65rfe upgrades or performance replacement options

[Caine espinoza]

ive made a few other posts but i just realised i put them in the 5th gen threads instead of the 4th gen where they go, so hopefully i actually get some responses this time lol

ive seen other threads on this but all the ones ive seen are from 2017 or older, so im just trying to see if there is anything new out there

yesterday i orderd a 5.7 based 392 stroker long block from modern muscle xtream and i should have it in 8-10 weeks. i have the 65rfe and ive never had any issues with it pulling heavy trailers or WOT on the highway with the factory 5.7. but how that im dropping in this more hopped up motor, im not sure if the factory trans is gonna hold. ive read they are rated for 500 lb ft but i plan to eventually throw either a whipple or twin turbos on it so im definately gonna need something to handle the extra power and torque. im interested in a torque converter but im not sure what to go with. i dont want to lose drivability because its by daily driver until i find another truck that isnt crazy priced

 

[kurek]

You're probably going to blow up the transmission. They're perfectly good gearboxes up to around 400 horsepower but it seems like everyone who tunes out torque management and who adds power to their truck ends up getting mad at their RFE transmission when it ultimately fails because it's totally the transmission's fault

If you're going to spend money, just 8HP swap it from the start instead of dumping money into a gearbox you're ultimately going to get frustrated by.

 

[Wild one]

ive made a few other posts but i just realised i put them in the 5th gen threads instead of the 4th gen where they go, so hopefully i actually get some responses this time lol

ive seen other threads on this but all the ones ive seen are from 2017 or older, so im just trying to see if there is anything new out there

yesterday i orderd a 5.7 based 392 stroker long block from modern muscle xtream and i should have it in 8-10 weeks. i have the 65rfe and ive never had any issues with it pulling heavy trailers or WOT on the highway with the factory 5.7. but how that im dropping in this more hopped up motor, im not sure if the factory trans is gonna hold. ive read they are rated for 500 lb ft but i plan to eventually throw either a whipple or twin turbos on it so im definately gonna need something to handle the extra power and torque. im interested in a torque converter but im not sure what to go with. i dont want to lose drivability because its by daily driver until i find another truck that isnt crazy priced

There is no such thing,lol.You're best bet is to do the 8 speed swap.Look up Russell at Sound German Automotive for one of his 8 speed swap kits.Do a search on here for 8 speed swap,or go onto either High Performance Rams or Tuned Rams on facebook,you'll find several guys who are either in the midst of the swap or have done it.Most say they should of done the 8 speed swap,instead of going through several high dollar built RFE's,the costs aren't all that much more to do the swap as to have a RFE built,that still won't last behind a high horse build.

Sound German Automotive

 

[Caine espinoza]

i apreciate the feed back, do you guys think the trans will hold while its still N/A? i dont have the money for induction at the moment so im kinda hoping the trans will hold for a little bit. i dont plan to be too rough on it. the occasional womp at a red light but mostly just regular city driving and 80mph highway drive and pulling a small encolsed trailer from job to job. im looking for 450-500 rwhp N/A until i save enough to force it, not sure what the torque is gonna be for those power numbers. it will be dyno tuned.

 

[Wild one]

i apreciate the feed back, do you guys think the trans will hold while its still N/A? i dont have the money for induction at the moment so im kinda hoping the trans will hold for a little bit. i dont plan to be too rough on it. the occasional womp at a red light but mostly just regular city driving and 80mph highway drive and pulling a small encolsed trailer from job to job. im looking for 450-500 rwhp N/A until i save enough to force it, not sure what the torque is gonna be for those power numbers. it will be dyno tuned.

It'll last for a bit,but i'd even avoid a full throttle launch,and no wide open downshifts on the highway.Why not change up your plans,and do the 8 speed swap first,then do the engine swap,it's no fun having a bunch of horsepower that you can't use,and just tempts you into scattering the RFE on the side of the road.To many guys build the engine first,with no plans for the rest of the driveline,and then when they scatter parts behind the engine,they're hooped as they don't have the budget to get the truck or car mobile again,and it especially sucks if you need the vehicle to get back and forth to work.Just my 02 from building quick toys for the last 45 years

 

[Burla]

Beef up valve body tune for pressure, I'm not sure the shops will have better drum and clutches for the 65, those mainly are for 66 and 68. I have not be able to see suncoasts video of the challenges, they show the issues with the rfe. Suncoast and other guys sell beefed up transmissions matched to your desired torque, but they cost more then the engine will, is that ok?

Product Overview: ATS 68RFE Valve Body and ATS Co-Pilot

Clint Cannon, President of ATS, describes the inherent weaknesses of the 68RFE (545RFE, too) valve body. This is a comprehensive overview of the numerous pro...

youtu.be

 

[Wild one]

Beef up valve body tune for pressure, I'm not sure the shops will have better drum and clutches for the 65, those mainly are for 66 and 68. I have not be able to see suncoasts video of the challenges, they show the issues with the rfe. Suncoast and other guys sell beefed up transmissions matched to your desired torque, but they cost more then the engine will, is that ok?

