Magnum 5.9 Swapped ‘84 Dodge D150 Stepside! Your Ticket To Burnouts And Fun

Today on Dead Dodge Garage, it’s not the Magnum swapped Dodge stepside you expected, but it /is/ Dustin’s new muscle truck. Update, since this video was filmed it has developed a draining battery problem. You can look forward to that nightmare in episode two.

[@pres589]

Okay, the cut scene to driving at night with the busted wiper, and yelling "REMEMBER WINDSHIELD WIPERS?" had me laughing so hard tears came to my eyes. Very glad to find this channel and subscribe.

[@musclecarmitch908]

Awesome truck! I'd love to have that thing! Minus the lowering though!👍

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

I prefer stock. A little lowered is cool with me but it needs to be less tire rubby.

[@thegrey8643]

Chrysler electrical at that time period was garbage (the magnum engine era), so I deleted the EFI and put a Carter AFB 625cfm and a dual plane manifold. Kept the sensors to feed the gauges on the dash and converted the fuel system to a return style with an adjustable regulator.

[@moparts52]

I do love Dodge Trucks

[@scottsullivan1464]

Jamie, I didn't know stepside square body eras trucks came with wood floors until last year and I was around when they were new

[@NoWr2Run]

One more thing, " NEEDS A POSI ".

[@urielgarcia4567]

Really Clean Truck, ID save my engine for a future truck to do something like this 😁 Would it of been too hard to keep the engines stock ecu and wire it into the truck?

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

No, the stock ECU would’ve been much, much easier. If I was in the room when this setup was engineered, I would’ve told them to do that. The tunability really isn’t worth the few extra horsepower it could potentially make, given the complexity of getting it to work right. For a street driven vehicle, the stock ECU is just fine.

[@noahknowhow318]

Neato concept. I've never been too partial to the magnum swap but seeing it's true muscle truck potential...

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

I love it. Works super well, simple, easy to wire, bolts right in there. A little anemic compared to new hemi and LS, but just don’t make that comparison and all is well. Haha.

[@bennyboyy7]

It's the same as the old LA, if you get a crate 360 they come with a bigger cam, better valve springs and slightly more flow. Pushing a good 50 or more HP than stock with the same amount of torque roughly

[@kellismith4329]

@@bennyboyy7 yep, way better to have the carbuerated engine, those magnums are not that great after you have to work on them a bit, not fun

[@Impactjunky]

@@DeadDodgeGarage I daily drive a 68 Satellite with a carb swapped 5.9 Magnum and Hughes cam that Car Craft picked as one of the top ten budget builds of the 2018 Hot Rod Power Tour and nobody with a N/A modern Hemi has been able to keep up with me so far. According to Hughes Engines my 5.9 Magnum is making somewhere in the ballpark of 400-430 HP and 450 TQ and its sitting in a car that only weighed 3400 pounds stock and puts down 1.8 second 60 foot times on street tires. A 2022 Charger weighs over 4000 pounds and makes 370 HP and 395 TQ. I have an advantage of 30-60 HP, 55 TQ and 800 pounds. Not to mention the fact that the old school 904 torqueflite wastes less power on the way to the wheels, has a better first gear for launching and burnouts, weighs about a hundred pounds less and wastes less time shifting through multiple gears than the 8 speed auto that comes in a new Charger. Their is literally no reason to modern Hemi swap when its so much easier and more affordable and yields better results to Magnum swap.

[@allanperryman388]

Looks fun! Thanks Jamie

[@alexgrazioso2506]

Nice!!!!! Love the stepsides!

[@craigbowley6783]

That truck is so sweet!

[@johnchapman3446]

Thanks Jamie, I am not sure but 92 D/W was still throttle body injecttion.... but knowing mother Mopar.... it could of been a mid year change over.... I know all 93s were multi port injection. Thanks for the imput.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

The 5.2 went multi point injection ("Magnum") in 1992. The 5.9 didn't until 1993. At least that is my understanding. As you say though, it's hard to nail down exactly when things happened at Chrysler.

[@johnchapman3446]

Well you are more up on the newer stuff...lol I know you seem to like older mopars.....the stuff I grew up with and worked on. As nessity....and hobby.

[@bulletproofpepper2]

Your serpentine belt path is right? Just asking. “Super squirt system” or “mega squirt system” I have heard that in 35-40 years back when I was a kid. Thanks for sharing.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

MegaSquirt… I am confused

[@ChiruStone]

Thats one helluva truck, fiuuuu thats cool!

[@kgsartin]

Love it, guessing that's an MS2? I see the 16x16 map. Would you mind doing a video of the wiring? I'd love to see how wired it into the distributor and the settings in the megasquirt.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Oh yeah. I should do that. Will have to get it back over here at some point anyway. I had planned on diving into it a lot more than I did, but the dead wideband sort of put a pin in that.

