Transmission Question

Last week while browsing the forum i came upon a specific thread that gave a link to a place where you could get all the vehicle options your Ram comes with. And one thing i was very interested in was the transmission. According to the spec sheet my truck has the 545RFE Transmission in it. The reason this caught my attention was because i wanted to know if it was a reliable transmission for towing and all around operation..?

Here a few of my truck's specs if that helps at all.

4.7 V8 Magnum
545RFE Transmission
3.55 Rear Axle Ratio
Corporate 9.25 LD Rear Axle

Pretty much the standard transmission for 4.7 and 5.7 engine's from 03-11 in the Dakota, Durango and Ram. It was used in a few other applications as well.

So they are pretty reliable then..? Guess I'm asking because my previous truck's transmission died on me hauling my camper. Mind you it was a 95 GMC Sierra. My '03 Ram seems to pull my camper with relative ease when I tried it the one time. And that was with my atv in the box to boot. Guess I just need to stop being paranoid. Thanks for the reply.

I have seen a few that needed rebuilding but over all it is pretty solid. They used it for quite a few years.

Mine is still going strong at 169K miles and I've done quite a bit of towing with it. I've had the transmission fluid and filters changed at 50K intervals. If you would like a little extra insurance you could go with the larger HD transmission cooler or maybe a deeper trans pan cooler.

For every day normal person daily driving/towing they are rock solid. On sites like this there are more reported failures because we are a large group of people with a larger portion that like to do WOT downshifts from 60 mph all day long.
If you drive sensibly, keep up with regular maintence and use tow/haul mode when needed you wont have any problems.

Keeping it cool is key. A bigger cooler is recommended if you are towing very frequent or close to max capacity. How often do you plan on towing.. weekly, daily? I'd get it flushed and put some good synthetic oil in it and change the filter. Higher gears in your rear differential would help with towing too. Don't forget to take care of your differential too. A good trans isn't worth anything if your rear end is shot

As mentioned, it's all in how the transmission is taken care of. While I don't have a 545RFE I have a 68RFE, I have just north of 120K on mine and it's working great, even with the added power that I am putting through it. I've heard of others having issues around 100K on stock trucks. Treat it nice and it will treat you nice.

That's the thing, I bought the truck used so I don't know it's entire history except for where it's been, (How Many Owners). When I bought the truck it had 182,000 KM on it. The person I bought it from was the daughter of the mechanic my father in-law goes to. When I was thinking of buying it it was already certified and ready to go. From what I was told by the mechanic she used it to haul her camper which I believe was close to 30 ft long. My camper on the other hand is half that size at 19 feet long. I only plan on towing it every other weekend, or hopefully once or twice a year depending if I get into the campground I want next summer.

As for maintenance, I plan on getting the transmission fluid and filters changed before I start towing again with it next summer. Will also get the fluid changed in the rear diff as well just to be on the safe side. What type fluid should I put in the trans and rear diff..?

Full synthetic. Brand is your preference. I know some that use Amsoil, and others use Supertech from Wal-Mart. Lol

Since this transmission seems to have a dislike for some brands of trans. fluid, I use only Mopar AP4 fluid with Mopar filters.

Use anything that specifically says ATF+4 approved
If it says DEX/MERC dont use it.
Mopar ATF+4 is very good and better than that is redline ATF+4
I as well would use mopar trans filters although there are many that use napa filters with no failures that ive seen.