OK I bought a RAM now what?!

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Rampageous

Junior Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2016
Posts
2
Reaction score
0
Ram Year
2002
Engine
5.9L GAS
Hello there everyone --
Warning: The poster has ADHD, read at your own risk.
My wife and I decided that the Cascade and Olympic mountains, the hiking trails in every direction, the green forests and beautiful lakes are just too much; so we are leaving the Pacific Northwest and heading back to Michigan where you can stand firmly on flat lands, and make sense of the world again. We missed the thunder storms!
Anyways. being the thinker that I am it occurred to me that buying a truck to haul everything then selling it in Michigan would be the most cost effective way to go, all I need is a nice enough truck that will do the job that is also cheap. That lead me to auctions. The minor issue that I have never owned a truck and don't know the first thing about them, did not seem to deter me, I definitely was not going to surrender to logic .... decision was already made (ADHD people out there know what I mean :p)

So I found a 2002 RAM 2500 long bed 4x4 that had 100k miles and was a government car, (what could possibly go wrong). Needless to say I finally won the car for what it would sell for if it was in fair condition, which I thought was not bad.

I went to take my new car and drive it home, after signing a few stuff on the counter, I turned around and went (Holly %&#% that is a BIG A$& CAR), I was in love.
The truck had really bad tires on really bad looking 16" rims, and so I had another brilliant idea, I went on craigslist and bought a set of 18" wheels and tires that someone had taken them off of a 2015 RAM 2500, and they bolted right up and the truck looked a lot better instantly, I can't do a full left turn but who cares :)

Now that the moving time is getting closer, some serious work needed to be done. I went around and marked all the dings and dents I wanted to fix so i can give the car a fresh coat of paint, once the mechanic work is done, with all these marks my wife calls the truck "freckles" now, which I thought was derogatory and did not suit the monster that this truck represented, still she would not take it back.
Next I changed the oil, spark plugs and cables and other stuff that looked as if they were never maintained, and then I moved on to change the oil and filter for the transmission.
After dropping the transmission pan I looked at the magnet and it had quite a bit of metal shavings but then, there was this little piece of metal which I had a feeling should not have been there, and I was right. It was part of the OD snap-ring... After going through all the depression exercises that I knew of I cleaned the pan, installed the new filter filled it up and then took it to a transmission shop for testing. They said it is indeed part of the OD snap-ring and recommended a rebuild, especially that I will be towing around 10K across country. They quoted me $4700 with the upgrades, and that is when I got another brilliant idea; buy a book and a rebuild kit with the upgrades they were talking about (wait i don't even remember what they were) but still that is the way to go, most expensive rebuild kit i found is around $700 and if i could pull this off, not only would I save a lot of money; I would also be very happy that I learned how to do it. However, if it did not work out, then I lost an extra $700 and time i can't afford with approaching deadline.

So, I thought for this one I probably should turn to the experts in this forum for advice, what should i be aware of, what can be easily done and what transmission rebuild kit would you use.

Thank you for reading and answering, much appreciated.
 

dapepper9

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2013
Posts
5,908
Reaction score
2,224
Location
Iowa/Nebraska Border
Ram Year
2001
Engine
5.9L V8
$4700 for a rebuild is ****** ********. You can literally buy a crate trans built to handle 700+hp AND ship it to your FRONT DOOR for $3500. I've done that very thing and and have yet to install it.

As for the OD snap ring, that doesn't really require a rebuild. Again, the shop is trying to **** you. Do not go back to them. You can replace the snap ring or worst case swap the od section with a rebuilt one. It does not require a full trans overhaul

As for the adhd, i feel ya lol. I myself have it and mechanic work is the only thing that keeps me sane some days lol
 

dudeman2009

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2016
Posts
1,562
Reaction score
208
Location
Arizona
Ram Year
2001 1500 Sport with enough electrical modifications to make my brain hurt
Engine
Magnum 360
They are trying to pull money out your rear, forget that shop. The most a rebuild on a 2002 should cost including all parts and labor is $2500. Thats about the price my buddy paid for his 01, and he replaced the TQ with a higher stall RPM (why i'll never know, he doesn't really tow with it) and heavy duty clutches and bands.

As Dapepper said, for aprox $3500 you can get a 700HP+ ready transmission delivered to you, and for another 500-800 have it professionally mounted, filled and tested.

I've heard good things about red eagle rebuild kits.

As for other upgrades not inside the transmission. if you're pulling over 4K lbs with any regularity, a secondary tranny cooler is a must. Its even a good idea to install one just becuase you can, keep it from overheating.

As for torque converter, if you want to replace it (and only becuase I mentioned it earlier) you generally go with the same stall speed as factory. The only reason to go up in stall speed is to get a bit more off the line power when pulling very heavy loads 10Klbs+, or if you do a lot of moderate towing 4-10Klbs, and you don't mind losing some fuel economy. You would decrease stall speed to slightly boost economy, but the amount gained is so little i'd never recommend it on a truck.

TQ stall speed is the RPM your engine achieves at WOT in drive, at a stop. To test it, put your truck in drive, floor the brake, then floor the gas and note at what RPM it stops at. That is your stall RPM at 0MPH. There are some other methods of testing, but this is the easiest and most common number.

Either way, good luck.
 

Max78

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2016
Posts
111
Reaction score
14
Location
AZ
Ram Year
1998
Engine
Magnum 5.9
If you really want to do the rebuild yourself youtube. . . When my transmission goes I plan on doing the rebuild myself, mainly because I want to learn.

Here is some really in-depth informtaion on rebuilding the 46RE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J1ErheBwHE
 
OP
OP
R

Rampageous

Junior Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2016
Posts
2
Reaction score
0
Ram Year
2002
Engine
5.9L GAS
Great info. I really appreciate it.
Hope has been restored!
 

RamV10

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2013
Posts
102
Reaction score
1
Location
Western Central NV
Ram Year
1999
Engine
V10
I agree $4700 is crazy. Find an honest mechanic if you don't want to do it yourself.
 
Top