3g Hemi with A518 install

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Redtruck-VA

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I have a 03 Ram hemi and replacing the 545RFE with an A518. Does anyone know if the 518 and 545 drive shaft yoke uses the same 6 spline yoke?

Thanks,
Greg
 
What I have been told is the yoke from the 545rfe will fit the A518. I posted this conversion here because I thought there would be some interest of a hemi being mated up with the A518 trans. Apparently I was wrong...
 
It's Interesting...

It just takes time to get feedback on here. This isn't the most popular section of the forum.

Thanks for sharing and good luck
 
I have been talking with Martin Saine for almost two years and I'm finally fortunate to have him building a custom A518 with some billet pieces. Along with the trans he's also assembling the controls for TCC and OD. The 518's OD is .69 and the 545 .67. This is something like 200 rpm at 70 mph. The bigger difference is 1st gear. The 545 is 3:00 and the A518 is 2:45. To deal with the higher 1st gear I talked to Andre at Edge and he's providing a billet converter with a stall of 3000 cut for a little better multiplier to make up for the gear. I'm currently using a Edge converter with a stall of 2800 with the 545. 4:10 gear on 30"tires I have serious traction problems through 1st gear, so I think the 2:45 1st will actually launch the old truck harder. To keep it simple in bolting the trans to the 3g hemi I have ordered a PATC adapter (flexplate) to use a stock configured converter. The alternative would be a custom machined one off converter to fit, which makes no sense with the availability of these flexplates.. A 2005 manual trans starter is needed to fit the ring gear. I already use a TCI FastGate shifter so that's no problem. Since my truck is a 03 it already uses a remote APPS, so connecting the TV cable will just require a little fabrication using Lokar kit. Anyway that's where I'm at at the moment.
 
That's awesome. Sounds like a well thought out package. I have often thought about using the 518 with a g3 swap. Just haven't gotten there yet.

Thanks for the info.
 
Thanks, it'll all be built to hold 600+hp without issue. A time slip will tell if I'm on track or not.... pun intended....lol
 
Redtruck,

I have a 518 that was going behind my 360, but just found a 6.1 I am picking up. Any advice or things you learned would be appreciated. My 518 is a two pin.

Thanks

Jason
 
I believe 90/91. Not certain. I searched for quite a while-maybe 2 years or so to find one. Now, I wasn't scouring the earth, but I was looking. Honestly, now that I have it, not certain it was worth the wait after I saw all the easy solutions with controlling the LU.
 
Sorry guys, I was on travel. The trans I have is a three pin. This gives you both LU and OD. This works great and with a high stall converter actually feels like a five spd. at normal speeds. When playing I turn off the LU and OD and it feels like the old 545RFE with OD turned off. My transmission is actually a 96' 46RE with some 46RH guts to act like a A518 3 pin. The trans bolts up to the 3g hemi using the PATC flexplate and 05 Ram 2500 manual trans starter. The original Ram drive shaft fits without mods and the cross member only need the mount holes elongated a tad. IMO, this is a great swap for replacing the 545RFE.
 
Redtruck,

Thanks for the response. I have been on my butt for a bit with this swap, I appreciate any advice, comments etc before I do it. Always best to learn from others experience before doing it.

Jason
 
This is a simple install with the hardest part being fabricating the Throttle Valve (TV) cable. The fly by wire has few if any physically moving parts to connect to. The 03 Ram APPS, along with the pedal assembly are candidates. I read where a professional swap shop attached a cable to the internal workings of the APPS and apparently it worked and looked good. I choose to extend the pedal arm and attached to it going directly through the fire wall to the trans.
This is a picture of the APPS the shop did.


And this is the modified pedal assembly I went with.
 
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