2016 exhaust pipe and 8 speed tranny

[aggie77]

I just picked up my truck yesterday - a 2016 1500 with a 5.7/8-spd and "dual exhaust". The latter is in quotes since the pipes come down from the manifolds into a Y-pipe to a single muffler which branches out to two pipes. My concern is the cross-over from the driver to the passenger side in the Y-pipe area. The crossover is literally 1" from the bottom of the tranny pan. The pan itself is composite, not metal. There is no heat shield between the pipe and the pan and there's a lot of heat, especially since I'll be towing a 5,500 lb RV around the country. I'm not particularly worried about the pan melting but I am worried about the excess heat reflected to the trans pan when pulling a trailer on highways that are in excess of 120 degrees in the summer around here. I'm probably going to get some header wrap to cover the exhaust pipe in the area close to the pan but was wondering what others may have found regarding transmission fluid temps when pulling a load in hot weather.

I did some searching on the forum before posting and didn't come up with anything relevant. Since this is my first post, please be civil.

 

[Mineralram]

It is perfectly fine and will not cause problems, your tranny actually has hot coolant running thru it also in order to make the vehicle more fuel efficent and to speed up the warm up time.

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[boomer135]

I have a 2016 5.7 8 speed sport CC. I'm towing a 7,000lb enclosed trailer 850lb tongue weight through the mountain ranges in 100deg weather.

Max tranny temp I saw was 190

 

[Dubstep Shep]

I have a 2016 5.7 8 speed sport CC. I'm towing a 7,000lb enclosed trailer 850lb tongue weight through the mountain ranges in 100deg weather.

Max tranny temp I saw was 190

That's good?

The stock exhaust isn't going to melt anything on a stock truck...

 

[boomer135]

Through high grades and 100+deg outside temps... yup yup.

That's good?

The stock exhaust isn't going to melt anything on a stock truck...

 

[crash68]

The 8 speed transmission typical operating range is between 176°-212°F and the critical hot temperature according to ZF for the transmission is 240°

 

[Ramitiner]

If you are a little worried you can always wrap the exhaust pipe with some exhaust wrapping... it will minimize the heat transfer in that area and provide a lil cushion should it ever bang up there...but I really wouldn't worry.

 

[crazykid1994]

The exhaust piping going under the tranny actually helps bring the tranny temps up to optimal temps.


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[Casper]

The factory Y-pipe is actually a crimped piece of junk, so if you are searching for justification to upgrade your exhaust, between the routing near your tranny and the Y-pipe, there it is.

There are a couple of aftermarket Y-pipes for the RAM that are true equal flow, not slammed together.

You could also consider going true duals, but the factory set-up is only bad because the single in dual out muffler is chambered and huge. I don't think you want to add a pair of CATs anyway, and you don't need a full Cat-back (IMHO), just lose the factory boat anchor and unless you are planning on headers you've done all you need to do.

You tow, so headers may actually allow too much exhaust noise to reflect off your load.

But, even a mild flow-through muffler is an improvement over stock. My 24" Magnaflow is probably as loud as you would want with a tow behind you.

Above all, understand that if you ask 10 RAM owners about exhaust you'll get something like 13 different highly regarded recommendations (opinions). You may even see folks getting nasty about it.....
So you need to do your homework and buy what you like, 'cause its your truck.