[@flaircraft]

There's a good writeup that used to be available on the Dakota-Durango website, with a downloadable step-by-step instruction manual. I used it to get my MS built and wired up on my 5.2 swap.

[@kgsartin]

@@flaircraft Can you share a link?

[@NoWr2Run]

If you have a " MEGA SQUIRTER " go to Motel or Hotel, NICE LOOKING TRUCK.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

🤣

[@dantupper1784]

Superfastmatt is always interesting. Cool truck. Tried sending an image of a multi side-draft carb aussie 273 to the FB account.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Interesting, I haven’t seen that come through. I just saw a crazy side draft setup on a small block, and it pretty clearly was an intake for a different small block mounted to adapter spacers to make it all work. Good food for thought.

[@dantupper1784]

@@DeadDodgeGarage Yup- you are correct- really expanded the image- sbc intake w/adaptors, dangit. I had my hopes as the aussies cast up some cool stuff like the long runner /6 intake with the 'horse shoe' center runners for closer to equal-length runners.

[@bennyboyy7]

A little-less express

[@joecampisi540]

Stock cam ? Looks very healty!

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

I’m not sure, but I believe so. Whatever it is, it works!

[@johnchapman3446]

Hi Jamie, I have a question.... or a million..lol I have a '93 W150 with 5.9 magnum that I have been bringing back to us as my daily. I have driven it a whopping 14 miles so far. As is my nature I bought another truck for some parts. It is a '94 Ram 1500 2wd. 5.9 magnum. I am pulling the motor out to keep for spare or parts. I am sure you know 93 w150s are hard to find. Is the wiring harness a good idea to save? Squirrels did damage to the 93 that I have gotten mostly fixed now. Still working a little bit at a time. I don't know how much difference there is between the last of the D/W trucks and the first of the Ram trucks. Any imput would be helpful. Thanks

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

I have never spent enough time looking at a ‘92-‘93 Magnum truck to compare that setup with the Ram. But I doubt there is much useful interchange between them. The PCMs on trucks of that generation were mounted in a completely different spot, so even the engine wiring which functions the same would not be of use to you. That’s definitely a rare duck. Your donors of choice would be ‘92-‘93 5.2 trucks or ‘93 5.9 trucks. It shouldn’t matter what size 150-350, or whether it is two or four wheel drive.

[@ImCallingYouOUT1]

I see Vice Grip Garage infkuence in your videos, especially with your hand gestures. Not a bad thing

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

There’s no question he’s been an influence on me. And at the end of the day, I’m a “funny” backwoods guy working on cars with a camera. Seems pretty hard to do without a bit of overlap. It’s when people tell me that I’m trying to copy him that I get a little pissed. I mean, come on, it should be pretty obvious that I’m actually trying to copy AvE but with cars, and a cleaner mouth. Haha. It is not my intention to copy VGG, or to capitalize on his success. I waved at something on camera very early on in the channel, and a friend’s girlfriend said it was hilarious, so I took that to heart and kept doing it. It’s an integral part of my style at this point so here we are.

[@ImCallingYouOUT1]

@@DeadDodgeGarage I can see the influence, but otherwise you are not copying him. You definitely have your own personality and it’s a funny one. Good job.

[@ARKANSASHUBCAP]

Nice truck looking good she got to fix that swishy exhaust noise yuck I hate that noise it sounds like it's sucking more than blowing that's my story and I'm sticking to it keep on trucking good job bud

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Big time. Exhaust is on the docket for sure. Haha.

[@americanjoetv1390]

She's beautiful. Lol my grandmother had the same truck but in tan. Grandpa had the dark red version.

[@dtruth5769]

I had 79 warlock I put a Worked 383 in it. Was a blast.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

That sounds amazing.

[@dantheadventureman]

I have a 73 Dodge W200 manual/LA 360. If I picked up a magnum engine and converted it to carbureted would I be able to use the original 73 engine wire harness with little to no modifications? If so, what year range magnum engine should I be looking for? Thanks and love the videos

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Absolutely. You’ll have to use a balanced Magnum 5.9 flywheel from a ram truck if you’re using a 5.9 - and I’m not totally sure on clutch and starter fitment there. I’ve never done that myself but have heard of others doing so. But as I understand the balance weight is different, so you can’t just use your 360 flywheel. Without the EFI, and ignoring the intake mounting difference and other small mechanical differences (like the lack of a fuel pump eccentric,) a Magnum IS an LA - and it will be wired exactly the same. You’ll even use your same distributor. All Magnums are essentially the same, 92/93-2002/2003. The only differences are in EFI parts you won’t be using.

[@dantheadventureman]

@@DeadDodgeGarage Beautiful, thank you. I have a Sniper EFI setup on my LA right now, so the fuel pump won't be an issue. You mentioned the intake, would my aftermarket four barrel aluminum intake that's on my LA 360 not work for the Magnum 360?

