read about it, "Maximum Bob" Lutz had his engineers build the V10 as an educational project to fully test out a new computer drafting/design/balancing program Chysler bought. Lutz admitted to Carroll Shelby that older Chrysler design V8s like 426 and 440 would have been updatable but he wanted to test out the new computer programs with a fresh and unusual V10.

0.69 overdrive is about right for a 5.2 V8
but 5.9s need about 0.6
and 8L need about 0.5 ratios.

The OD thing would certainly help, they were just turning too many RPM on the highway even with the 3.55 gears. I bet a tight quench would help a ton though also.

Before I put the Ford rear in my truck ( in pic) it was a NON posi...
After I launched my boat one time, friends wife offered to park the truck and trailer for me.. Bad Idea... Burnout all the way up the ramp and halfway to a parking spot.. 454/Turbo 400 in the truck....

Just saw one on the street in Spokane today. Black 96 short bed standard cab 4x4. Clear coat was all baked off the thing but was very straight and rust free. Nice looking truck overall. V10's are not a common sight around here these days.

What can we learn about Quench clearance
and the ratio of rod length to stroke
By looking at

Magnum 5.2 .... 3.31 .... 9.1 comp ratio
Magnum 5.9 .... 3.58 .... 8.9 ( really 8.7 or so)
Iron V10 8.0 .... 3.84 .... 8.4

All wth 6.123 connecting rods

Willem Weertman says in his book Chrysler Engines
that the 8 L Iron block truck V10 used the Magnum 5.9 pistons to keep costs down

As the rod/stroke ratio gets Higher
The piston "dwells" longer near top dead center
And allegedly the fuel burning completes faster because pressure stays higher

I wish Bob Lutz had ordered the engineers using the new computer programs
to build the first iron V10 with a 3.31 stroke and the flat top Magnum 5.2 pistons,
and maybe a tight quench 10.5 to 1 compression ratio requiring premium 92 AKI gasoline,
then increased the stroke every couple years to add cubic inches.

How do the heads flow on those motors? Is it worth milling and getting the compression/quench up or are there other limiting factors. You can get a v10 truck for cheap, but I've never messed with them either.


Kind of like the GM 8.1L big block, it's just starting to get a following of people trying to get more performance out of them.

If that was a 'true' '96 ram v10 shortbox me thinks he has a one O' one!

I tried in late "95 to order mine with a shortbox.
Guess I saw too many 'fallguys"?

Mine has the full boogie diesel chassis, and since she was a stick it got the Dana 80.

My oldest Son has been looking for another?

restriction is in the intake.i have heard of people gasket matching the upper and lower intake to heads for up to 40hp.i like my v-10 but it does suck gas lol.it tows a car trailer and u cant even tell its their

7-9 pounds of boost on that 8.4 ( perhaps less) e85 .

If only I had a tuner.(megasquirt)? They never made squat fer the iron v10?

I've never seen such a truck. Homemade or otherwise.

Maybe the doors were replacement from a V10 truck...

The aluminum V10 cylinder head has had lots of porting experimentation by shops,
but the iron V10 head ports are supposedly very different,
smaller in order to get peak momentum airflow rates at lower rpm for bottom end torque.
The official Chrysler press release claims the iron V10 makes 90% of peak torque at only 1200 rpm.

Iron V10 heads have individual exhaust ports on each cylinder
unlike small block 5.2/5.9 cyl heads,
but i wonder if one of the two different official Mopar Performance sold
Magnum 5.2/5.9 plastic intake templates
might be a good guide for intake side porting?
The shapes of the V8 and V10 combustion chambers are very similar.

Sorry to hear.

The iron v10 fo' sure got no support from the aftermarket. Guess most were happy (or unhappy and got rid of them?)

I relate mine to a 488 ci. in. '2' barrel. it has no big hit when you floor it. Just seamless smooth power? An old Farmer I worked with when it was ordered could not believe I was ordering it with 3.5 gear? (he thought 4.56/4,88 would be his ideal)

She tips the scales at 6000 with me in it and is rev limited to 4850 RPM. (probably why it's still together 20+ years later)
I too have had great durability, new suspension, one serpentine a couple sets of plugs and a new clutch at 120,000 (thanks son) hits the rev limiter at a bit over 120 MPH in fourth.

My pup and I went on a mushroom expedition last spring up to N Michigan. We ran 80-85 and got 14 MPG. (180,000 on the clock)

My old bud had one for nearly as long and hauled a 6 horse with living quarters hay firewood and everything else. He said that old gas engine would "pass everything but a gas station".

He finally got a Cummins, but still has a glint in his eye when talking about his old v10.

Oooopps,

forgot, the front Dana liked to eat U-joints. think I'm on my third set. Original alternator, starter, water pump everything else.

Plenty of love for the Dodge V10 here, we had a '96. 2wd long box club cab would get 15mpg on the highway. In town it was heavy on fuel. Driving it was a pleasure and compares to a 440 C-Body. I test drove a 4wd V10 and it wasn't near as nice to drive and was slower than the 2wd.

Big mistake on the discontinuation of that engine.

Just picked up a Ford V10 and it's a way different engine than the Dodge: it's a screamer.

Since mine has a stick me thinks it got a different 'puter (ECM)?

I know and have driven 2 other '96s (all 4x4) with autos and raced both. Even rowin' the gears through that 2 foot gate I could easily stomp both of them?

I sure wish it didn't fall on its face at 4800 RPM. if I had an extra 1000 RPM???????????????


Yea I know turning that thing to 6000 would probably result in bad things?


Since there is no aftermarket to speak of, putting 7-9 pounds of boost 'should' surely wake that old dawg up?

I hear they had generous injectors but the throttle body was the cork?