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Are you happy with your 4.7L V8?

  • Love my 4.7

    Votes: 193 41.5%
  • Kind of wish I went with the 5.7

    Votes: 134 28.8%
  • REALLY wish I went with the 5.7

    Votes: 103 22.2%
  • I'm not picky..

    Votes: 35 7.5%

Poll: Happy with your 4.7?

143K views 379 replies 148 participants last post by  woody31 
#1 ·
Me personally, I wish I would have spent the extra coin for the 5.7.. it wouldnt have been that much more expinsive, and with the MDS system you get the same MPGs as the 4.7.

I stuck to my budget and the only thing I HAD to have was a black CrewCab. I just wish I would have added 5.7 and dual exhaust to that list lol.

Oh well.. it was my first purchase of a new vehicle so all I can do is learn.
 
#208 ·
I got rid of my 4.7 liter engine and put an entire smart car under my hood(tight fit) for better gas mileage. Now my baby goes 0 to 60 in 5 hours and get 25mpg. To help with the horsepower I took a blow torch to the floorboards and now me and my friends do the Flintstones for extra HP.
 
#211 ·
I traded my 2010 4.7 ram for a 2012 5.7 Tundra.. Thing is a beast.

BTW I have a superchips tuner for sale from my 2010 4.7.. fits other years and engines also - PM me.
 
#213 ·
What a good and long thread! I inherited my wife's 2011 4.7 Outdoorsman with 4500 miles on it. I have a 2011 CTD but driving 80 miles a day it's forbidden. We got her 4.7 for town and little driving with safety in mind. I'm slightly disappointed with its mileage - everything is like its moving with a full diaper. 55-68 is my daily mph and 16.4 is my constant hand calculated mpg. Dropping in a K&N and 89 octane got me 17.6. I can't see how others are tapping 18-20. Now my gauge shows 18-22 mostly but a rolling hill it drops to 12 and ECO goes away. The dealer offering only 20k ( and the truck in my wife's name only and she said she is not trading) means I get to drive this for a good while. I would get the 2012 Laramie HEMI that is calling me.
 
#214 ·
^hm that is strange. I get 20mpg EASY even at 75-80mph. At 65mph I can get 21, 22 mpg. Obviously hills change that. But still. I did 2600 miles(IIRC) a couple months ago from FL to TN to AR and back to FL, with about 1,000-1,500 lbs in the truck, avg speed about 75mph, and over the whole trip avg mpg was 20mpg.

I do have a tuner, that was on 87 octane.
 
#217 ·
Dont feel bad.. I never hit those numbers either - to be honest I think MOST of the claims are BS. People looking down at the EVIC and seeing 22mpg (for that moment) and go around claiming they get 20+mpg. You should get a tuner (I am selling mine by the way) and run 93 oct.. it boosted my mpgs by about 14%. K&N filter and a more free flowing exhaust would help too.
 
#218 ·
My 20mpg on my trip was avg and calculated. EVIC showed like 19.8 IIRC avg over the trip, so it was pretty close.

My EVIC has always been within 1/2 mpg to calculated mpg. I think the reason people have EVIC readings that aren't right is because they don't reset the EVIC right when filling up and leave it. If you reset it 15 miles down the road it will throw it off when compared to you calculated mpg.

The last trip before that one that I calculated mpg I had about 500 lb in the truck and got 22mpg avg to jacksonville and back, that was at 60-65mph though, on the 93 tune. Wife was driving the truck, following me. I was in a uhaul, hence the 60-65mph.
 
#219 ·
I'm glad to hear the people who have 4.7 motors and love them are lucky enough to get over 140k out of it..Usually that's about all there good for..I LOVE 4.7 Motors but my reason is a little different " I love them because"~ I know if I want a nice RAM I can find one with a blown 4.7 and put a Hemi in it and have less than $6,000.00 in the whole thing .. The 5.7 is probably one of the best engines built , but the 4.7 "Semi Hemi"~ is defenately the WORST~ "That's only my opinion" and I'm sure someone will disagree , and that's fine...But (most) people who say they Love there 4.7 has not seen 200 K on there tach ...It won't get that high...
 
#220 ·
4.7 - not so great

I bought my truck used a few months ago with only 8000 miles on it. Love the gas mileage, torque is ok, but tranny is mushy, BUT the worst part is that KNOCKING sound on idle.

Sounds like a civil war going on under the hood randomly when idling cold OR hot.....embarrassing, annoying and ridiculous.....sounds like a cross between a bad lifter, and a GM piston slap......and of course, the dealer says it's "normal" .... yeah, maybe the HEMI would have been better.