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

@@dantheadventureman No, they use a different intake bolt configuration. You will need a Magnum specific manifold. You bet!

[@OldIron2188]

Roadkill Mopar Muscle Truck II?!

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Well I think my ‘79 is more like II - it’s almost even the same color. So this one can be III. Haha.

[@booya1957]

If this is a budget build ok but pre 1990 small block can make more power with 340 parts from summit or kegs but this a good video for the newer motors not coming from a crate

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

It’s not about power, it’s about drivability. Almost nothing I do is about squeezing horsepower out of things, with the exception of my Garbage Can Cuda build. I would never need any more than what this stock Magnum makes for a street driven vehicle. Also, I’m really curious what “340 parts” you mean, given that the difference between the 318 and the 340 is a set of pistons, cylinder heads, and a cam - none of which are available from those websites in stock form.

[@NathansMoparGarage]

Nice truck, a carb would have been much less of a headache.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

I agree, compared to the MegaSquirt. The factory PCM is much easier to deal with. That’s the way I would’ve gone with this, as that was exactly my plan with the ‘79.

[@autopar3000]

Being an EFI Magnum swap guy, this video speaks to me. Does it have a 3 speed or OD trans?

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

It is a 3 speed with a lockup converter. The extra overdrive gear would’ve been nice, but it does highway cruise quite nicely with the converted locked.

[@autopar3000]

@@DeadDodgeGarage oh nice. I had a 904 lockup (A999?) out of an 85 5th Avenue in my car for years. It worked really well.

[@Roosters_Restos]

@@DeadDodgeGarage I happen to have a 46re Trans if ya want it. It's out of a 300 maxi van so the 727 equivalent with push button od. Lots of guys like that when they put 390 gears in a 8.75 rear. I got all kinds of tricks Jamie that don't cost a arm and a leg and some that you need to trade your first born too lol.

[@Impactjunky]

@michaelmcintyre3336 I decided not to go with the huge heavy OD trans in my Magnum swap. It weighs over 100 pounds more than the stock 904, puts less HP to the wheels, has a weaker first gear, and I would have needed to cut up the floor of my classic car to make it fit. Definitely not worth the one extra gear in my opinion. Thus I made the informed decision NOT to cut the car up just to make it car slower and stuck with the stock 3 speed auto. Also carb swapping is the way to go, jailbreaking the engine from its anemic computer/fuel system is one of the critical mods for a 5.9 Magnum. You will absolutely never get that two barrel throttle body to perform like a properly sized four barrel carb. All but a couple of Hughes cams require a carb or aftermarket throttle body and substantially modified/tuned EFI and the ones that don't need those fuel system mods are so tame you may as well not even bother cam swapping.

[@autopar3000]

@Impactjunky interesting, my experience is almost the exact opposite of yours. I now have an EFI 5.9 in a 70 Dart with the 46rh. I'm just cruising the car, so for me with the 3.23 gear I'm running 1800 rpm at 65 mph, which is way more important to me than a few tenths in the quarter mile. My entire setup is from a 1994 B350. I started with the Hughes SER0814ALN-14 cam and headers, and the 46rh was rebuilt with a 2500 stall torque converter before I put everything in. I later found an EFI M1 intake, and most recently I scored a Mopar Performance OBD1 computer part number P5249546. The only thng I'm missing is a bigger throttle body and maybe a 3.73 gear. I've owned the car for 25+ years and had all manner of small block engine and transmission combos, but for me at this stage of my life the current setup is the best. I don't race the car, I just took it down a dragstrip for the only time ever (just last month) and it ran a 13.4 at 105 mph. That's way fast enough for me, since I'm just cruising the car anyway. But I'll have to admit that with it being a computer controlled drivetrain the car has lost a bit of its soul. A carbureted car with a big hairy cam and 3 speed auto gives a guy strong muscle car vibes, and now I don't have that.

[@briangoldy8784]

2015 Dodge Ram. 5.7 R/T 2 Door (Hemi) My Truck Flies, Garage Kept since New,. Blow the Doors off Ford & Chevy. I Stopped in Chrysler Dodge, Jeep Dealership. Truck Sales Team running at me. Laid a Burnout flipping the bird🖕.. Never sell or Trade my truck.

[@robertspence831]

Sweet.

[@mylescopeland7426]

WINDSHIELD WIPERRRSSS!!!!

[@michaelstrafello7346]

Reminds me of my Lil red truck that I use to own ,which reminds of why I hate drunken greedy people

[@Roosters_Restos]

Jamie I should watch the whole video before I comment lol. But it will always break loose like that till you change the rear-end out like I said.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

It definitely needs a limited slip. I am well familiar with truck wheel hop problems. Unfortunately the symmetrical spring doesn’t make magic the way the car springs do.

