Any advice on cam swaps for high mileage 5.7’s?
I have a 2006 ram 1500 with the 5.7 hemi (pre eagle) and a 545rfe. It has 308k miles on the clock right now, no check engine lights, runs and drives fine, good oil pressure. The truck was a gift to me after my grandpa passed and I didn’t need another truck but it’s special to me. I’ve already done some high mileage odds and ends stuff like suspension and addressing any check engine lights. I’ve put a cold air intake on it and a Diablo i3 tune, but I’m wanting a little more out of it and always have wanted a cammed v8. The kit I’m looking at is a comp cams stage 1 216/222 cam kit. It comes with a new oil pump, gaskets, bolts, springs, and most upgraded valve train stuff that comes in these kits. Along with it I’m gonna buy mds delete oem lifters, new water cooler, and timing chain assembly. From what I’ve seen with some other little mods like ac clutch fan delete and long tubes(which I already have, and plan to install when I pull the heads). It should be making around 420whp. My concerns are the transmission and any problems that I should address while having it apart. Is the cam a bad idea? Did I miss any parts? Has anyone reading this cammed their high mileage hemi? How did it go? Money isn’t really an issue with this build, so if worse comes to worse and the transmission takes a dump I may install a new stage 2 fully built and assembled, or a lower mileage unit.
Posted Jul 10, 2026, 5:55 PM UTC