5.9L 12V Performance
 

New to the site--first post. I won't waste anyone's time with "which engine is better?; however, I am in the market of either (a) purchasing a '96 to '98-1/2 Dodge Ram 2500 w/ 5.9L (12V) truck and rebuilding the motor/transmission with upgrades in order to produce somewhere around 400 HP, or... (b) buying any Make (Chevy, Dodge, Ford, GMC) 3/4 ton and getting a Cummins' conversion done with upgrades to produce the same HP.
My question is, which would you do? Why? And what would be the approximate cost of either the rebuild to get the HP vs the Cummins conversion?
Like I said, very very new to diesels and diesel performance, so I don't even know what it takes--component wise--to even get 400HP.

More than a newbie, I'm a virgin, so go easy on me. Please and thank you!:jump:

I would just get a dodge with the 12valve in it,save you some money there than to buy another vehicle and rip out the motor and trans.and put it in another vehicle.
And you could use the money you saved to get mods for your truck.
As to get to 400hp will take some money,I'm just over 300hp right now.The cost will depend on what you buy and what mods you use.

TY, 97 Cummins. I've been trying to find a complete 12V, but they are harder to come by than I thought. Still searching...

what do u have to start with ?

All I have--which is different than what I wanted, but ya gotta run with whatcha bring--is an '05 5.9L 24V HO, that I'll probably rebuild instead of looking for a 12V. I have a 2000 Ford F-250 that I was either thinking about doing a conversion or just getting a dodge truck and putting the engin that I have in it.

Why not p-pump the 24 valve?

Can you P-pump the HO engines, Reeb? I'd be willing to try that!

Yes you can ill have to get a list of everything you need when I get time after work today.

if you already have a 05 why not keep it and tune it to 400rwhp? With the CR trucks like you have 400 hp is very very easy.

For p pumping yes you could do it but for only 400hp it not worth the time or money you will spend to do it. There is a lot involved to this process.

What a waste of time ..:argh: , I mean concidering the potential of the CR engine in general ...

Well excuse me maybe some people like the simplicity of a p-pump.

I guess I should've provided more info as to what I had, and why I wanted to do what I originally posted. Maybe that'll help guide me down the right path. I have an '03 F-250 (gas). I acquired an '05 5.9L (24V) HO Cummins, and I thought that I would do a Cummins conversion in the Ford b/c I like the ride of the Ford, but I would love the Cummins engine. The more I read and talked with people, they suggested that I get a 12V 5.9 and rebuild that since I have no experience in rebuilding diesels. "They" thought it might be a large chore to rebuild the 24V 5.9; thus, my original post. I'm not against rebuilding the 24V that I have and putting it in my Ford, I've just never done a diesel rebuild. I've rebuilt about a half dozen gas engines and just as many jet engines, so I believe that I'm competent enough to do the rebuild, it's just going to be a slow process. I'm still working on getting a service manual for the 24V 5.9L. From what I hear everyone saying is that I should probably just rebuild the 24V for the diversity of the tunes, and it would be easy to get 400HP, since it comes stock at 345HP (I think). Hope all that makes sense. Like I said, this is all new to me, but I enjoy getting input and feedback. It helps out a lot.

I too was gonna do a Fummins ( a ford with a Cummins) ... in my 87 F250.... the more I talked to people, the more i realized , 1.) I dont have the time 2.) it aint cheep 3.) plenty of fab work to be done ..

See its not just a simple Engine swap that has me running away from the whole idea, Its the buying a trans, Tcase, drive shafts, Possibly yokes too, and having to fabricate new Cross members...... its not cheep , then there are the CAC mounts, and all that needs to be installed for the turbo piping , I just figured, I wil fir the IDI anbd sell it as is, go buy a CR... get r done !!!!

My conversion wasn't bad price wise and time. Love my truck now!!

There is not a big difference in rebuilding a 24v and a 12v ... if the 24v you have now runs fine there is no real need to rebuild it. These motors are tough and can take a lot of power in stock from

I was thinking they should be nearly the exact same thing .. and with all engines ... follow the specs and you will be just fine ....


I too had never built a Diesel .. then I started building 8V92's and S60's .. now .. I concider my self an expert ... and everything is easy now .. lol

Thank y'all for the input. I had a quote for a Cummins Conversion @ $15K, which is not terribly bad when you think about that plus a $7500 engine, $5K transmission, and a $5K truck. That's still approximately half the price of a new one, and you'd have the beat engine in the smoothest riding truck (my opinion only). I suppose I'll just rebuild the 24V HO that I have now instead of looking for a 12V. The resin for the build is to teach my son how to rebuild and the what & why's of a rebuild. I don't want him to be ignorant about what he's driving like so many other kids who, in my opinion, tear up their trucks. I DO appreciate all the feedback. This is a great brotherhood

Lotts Of Room For Improvment Here Photo by johngatesjr | Photobucket

I know the feeling .. building my truck as well ... Learning that I should have taken more time in the initial HG job .... last pics show what happens when you slam stuff together ... oops !!!!!... now I have to do it all over again , hope it dosent kill my wallet, hope my wife dont kill me ... LOL