Greetings all, I am new to the forum and I am looking for some guidance. I have a 99 Dodge Ram 1500 with a 318. I have 150000 k miles and my engine seems to have lost a ton of power and gas mileage sucks. so here is my question.

Should I rebuild the existing engine or go with a crate motor?

Should I change the gear ratio in the rear end to get more power or better gas gas mileage? right now i'm getting about 13 in town 16 highway.

this is my DD and I don't pull a trailer much anymore, but I do haul some light loads.

looking forward to feedback.

 

First off, welcome!

Is this truck 2wd or 4wd? Is the transmission auto or stick? Do you know what you have for gears in the axle(s) now and what size tire you are running? Answers to these questions will help out greatly.

I wouldn't bother keeping the 318 or rebuilding it. While a great motor, I feel that the 360 has much more to offer. If you decide to get a crate motor, look at the 360s.

If you have an automatic transmission, when was the last time it was serviced and rebuilt? Most of the time, these transimissions only last ~75,000 miles at the most.

I'll give you my answer about gear ratios for the axle(s) once you let us know if its 2wd or 4wd and what gears you have now.

 

this is the only time i feel a 360 is better than the 318 and that in a work truck, as 78d200 stated.

 

Rust will be an issue soon! My $.02 is just toss in another used 5.2 from Craigslist, there's a gazillion of them out there. And put your money in the bank for the next truck. Dont get me wrong, I have 257,000 on my 95 4x4 Ram on the original 5.2 motor and trans, and I love this truck! But you are at the point where all you should do is maintain it. Not put money into improving it.