Built or not a 318 will Not stay with a cummin's unless it's in a car or maybe a striped down 1/2 ton

 

Perhaps he was trying to compensate for another aspect of his manhood that was undersized too?

Like others, I own both. While my M880 with full time 4X4 will go anywhere in lo-loc I'd not embarass her by hooking up to my 1992 W250 6BT...

 

Hooking bumpers is NO contest! But if its a race you want.... a stock 2wd mid 90s S/B, Reg. cab 5.2 Dakota will put a hurt on most any mildly modified Cummins Ram.... I really dont understand how Dodge will put an R/T badge on anything and everything today but yet some how excluded those very deserving pickups of it in the 90s!

 

They did make a 5.9 R/T dakota back then.

 

The 318 is a good gasser engine, I remember working on them in the early 80's back in HS auto shop. The were in the 70's cars and trucks as well.

My father had a '66 Dodge Polara wagon that had the 383 in it.

 

Yea but not till 98 in the next (heavier) body style, I have a 99 Dakota 5.9 R/T and i love it! But my brother has a 95 Dakota w/ a 318 and i must say that when our trucks were bone stock he could run w/ me door to door.

 

They also made a Shelby Dakota with a 318, a sport version and a convertible. Seemed like in those days Shelby's were the RT's

 

One thing about the 318 is that they can be worn beyond belief, and still run like a top. I had one in a 70 van that someone begged me to sell him. I couldn't do it with a clean concience because I had been in it. .014" taper, floppy valves, bent main bearing cap, the whole works. Ran like a top.

 

Back in 81 I bought a new W250 that had a 318 4bbl in it. It was no slouch, but it would not fair very well against my stock 92 with a bad tranny. In 83 I put a 440 in that puppy bells and whistles included. Now that set up had potential. So much so a not so bright kid with his daddies brand new Chevy challenged me to a tug of war. He couldn't budge me and when he let off I got on it and bent his frame. Silly kid

 

318 is a great engine and they tough as hell, they will not pull like a cummins though. The one in my 95 dakota ran a 14.01 1/4 with serious traction issues on the line and cam out the end mid 90s MPH if memory serves. I've also hydrolocked one while hitting the rev limiter and it ran great another 30,000 before I sold the truck. I also knew a guy that ran up 600,000 on one before wrecking the truck it was in. Again great tough little engine.

Bottom line hooking bumpers you win race it's a toss up.

 

I could beat your Cummins with a 318 in a tug-of-war. As long as I set the rules.

I can use 4x4, you can't.
I can hook to my gooseneck ball, you have to hook to the bumper.
Having the tailgate on the truck is optional.

318's had just enough power, that they can get around good and do a little work, but not so much that they would tear anything up without you trying to tear things up.

They share block and head architecture with the 273, 340 and 360. The 273 used the same crank as the 318 and 340, with a smaller bore. The 340 used the 318 crank with a larger bore. The 360 uses an in-between bore with a longer crank, with larger bearings.

Magnum heads can be put on an earlier block, just need to get the Magnum lifters and pushrods, as it oils the top end through the pushrods. The older heads can't easily be put on a Magnum block as there is no way to oil the top end without machining or external oil lines.


When talking about heavy truck engines, the number tends to be the HP rating. So a 318 Detroit would be 318 HP, 400 Cummins is 400 HP, etc. If our motors were in a semi, we'd be calling them a 160 Cummins or a B series 160 Cummins instead of a 5.9 or 6BT.