Product Overview: ATS 68RFE Valve Body and ATS Co-Pilot

Clint Cannon, President of ATS, describes the inherent weaknesses of the 68RFE (545RFE, too) valve body. This is a comprehensive overview of the numerous pro...

youtu.be

Do not send him to ATS Mike,they probably have the worst rep going for building a RFE.Nobody on the hi-po pages reconmends ATS,they all say to avoid them.

 

[Burla]

just use ats for info on weaknesses, do research for better brands... my info on ats they started bad but have been decent since, but hard to regain love on the net... I have no first hand info. If you keep the rfe, you will need the plate for the rfe, it is like 3-400 bucks.

 

[Caine espinoza]

the reason i got the motor first is because i had the typical lifter failure, put a texas speed stage 2 cam kit in it, new plugs and coils, oil pump and pickup tube, water pump, harmonic balancer and a complete valve job. put a base map in it so it would run, put about 60 miles on in and developed a low end knock. didnt want to buy a factory motor because of factory issues and ive also always wanted a hemi stroker. so i went back and forth between sending my block and heads off to be stroked and ported, buying a short block or just buying a long block because i really miss my truck. its been down for too long and i want her back up and running strong again so i decided to just buy the longblock and do the install myself. i dont have to have it tuned to make all the power it can right off the bat. i bought it to make it a monster obviously but at this time im just trying to get some reliability with a little more ass behind it to daily until i find another decent truck to daily then ill start putting the big power in it

 

[Caine espinoza]

also all the perfoemance trans swaps ive seen have the shifter in the center console area. my shifter is on the collum, does that make a difference?

 

[DILLIGAF]

Circle D TQ with custom tune.

 

[Wild one]

also all the perfoemance trans swaps ive seen have the shifter in the center console area. my shifter is on the collum, does that make a difference?

It shouldn't,but check with Russell at Sound German,he'll know if there's a differance between the column shifter and the console shifter as far as the 8 speed swap goes.Other option is buy all the used RFE's you stumble across,and get good at swapping them on a monthly basis,lol

 

[Burla]

It wont be a problem, but you need to make sure the procedures are followed to a t to ensure warranty stays in tact, especially for the rfe. Any place that sells them should have install pdf's, if they don't, then dont do business there. It should spell out the cable and shift linkage install process.

 

[Caine espinoza]

Circle D TQ with custom tune

are you running a circle d? what stall and how is drivability?

 

[Caine espinoza]

ive seen frostbite ram talk about using 100 shots off the line over and over again with no issues on a factory 545rfe and torque converter and hot damn racing talk about the same thing with his 65rfe and a torque converter, so i was kind of hopefull that my trans would hold with the N/A setup for a while as long as i didnt do any WOT highway pulls

 

[Caine espinoza]

definately going to look into all yalls recomandations and keep posting how its coming along

 

[Wild one]

ive seen frostbite ram talk about using 100 shots off the line over and over again with no issues on a factory 545rfe and torque converter and hot damn racing talk about the same thing with his 65rfe and a torque converter, so i was kind of hopefull that my trans would hold with the N/A setup for a while as long as i didnt do any WOT highway pulls

Joey/Hot Damn just put a tranny in his truck,he's also turbo'd which is easier on the driveline then a supercharger,lol.Dylan did get a ****pile of use out of his tranny on nitrous though,but he's the oddball one,lol

 

[Caine espinoza]

joeys setups is what got me looking into turboing it in the future because we can ramp the boost in after the truck is already moving but i dont want to do the exaust mount, im more interested in the twins under the hood. hes also the reason i figured id be ok off the line as long as i stayed under 500 lbft. im expecting trans issues but im hopeful while i have it N/A

 

[Wild one]

joeys setups is what got me looking into turboing it in the future because we can ramp the boost in after the truck is already moving but i dont want to do the exaust mount, im more interested in the twins under the hood. hes also the reason i figured id be ok off the line as long as i stayed under 500 lbft. im expecting trans issues but im hopeful while i have it N/A

Just be easy on it,at least till you have a back-up vehicle for work,then let it rip,cause if it breaks then you're still mobile.The biggest killer of them is wide open downshifts at passing speeds,and wide open runs in high gear.Get in the habit of manually downshifting it,before you go wide open to pass somebody

 

[Caine espinoza]

Just be easy on it,at least till you have a back-up vehicle for work,then let it rip,cause if it breaks then you're still mobile.The biggest killer of them is wide open downshifts at passing speeds,and wide open runs in high gear.Get in the habit of manually downshifting it,before you go wide open to pass somebody

by wide open down shifts you mean like when i stomp it at highway speeds for example and it downshifts to take off right?