Quote Originally Posted by abmobil
Well the Viper was introduced in 1989 with the V10 , and it wasent avalible in the Ram till 1994.
So no it wasent intially for a truck.
The truck v10 and the Viper version were vastly different for ovious reasons.
I hate quoting Wiki but i don't have time this morning for one of my long explanations.

Magnum V10 -

Originally conceived in the 1980s as a truck engine for the larger Rams, the Magnum V10 was re-engineered as the engine of the Dodge Viper in 1990 by Chrysler Engineering, and used in the Ram 2500 starting in the 1994 redesign of the Ram line. It provided far less power than the V10 in the Viper and used a cast-iron cylinder block. Output was 300 hp (220 kW) and 400 lb·ft (540 N·m). It was discontinued after the 2003 model year.

Same platform built up to a higher specs and more efficient tolerances.