Which Ram or older Dodge Ram truck engines are the most reliable and longest lasting? Here are eight trucks that you guys sent video clips of. This compilation has a 5.9-liter Cummins turbo-diesel, several 4.7-liter MAGNUM V8 engines in Dodge Dakota trucks, a 5.7-liter HEMI in HD and half-ton trucks, and an 8.0-liter V10 heavy duty engine. Let’s go!
Ram HD: 5.9-liter Cummins I6
The truck we see here is a Ram 2500 with the 5.9-liter turbo-diesel and nearly 250,000 miles. The truck has several power enhancing modifications with a tune, intake, exhaust, and more. The engine is working very well. The automatic transmission has been rebuilt and upgraded to handle more power and torque. This truck lives in Canada, so it does have some rust. However, the truck still hauls and tows many snow mobiles / sleds. 250,000 miles is not a lot for a Cummins diesel. We have seen some other trucks that approach 1 million miles. Hopefully, this engine will also last for many years to come.
Dodge Dakota: 4.7-liter MAGNUM V8
We picked out three Dodge Dakota midsize trucks with the 4.7-liter gas V8 under the hood. The mileage on these three trucks ranges from 63,000 to 260,000 miles. One thing becomes immediately clear based on the submissions – the 4.7-liter V8 has very good durability. All three owners here, and the other owners we discussed this with say that the 4.7-liter V8 has never left them stranded and it does not have to go back to the shop very often.
Ram HD: 5.7-liter HEMI V8
Next up are three Ram trucks with a 5.7-liter HEMI V8. This is a very popular engine for Ram 1500 and many Ram HD trucks as well. This compilation includes an older Ram 2500 HD with the 5.7-liter and around 220,000 miles on it. Once again, the engine has not given the owner many problems. There is also a 2010 Ram 1500 5.7-liter HEMI V8 with around 160,000 miles. This power plant has been relatively strong, but the owner points out some maintenance items and issues. The owner says that changing spark plugs (all 16 of them for this engine) can be a big job, at least on the driver side. Also, the throttle body got stuck for him. It was cleaned and fixed easily, but the problem was hard to locate initially.
Ram HD: 8.0-liter V10
Finally, there is the big 8.0-liter V10 engine that was used in Dodge Ram heavy duty trucks. We have two videos submissions from V10 owners, and this engine appears to be reliable as well. It has loads of power and diesel-like torque. It does drink a lot of fuel as can be expected for a large displacement gas engine.
In the end, after going over dozens of Ram truck submissions – I noticed that the owners of the 4.7-liter V8 reported fewest problems. The other engines: 5.7-liter V8 and the Cummins I6 are working well also, but these may require a bit more maintenance.
