2012 Ram 1500 - 65RFE to 8HP70 Swap

Edward Tamasi · Mar 3, 2022

Are any of you swappers using the Diablo T1000 tuner with Jay Greene tunes. I spoke with RD at SGA and if I send him my ECU he will flash it. I am just worried my tunes may not work. I really do not want to have to purchase an HP tuner.

DILLIGAF · Mar 3, 2022

Only SGA knows the answer to that question. Everyone that did the swaps are HP Tuner users.

emjohn4 · Mar 14, 2022

Did a 0-60 before the swap, nothing special, just mash the pedal (no power braking) and keep it mashed until 60mph. There was very little wheel spin. 0-60 time was 7.19-seconds.

Finally got around to doing a repeat of the test, same method, same road, etc. Just mash the pedal (no power braking) and keep it mashed. This time, there was significant wheel spin, briefly saw the traction control light blink, but I didn't catch how long it took. Regardless, 0-60 time was 6.64-seconds.

This means (at minimum) I dropped 0.55-seconds from 0-60. I say at minimum because there was a lot of wheel spin with the 8HP70; which means with some finesse in the launch, I think I could bring this time down slightly.

Wild one · Mar 14, 2022

emjohn4 said:
Did a 0-60 before the swap, nothing special, just mash the pedal (no power braking) and keep it mashed until 60mph. There was very little wheel spin. 0-60 time was 7.19-seconds.

Finally got around to doing a repeat of the test, same method, same road, etc. Just mash the pedal (no power braking) and keep it mashed. This time, there was significant wheel spin, briefly saw the traction control light blink, but I didn't catch how long it took. Regardless, 0-60 time was 6.64-seconds.

This means (at minimum) I dropped 0.55-seconds from 0-60. I say at minimum because there was a lot of wheel spin with the 8HP70; which means with some finesse in the launch, I think I could bring this time down slightly.

That is a hell'va improvement from just a transmission swap. Old school rule of thumb is every tenth of a second is roughly a length,so on a 0 to 60 run,you've gained a little over 5 lengths,from the swap

ZDiamond · Mar 16, 2022

This is so cool, I have been looking for an upgrade to my 545rfe in my 2010 sport, will definitely look into this now.

Shortty · Mar 27, 2022

emjohn4 said:
Here's some pics. Before I did this swap, I thought....'why are there so few pics of the swap?' Well, it's a general transmission R&R - not a ton to take pics of that is overly interesting!

I went with the dial shifter. Some complain about it; but a lever on an automatic doesn't make a manual - and if I feel the need to row through gears, I've got a 6-spd fun car to do so with. The shifter bezel is still a work in progress, it's about 90% complete, and now all the small details and surface imperfections need attention. So, it is a lot of fill, sand, prime, fill, sand, prime, until the surface is smooth as it should be.

Also, here's a video link. This is about 1/3-1/2 throttle to show how it shifts. Those with the 545RFE know there's giant drops between the 1-2, and specifically the 2-4 shift...those are gone with the 8-spd.

I've not done a 0-60 or 1/4 mile, so I cannot specifically state if the truck is faster or not. I suspect it is. But, that's not why I did this, it's a truck; not a racecar. I did this because the transmission in my wife's Pacifica (9-spd) was so amazingly smooth and the van so well derivable at any speed, well, it was time to upgrade my truck. Now, the truck is 100x more drivable, and has power at any speed now. That's not something that could ever be said before.

Did you have to modify the plug to get the russell drake harness to plug into the floor shifter?

emjohn4 · Mar 27, 2022

Shortty said:
Did you have to modify the plug to get the russell drake harness to plug into the floor shifter?

I did not - but I did tell him I wanted a dial shifter, and he added the correct plug for the dial shifter. I think if you don't specify, it comes 'standard' with the floor mounted lever shifter.

RLJ10X · Mar 27, 2022

Half second off your 0-60; I believe that. First gear on the 5/6 speed is so tall it's ********.

We with 5/6s have all that power and not much leverage to take advantage of it. 4.10s help, tho.

t0ymach1n3 · Oct 10, 2022

I am wrapping up the install of mine. I've got just the wiring left to do and I should be able to get the shifter and TCM to talk and be on my way. I can't wait to have the same fun yall are lol

emjohn4 · Oct 10, 2022

t0ymach1n3 said:
I am wrapping up the install of mine. I've got just the wiring left to do and I should be able to get the shifter and TCM to talk and be on my way. I can't wait to have the same fun yall are lol

You'll love it. Made my truck feel like 'it should have' and is a thousand times better than the 65RFE.

It's also very easy to hit triple digit speeds on the highway passing people...so there's that, too.

t0ymach1n3 · Oct 11, 2022

I can't wait to experience that but until I get the lack of trans communicating issue fixed (power and ground at the plug into the trans and e shifter has all four lights lit up and won't budge) I ain't doin much of anything lol

emjohn4 · Oct 11, 2022

I know it sounds goofy, but make sure your plug into the transmission is seated all the way. It's got a weird lockring and can be a bear.

If it's not fully seated, it'll cause an error similar to what your experiencing.

t0ymach1n3 · Oct 11, 2022

Figured it out once I got my head around how these trucks are wired. I can honestly say I swapped the 8 speed myself and got it working with a few more wires (which will be replaced with the correct wiring harness once sourced) and enough trans fluid in the beast.

Just the few minutes I've driven it, I can already tell I'm gonna have TONS of fun with this little rocket! I can't wait till the 392 gets married to it lol

CAGEYAR · Oct 11, 2022

I'm impressed. You guys swapping transmissions have brass balls. Nice work.

TheEnder · Nov 14, 2022

I have wanted to do this for a while now; i think i made a post here a while back.

Few questions:

Drilling a hole out in the floor for the shifter/trans cabling isn’t a must, right? I really don’t wanna do anymore damage to the body of the truck. I read that you can use the shifter linkage from the RFE so I might just go through and use that.

I know no one has thought of doing this to a 4.7 - until i posted here. Will the “nipple” (unaware of what the proper term is) from the converter on the 8HP slot into the 4.7L crankshaft? They both (4.7L and 5.7L) share the same flexplates as both used the same transmissions.

Would it be possible to add the factory hockey puck shifter in? My truck does not have a console but i was planning on adding one in the future, but i want the new trans in first.

For anyone here with a 13+ that DID do the swap, how hard was it? What was required for you to do since you don’t require the same harnesses/modules guys with the 09-12s have due to the 13 and up coming factory with the 8HP as an option?

I’ll most likely have more questions later on, it’s late and i’m not thinking correctly.

emjohn4 · Mar 25, 2023

Decided I wanted the challenger shifter .... mainly because I want to be able to manually shift (really limit the highest gear)... so I installed the t-handle shifter.

Will need to send the TCM to Russel to flash different firmware in the summer; but until then, the shifter works for automatic shifting.

You guys will have to tell me which of the two shifters look better!

DILLIGAF · Mar 27, 2023

looking good !

Lee Peterson · Mar 31, 2023

The shift lever is way better! Ram should have come that way stock! What year is the lever from? What's the earliest year I can use?

gtomike60 · Apr 1, 2023

Lee Peterson said:
The shift lever is way better! Ram should have come that way stock! What year is the lever from? What's the earliest year I can use?

Any year from the Charger/Challenger equipped with the 8 speed,I believe

Lee Peterson · Apr 4, 2023

Thanks for the reply! Do I need a spacer plate between the engine and trans like the 545rfe uses?

2012 Ram 1500 - 65RFE to 8HP70 Swap

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