[@Roosters_Restos]

@@DeadDodgeGarage ok some tricks to get it to hook. One is shove a b body rear axle in it like I did so 8 3/4. It bolts right in. The springs are like super stock springs to strong so 10 90 shocks in the front. Then it will weight transfer. So b body rear axles are 4" narrower so this allows for more rhubarb and some sticky Hoosier street slicks a must. If you get 300hp to hook you will smoke so many cars lol trust the old guy on that one

[@Roosters_Restos]

@@DeadDodgeGarage oh ya what rear does it have? Should be 8 1/4 or could be 9 1/4. 8.25 kits are available from Eaton for 400 bucks. 3.55 gears are stock and that's fine for what your doing. Ya kinda have a warlock type truck and that's neat

[@booya1957]

Jegs not kegs. Kegs are for later lol

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Got it. Haha.

[@misters2837]

What is with the left foot?

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Unconscious habit brought on by years and years of double footing garbage? 😅

[@NickStoops-u1s]

What fuel pump did you use

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

I don’t know what it had. I didn’t do the swap myself. The only good inline frame mount pump I can recommend is the fancy and expensive Holley pump. I don’t remember a part number or anything like that.

[@dasprite83]

Wht types of wheels on your stepside

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

I don’t know what they’re called, and they came on it. I believe they were American Racing brand though.

[@pablochavez9087]

Have read that those Megasquirts are not worth the headache. Better to tune a factory ECU. That is what I have heard though. LOVE that truck. I have a shorty truck aswell with the 5.9 bit mine is a 95. I just did the timing chain and installed an electrical cooling fan. Feel like it should have more burnout power considering the average engine PSI was 145 PSI. Almost like new. Think the problem is the rear diff ratio of 3.55. Any thoughts? What is your experience with the 3.55 diff?

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

3.55 should be sufficient for burnouts unless you’re on big crazy tires. Is your catalytic converter half clogged? Ours was… and it still did burnouts. I don’t even care about tuning the ECU. The stock tune (even the early / OBD1) is more than sufficient for something like this that gets driven on the street and will never hit a track or a burnout competition. Completely agree that MegaSquirt is a headache - but the capabilities are definitely impressive. One way or another, it is something I want to get a better grasp on.

[@pablochavez9087]

Cat is new. Even has a Flowmaster Super 44 muffler. Maybe I just need to give some brake while I give it gas. I just floor it and sometimes it burns out. It actually left two tire marks once. Supposed to have a LSD. I love my Ram. Keep up the great videos. Ehhh, if you ain't racing don't see the need for Megasquirt. K.I.S.S

[@flaircraft]

I have a MegaSquirt in my 5.2 Dakota. It's definitely time consuming to do the research to figure out all by yourself how to build the kit and wire everything up. Then you actually have to do the physical work of constructing the unit and building the wiring harness, after doing countless hours of research. Then tuning is a pain. On top of all that, it's not nearly as cheap as it should be. And, tech support is pretty meager unless you have an engine that is popular to put an MS on. The advantage is that you can tune fuel and spark infinitely yourself, instead of relying on somebody else's canned tune that may or may not work for your engine. Especially considering the Magnum computers aren't popular to tune so your tuning options are kind of expensive and limited compared to a Chevy or Mustang. TL,DR: If you've got a stockish engine, go with a tune on the factory ECU. If you're running cam/headers/ported heads etc., a MS is probably the better bet for proper tuning.

[@Roosters_Restos]

To bad it's a 5.2 and not a 5.9. Huge difference in power. Done a few. Now a 5.7hemi then you have a animal. First thing you have to do is put the rear axle on top of the springs. Trucks are designed to pick up load with torque cars weight transfer weight.

[@autopar3000]

@spanboats check out the 8:04 mark in the video.

[@Roosters_Restos]

@@autopar3000 ya my bad should have watched it through.

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Yes as you’ve noticed, it is axle flipped already. And as you’ve also noticed it’s a 5.9, which I was surprised to learn myself, as I was told it had a 5.2. The 5.7 hemi makes good power, until the heads fall apart. Also a much more expensive and complicated swap, and for what I do with these trucks (drive them) I much prefer the Magnum. Power is not everything to me - and 300 horsies is plenty for a daily driver. Having said that, I do have three destroyed 5.7 hemis to eventually turn into one kinda good one.

[@zachwillet4089]

You should dress it up like the little red but call it the little less express

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

The right one for that would’ve been my ‘79… that was the “Lil Red Express, But Less”

[@Roosters_Restos]

Wait till ya see my 79 lol

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

Definitely excited by the idea. Haha.

[@blackvine1782]

look ma, i'm om youtube!

[@georgecass8529]

318 is a better motor

[@DeadDodgeGarage]

I disagree - they’re both quite good.