Been doing mechanical work for years, never thought knocking was considered to be a "normal" attribute of a properly functioning motor.
 
#338 ·
I bought my 4.7 Durango new in 02. I've put 200000 miles on it and I couldn't be happier. I drag my 20' fiberglass boat all over the state with it. If you need performance parts for your 4.7 try http://www.airram.com/index.php
Same with a new '02 Dakota 4.7 AWD, high-set 3.55s, around 215k and the still-stock motor is outlasting the front components but it ran 33-34's BFGs on 16" predominately in it's life. It dragged a 26' Outback TT across country a few times. Many a solid floor planting of the throttle plate for long periods through the southwest and a topic of gas station inquiries on if it had upgrades for a small truck to tow that TT at speed.

Mostly due to better rubber and also great power distribution in 4x4, it's also been the "you go first" truck and a great woods truck due to smaller size and lift. It's been a solid machine and all who have known it through the 12+ years have grown fond of it. Slow, rarely stuck and never down. I hope this soapboxing doesn't jinx the old ride.
 
#222 ·
I tell you, I was happy with my 4.7. For my first real truck, it was adequate. The 08+ 4.7 is the best one of the 2, but now that I have my hemi (aside from oil changes being more expensive), I could not, and would not go back. Same fuel economy (actually better in town) and alot more oomph.

4.7 was great and I am sure it will be reliable as it was for me for the next guy to own it, but...the Hemi is where its at.
 
#223 ·
I had an '11 crew cab with the 4.7 and I just traded it in for a 2012 crew cab with the Hemi. I do a lot of camping and I tow a 5500 lb travel trailer through the mountains in Alberta and BC and the 4.7 just didn't have the power through the mountains. My mileage was between 11-13 mpg towing on the highway and I could get it up to 22-23 mpg highway not towing. Towing this trailer on the prairies out here wasn't a problem.

I will be towing my trailer with my new truck for the first time this Friday and am pretty excited to feel the difference in power.
 
#226 ·
Love it and hate the hills too

I'm only two weeks into owning my used 05 4.7 It's my first truck, and coming from a Honda CRV it's a step up. But man, its such a dog up hill. Otherwise, i'm super happy. I too am hoping some mods will take care of some of the sluggishness.
 
#228 ·
I use misuse my 4.7l I have 105000 and every bit has been rough I drag a 14000 pound mini excavator she takes it but live on coast no hills I hit a bridge and she grunts but overall been a great truck I have a few mods but nothing crazy but would love to get rid a knocking sounds drives me crazy hopefully she will last until afford 2500 but the 08 4.7 has dif. Got it compared to other small v8s
 
#229 ·
I have a 1500 cuad cab 03. And I bough it with a knocking on the motor. Now I had a mechanic checked it before buying it and he told me that it wasn't going to last more then a month. I have a motor that came out of a dodge Durango 4.7 and I bought it cheap and the mechanic is working on it swap in it but he called me today and said that the motor has the same problem that cilinder8 is in bad shape just as bad as my old one and the crankshaft is in bad shape too just as bad. So I'm screwed because I'm 1600 in a whole an no truck. The question is Is that a common problem with the 4.7 engine that the cilinder#8 goes bad. I'm afraid I can't afford another motor because everywhere I have look its $1800 or more and I don't know if should keep buying engines if this truck has a factory problem on its engines and its going to break again?
 
#230 ·
I dont hate the 4.7 engine itself, just mine! My engine has fallen victim to the notorious oil sludge problem, as with many others and needs to be replaced. I bought my truck used, with about 55K on the truck. I kept up with the oil/filter changes every 3K miles did not tow or haul anything regular. Now I have a shot engine that needs changing. The reman one I am buying has been reengineered to correct all the problems initially built into the motor. So maybe I will be happy with my 4.7 again!
 
#231 ·
I was in a toss up on the 4.7 or hemi but I went with the 4.7. After two years driving on the autobahn in Germany with it, the year in a half here driving it in the states, I can say I love it and I wouldn't trade it for the 5.7. Now with the tuner coming in, it'll fix some of the shotty shift points but we'll see.
 
#234 ·
I did not answer the poll because I just traded in my 4.7 on a Hemi. However, the 4.7 had 135k on it and never gave me a single problem. It got great gas milage and ran smooth every day of it's life with me. If I did not need the extra power to pull my horse trailer, I would have kept it. I just hope the 5.7 comes close to being as reliable as my 4.7.
 
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