Trans preservation?

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LaJoie272

Junior Member
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Jan 22, 2015
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Location
Missouri
Ram Year
2008
Engine
Hemi 5.7
I picked up my '08 Ram Hemi a couple months ago (It's a super tight feeling truck I cant believe it has 160k on it). I am ignorant when it comes to a gas trucks transmission as all I've known is Allison trannys in my Duramax. With the Allison it was always the 4-5 shift that would throw it into limp mode and tear it up when you were hot rodding it. Now I don't hot rod the **** out of my hemi, it's just my daily but I've got it snappin' pretty hard with an intake and exhaust. I'm just curious what is the main killer of this 5spd overdrive trans? Is it just your hard downshifts? Like I said, the Allison had it's common predators and I want to know what hunts these 5 speeds hooked to the Hemi. I am aware she has got some miles on her (all highway) but I want to preserve the trans for a long time to come although it's sometimes hard not to let 345 cubic inches do its thing when your next to some weak F150. Any input is appreciated, thanks guys.
 

xtremewlr

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Feb 12, 2015
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Location
Tucson, AZ
Ram Year
2004
Engine
Hemi
With a mostly stock engine and regular maintenance, you shouldn't have to worry about the trans. Regular maintenance would be changing the fluid and both filter every 15,000 miles or so. That's what I have been doing with my '04 and I have just over 167,000 miles on it now.

I have heard about avoiding "2nd prime" downshifts when the engine is more modified with a cam or supercharger but I have no clue what that actually means.
 

HemiLonestar

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Military
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MD
Ram Year
2016
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5.7 hemi
With a mostly stock engine and regular maintenance, you shouldn't have to worry about the trans. Regular maintenance would be changing the fluid and both filter every 15,000 miles or so. That's what I have been doing with my '04 and I have just over 167,000 miles on it now.

I have heard about avoiding "2nd prime" downshifts when the engine is more modified with a cam or supercharger but I have no clue what that actually means.

As long as it's pretty much stock and you haven't disabled torque management you should be fine. You reduce TM enough coupled with enough modifications and they tend to not live as long...

The 2P downshifts refer to when you're in 5th and you nail it. The trans kicks down to 2 prime rather than 3rd or 2nd. Down side of this is that 2P uses the same weak ass clutch pack as overdrive (it's a design flaw). Not a big deal when it goes into OD as engine power is reduced, but if you drop the hammer it's getting full engine power to it. I know with a Superchips you can alter programming of the trans to avoid or lock out 2P. I don't know hoe personally because I have an 03 no one gives a **** about lol. I just take it out of OD manually if I'm gonna punch it.
 

xtremewlr

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Location
Tucson, AZ
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2004
Engine
Hemi
As long as it's pretty much stock and you haven't disabled torque management you should be fine. You reduce TM enough coupled with enough modifications and they tend to not live as long...

The 2P downshifts refer to when you're in 5th and you nail it. The trans kicks down to 2 prime rather than 3rd or 2nd. Down side of this is that 2P uses the same weak ass clutch pack as overdrive (it's a design flaw). Not a big deal when it goes into OD as engine power is reduced, but if you drop the hammer it's getting full engine power to it. I know with a Superchips you can alter programming of the trans to avoid or lock out 2P. I don't know hoe personally because I have an 03 no one gives a **** about lol. I just take it out of OD manually if I'm gonna punch it.

So with my 04, put it into tow/haul mode and have at it? Not sure if the 03 is the same or not.
 

89gtcs

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Feb 17, 2014
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Ram Year
2006
Engine
5.7
Tow/haul will firm up your shifts a bit to avoid slippage and excessive clutch pack wear - so yes, if you're gonna mess around with your truck, use it.
 
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