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BlackGold6.4

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Because it's cheap to use the same transmission. It is borderline, so ok except for tuners.

You get rid of the heat by getting rid of the oil cooler thermostat. Guys who do this and don't tune for higher power don't have issues, in general.
There's a by pass valve in the transmission that when altered to direct flow helped the heat issue, didn't know or think about the thermostat. But once the tranny is figured out I do plan on adding a bit of power. I'll keep tinkering with truck till I can't.
 

HEMIMANN

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There's a by pass valve in the transmission that when altered to direct flow helped the heat issue, didn't know or think about the thermostat. But once the tranny is figured out I do plan on adding a bit of power. I'll keep tinkering with truck till I can't.

No, this is in the oil line to the cooler radiator in front of the truck. RevMax Transmission Cooler ByPass Housing Installed.jpegRevMax Transmission Thermostat Housing Replacement.jpeg

Here's pictures of the RevMax straight-thru retrofit housing I replaced the OEM thermostat housing with. ATS also makes this housing.
 

bigdodge

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There's a by pass valve in the transmission that when altered to direct flow helped the heat issue, didn't know or think about the thermostat. But once the tranny is figured out I do plan on adding a bit of power. I'll keep tinkering with truck till I can't.
Yes, That thermostat will get plugged with clutch debris and cause the temps to go up and most don't notice until it's too late.

What a blessing to always be able to make it home at least.
 

HEMIMANN

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Yes, That thermostat will get plugged with clutch debris and cause the temps to go up and most don't notice until it's too late.

What a blessing to always be able to make it home at least.

And the thermostats aren't reliable, either. Members report being stuck closed. I suppose they're made in China. Add to that the orifice for the thermostat is much smaller than the cooling line, and you have restricted trans oil flow even when the thermostat is open. What a complete Rube Goldberg Kluge of a concept & design!! I spent 32 years in Design Engineering.
 

GsRAM

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I replaced the trans thermostat block with the ats unit and all is well. No issues and notably cooler trans temps.
 

MN-Ram

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I should be getting my truck back this week with a new factory reman transmission. Can I tow my travel trailer right away, or is there some sort of break in period before I should tow?
 

Wild one

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All Hemi cars after a certain year .. (08 I think) had them .. parts are interchangeable between the 45 all the way up to 68RFE with 68 being the biggest
The cars use the Nag1 /W5A580 transmission,not an RFE.Totally differant transmissions.
 

mtofell

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I should be getting my truck back this week with a new factory reman transmission. Can I tow my travel trailer right away, or is there some sort of break in period before I should tow?
I think all the break-in stuff is about getting the rear-end set properly and maybe the engine too. I've never heard anything specific to the tranny but you might ask the dealer. Post rebuilds (I've had two done at the dealer) they never said anything.
 

HEMIMANN

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Do you have a link to this? I’m thinking this will be my next thing to do for the trans. Thanks

These are sold at most automotive supply stores. May be under transmissions or accessories. Just search for ATS or RevMax.
 

Wild one

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A G56 can not swap into a Ram HD after 2014.. it will bolt in but will not work due to the PCM and modules it communicates with. So without the tranny module the engine will de-rate and drivetrain will not function rite.
You might want to dig into the G56 idea deeper.Guys have put Turbo 400's / 727's etc.,into their hi-po trucks ,by having the PCM reprogrammed to the earlier manual transmission 2500's pcm. Hit up some of the hi-po ram pages on facebook,and see if you get any info.You could try Tuned Rams/ High Performance Rams etc., on facebook. Supposedly there's an outfit that can reprogram your PCM to the earlier stick PCM's parameters,but i forget their name.You could even try hitting up Russel at Sound German,as he's putting the 8 speed transmissions into vehicles that never had an 8 speed in them,and he might be able to reprogram your pcm,or know who to look up to have it reprogrammed.
 

BlackGold6.4

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You might want to dig into the G56 idea deeper.Guys have put Turbo 400's / 727's etc.,into their hi-po trucks ,by having the PCM reprogrammed to the earlier manual transmission 2500's pcm. Hit up some of the hi-po ram pages on facebook,and see if you get any info.You could try Tuned Rams/ High Performance Rams etc., on facebook. Supposedly there's an outfit that can reprogram your PCM to the earlier stick PCM's parameters,but i forget their name.You could even try hitting up Russel at Sound German,as he's putting the 8 speed transmissions into vehicles that never had an 8 speed in them,and he might be able to reprogram your pcm,or know who to look up to have it reprogrammed.
Thanks for the info.. will be looking into that, but that 8 speed idea sounds interesting too.. in the end though my budget has most of the say..
 

