I've traded my '02 24valve for a '98.5 24valve just to get away from the automatic. I had a '9812valve 5spd and it was the best tuck i ever owned . Had 7CTD's. But we needed the quad cab and the ;98 in a12v quad is tough to find. The 24's pull much harder though and with a little care will be fine. Main thing is update the lift pump to make the IP last. The 5 is better lasting for towing IMHO. But 6 taken care of would be ok.

 

5 k for a 6 speed swap is still cheaper then a new truck and rock solid reliable I know that when my 1990 trans gos again (auto) its getting scraped and a 6 spd is going in!

 

I agree that they belong together! And I didn't know what to expect really but I thought him having a lift, 35's, and a 28' trailer I could at least keep up with him on the highway. What mod's can I do to make my truck go faster while towing with the od off? Even without a load or trailer I can only cruise around 65 @ 2000rpm's. With 2 tons of hay for my horses I was doing 45-50 at 2250rpm's.

 

The 24 valves are a whole nother animal, they fuel a bit harder and have 55 or more hp, we have a 2000 that we use to haul oilfield junk around, and im pretty surprised that with 330k miles it pulls better than our 02 7.3 ford.

Mostly mechanical mods, the 12 valve boys can fill you in more, but a performance or a "ground" fuel plate, a gsk (governor spring kit) to raise your rpm and allow it to fuel more, an upgraded turbo and some injectors and you can make it pretty gnarly. With a 5 or 6 spd manual you would have a pulling beast, with an auto it would have to be built well to support the power and give you more favorable shifts.

I would look into the 12 valve section and see what exactly the auto can handle thats gonna be your limiting factor

 

The 97/98 12 valves were the best engines you could get in the 2nd gen trucks. As long as they have a stick, that is arguably the best combination dodge put together.

That said, my 01 has the disc brakes, extra doors, "updated" interior, and a couple other little things, that the early trucks didn't have.

The engine has been pretty good overall, the VP pump was horrible, so were the lift pumps, but after replacing the LP with something good, and 6 VP pumps later, the thing has been otherwise fairly bulletproof.

This is a truck, that although I have my complaints about it, has worked every day of its life. It starts every day, from +40 to -60 C, and goes out to do the job. I have replaced ball joints, u-joints, and other consumables, but that is expected.

Note that all the VP's were under warranty of some sort. This new one has made 3 years with no hiccups.

I understand the dilemma of putting 5k into a 5k truck. Doesn't make much sense. On the other hand, I was just offered an 01 4x4/quad cab/auto, loaded with 180,000km for $8k this afternoon.

So, good luck with your choices.

 

You could buy the 01 and swap in the 6-speed into the 97 or drop the 12V into the 01...

Or use the p-pump of the 97 and install it on your 01..and part out the 97 to recover costs..

Or maybe shop around and find a 12V with a 5-speed,then sell your 97 auto..

 

I'm in Arizona visiting my brother, and there are a lot more options down here in the cities. I found a couple of manuals, some of them are even the 12v. Gonna look at a few and try to make a decision. Thanks for the help

 

I think your on the right track Brandon...

 

The best thing I did to mine was put the nv4500 in after breaking two autos, even a "built" one from nadp but thats a whole other story! Defiantly night and day towing with it.... I say swap a stick into the 12 valve.

 

Just trying to give you more info to help you decide. You could put a +8 plate in your 180 hp pump or just slide your stock plate forward. I saw a 180 auto put 250 to the ground at 6k' altitude with a #8 plate only. I think his trans was beefed up a little. The 96-98.4 5pd is 215 hp and will make a lot more, cheaply, and the stock clutch can take up to ~750 tq. A totally stock 215 5 spd isn't much to rave about, either. They need some pump mods to broaden the power range and give it more top end so they will get up thru the gears on steep ramps/hills. When mine was stock, I tried to start up a mtn pass and couldn't get above 2nd gear cuz of the extremely narrow power band and I knew it could have pulled it in 4th if I could have had a run for it, before hitting the steepest part. The 5spd also has a week point... the OD gear and mainshaft. The only permanent fix is the whole mainshaft/gear kit. I had to do mine at 30k miles. It was out of the 3 yr warranty. The 5spd conversion is a little simpler than a 6 spd. The 6 spd doesn't have a speedo drive. I don't know why a 5spd would be better than a 6 spd for towing, given the 5spd OD problem and wider spread gears. Maybe if you compare it to a G56 and dual mass clutch. I've driven a G56 and I would still much rather have that than a 5 spd. Many of the early 24Vs had the 53 block. A lot of them cracked but I never heard of one cracking at stock power. 4 wh disc didn't happen til 01.5. Are you cornfused enough yet? I considered all those thing before I decided to skip the early 24V and buy at least an 03 CR. Craig

 

Def confused. Why would the manual have more horses? What pump mods give you top end? The gov springs? I live in western Montana so mountains are everywhere. I didn't know the 5sp had an od. I was under the impression you could tow in every gear with a manual without worry. What is a G56? Do you know of anyone that has put a 6sp behind their 96-98.5 12v?

 

manuals tow better because the power is put to the ground and not lost in the converter/trans ,G56 is the newer 6spd dodge used, shifts a lot nicer then the NV5600 and as long as your not pulling super heavy loads od is ok ,most guys dont like to tow in od because its the weakest gear . the nv 4500 and 5600 1st and 5-6 are the same the split between the others is closer with a 6spd and makes getting big loads moving easyer. also the nv4500s that dont have a fully splined main shaft suffer from loosing 5th gear if its been updated is ok you wont loose 5th again. there are lots of guys with 12v and 6spds even a few 1st gens.

 

As far as towing with the 5 speed, there is no problem towing in fifth, as long as you don't lug it, keep the rpm above 1500 and it will be fine. The governor springs defiantly make a big difference on the top end as will a fuel plate, if you tow lots go with a #10 plate

 

As for mods...The 3k springs (for sure) really wakes the truck up..plus a fuel plate and even 215 injectors(175 and 180 pumps have 192 injectors,215 pumps have 215 injectors)...I have both a #10 plate and a zero...I have a zero in my truck right now..Don't elimate the smaller pumps...The 175 and 180pumps can be good preformers..But you have to get gauages for the safety factor when startings mods
The 5-speed is consider a OD...But who starts out in 1st bull low..Its more of a 4-speed with bull low..


If you find a 94 to 98, 5-speed truck(if its stock) your pumps will be
94-95 175 pump standard trans,160 auto
96-98 215 pump (I hope i'm not wrong that 96, 5-speed where 215 and auto are 180)

So if your looking for a truck..also consider the 94 and 95..So whatever year you get..don't worry...with only some very inexpensive mods,you will have a very good towing truck..

 

[QUOTE=Diesel Dave2; 215 injectors(175 and 180 pumps have 192 injectors,215 pumps have 215 injectors


If you find a 94 to 98, 5-speed truck(if its stock) your pumps will be
94-95 175 pump standard trans,160 auto
96-98 215 pump (I hope i'm not wrong that 96, 5-speed where 215 and auto are 180

I see the +70, 100, 150 injectors, then on another site they say they have 300, 330 etc.. horse injectors. But its not +, the 300 horse injectors are cheaper than the +100 injectors so I am assuming there is a discrepancy that I am not seeing(any help there?). And these pumps you are referencing in correlation with injectors, I don't understand. I am not familiar with a number coming with the pump other than model #