Wild one

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Thanks for the info.. will be looking into that, but that 8 speed idea sounds interesting too.. in the end though my budget has most of the say..
If money was no object you could probably put the 8 speed and transfer case out of a Trackhawk / TRX into your truck,but you might need to rob a bank first to finance the swap,lol. I know somebody has done the 6 speed T56 manual transmission out of the older SRT 10 trucks into a late model Ram 1500,so anything is possible,but whether it's financially realistic is the million dollar question.
 

GsRAM

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Do you have a link to this? I’m thinking this will be my next thing to do for the trans. Thanks
Sure. Here it is right from ATS.


However, if I had to do it again, I'd get the one @HEMIMANN got. The 66rfe has all hard trans cooler lines, unlike the 68rfe. The ats one is designed for the 68rfe and i had challenges getting the lines to bolt up. When I questioned it, i was told my transmission had an uncommon OEM thermostat block?

I got it hooked up and all is well. Also the, metal filter nipple they give you with their kit (the whole reason I bought the one from ats) was cut wrong and would not thread into my transmission. So unfortunately I had to use the OEM plastic one when I serviced my transmission. Ats customer service said they'd send me a replacement, but never did.

Just my .02 and experience.
 

buckeyexx

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Sure. Here it is right from ATS.


However, if I had to do it again, I'd get the one @HEMIMANN got. The 66rfe has all hard trans cooler lines, unlike the 68rfe. The ats one is designed for the 68rfe and i had challenges getting the lines to bolt up. When I questioned it, i was told my transmission had an uncommon OEM thermostat block?

I got it hooked up and all is well. Also the, metal filter nipple they give you with their kit (the whole reason I bought the one from ats) was cut wrong and would not thread into my transmission. So unfortunately I had to use the OEM plastic one when I serviced my transmission. Ats customer service said they'd send me a replacement, but never did.

Just my .02 and experience.
Thanks I appreciate it And appreciate the feedback and your experience with ats. I will check out both and figure out the best one.
 

buckeyexx

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Sure. Here it is right from ATS.


However, if I had to do it again, I'd get the one @HEMIMANN got. The 66rfe has all hard trans cooler lines, unlike the 68rfe. The ats one is designed for the 68rfe and i had challenges getting the lines to bolt up. When I questioned it, i was told my transmission had an uncommon OEM thermostat block?

I got it hooked up and all is well. Also the, metal filter nipple they give you with their kit (the whole reason I bought the one from ats) was cut wrong and would not thread into my transmission. So unfortunately I had to use the OEM plastic one when I serviced my transmission. Ats customer service said they'd send me a replacement, but never did.

Just my .02 and experience.
I’ve looked at both of these blocks and I’m not seeing any difference between the two. Im probably going to go with the revmax but I personally don’t see a difference. Is there something that was an issue on the ats vs the revmax?
 

HEMIMANN

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I’ve looked at both of these blocks and I’m not seeing any difference between the two. Im probably going to go with the revmax but I personally don’t see a difference. Is there something that was an issue on the ats vs the revmax?

I don't remember, to be honest. There must have been something that made me choose RevMax. You might have to dig around in the Transmission Threads to find one of the dedicated thermostat bypass threads. I'm sure there was discussion on it. There was more discussion about the ZF 8 speed, however - the Germans added more complexity than the RFE's have, so don't open one of those threads.
 

buckeyexx

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I don't remember, to be honest. There must have been something that made me choose RevMax. You might have to dig around in the Transmission Threads to find one of the dedicated thermostat bypass threads. I'm sure there was discussion on it. There was more discussion about the ZF 8 speed, however - the Germans added more complexity than the RFE's have, so don't open one of those threads.
I ordered the revmax. Should be here tomorrow and probably install this weekend. I read your install thread so hopefully that will help.
 

HEMIMANN

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I ordered the revmax. Should be here tomorrow and probably install this weekend. I read your install thread so hopefully that will help.

I hope so. I thought others poo-pooing how much time it took was unhelpful, including needing a special crow's foot open end wrench of a specific size. Nobody I know has that in their toolset, and they're all mechanical engineers! It didn't need to be that frustrating ordering a special tool in the middle of the job.
 

GsRAM

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I’ve looked at both of these blocks and I’m not seeing any difference between the two. Im probably going to go with the revmax but I personally don’t see a difference. Is there something that was an issue on the ats vs the revmax?
Can't say for sure, but I had to force the hard steel lines a bit to get them to line up with the openings in the bypass block. I also had to put threadseal on the lines threads because I had an oh so slight drip from one of the lines.

I also had to tighten them more than I'd have liked and struggled to get the lines back into their retaining brackets, more than I should have had to do in my opinion.

I didnt have issues like hemiman, but it was a bit challenging, more than the ats install video on the 68rfe with two of the lines that are soft and easy to manipulate. Hemi did not report any of those issues with his rev max block

Good call on the bypass you ordered. I just wasn't overall impressed with the quality of the ats block and customer service. Just my opinion
 
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