8 speed problems ?

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darthdzl

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Mine does the downshifting thing too, but it also does weird stuff that's MY fault. (I took it out on a few late night low-speed hilly drives and confused the hell out of it.) Other than that, I'm enjoying mine.

Mine does seem to have a penchant for downshifting into 1st a bit roughly and "clunk"ing right before I stop, but a buddy's (same truck except higher trim level) does the same thing. He says it'll eventually stop. His did.
 

DisturbedGator

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Hemi 5.7
11k on my 14 8 spd. Love the trans hate the knob. Just finished a 1200 mile trip to florida and back no problems at all. There were two problems but they were my fault but still made me hate the knob. I left Wednesday at 4 am. In my early morning fog I wanted to turn the heater down and grabbed the wrong knob(they have the same texture but the trans is slightly bigger) turned it to neutral. Oops! #2 whilst in florida I was taking my mom back home and was showing her my mount for my new Iphone6+ and dropped the phone, well it must have hit the knob just right cause the truck started slowing down and I look down on the dash and the damn R is flashing. The damn phone turned the knob to reverse. Luckily the trans is controlled by so many electronics it prevented a catastrophe but still makes me think why they dont lock out reverse at certain speeds( was going 60 mph). I pulled over both times to a complete stop and put it back in drive( didnt have the cajones to put it while going 60 mph). Other than that the trans has been perfect.
 

Grad12

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Mine does the downshifting thing too, but it also does weird stuff that's MY fault. (I took it out on a few late night low-speed hilly drives and confused the hell out of it.) Other than that, I'm enjoying mine.

Mine does seem to have a penchant for downshifting into 1st a bit roughly and "clunk"ing right before I stop, but a buddy's (same truck except higher trim level) does the same thing. He says it'll eventually stop. His did.

My clunk got bad on a long trip. It's in the shop just to get checked out. The computer needs an update anyway. We'll seeehat happenss.
 

Diller

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Just rolled over 50K miles with my 8 speed with zero problems. That includes about 10K miles of towing a 6K pound open car trailer over some good size hills/small mountains. I really like the knob and the upshifts are seamless and if I get into hilly areas, the tow/haul mode really settles it down.

I really enjoy this transmission.
 

Jerry1984

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Mine does the downshifting thing too, but it also does weird stuff that's MY fault. (I took it out on a few late night low-speed hilly drives and confused the hell out of it.) Other than that, I'm enjoying mine.

Mine does seem to have a penchant for downshifting into 1st a bit roughly and "clunk"ing right before I stop, but a buddy's (same truck except higher trim level) does the same thing. He says it'll eventually stop. His did.

I'm at 2700 miles and mine has stopped the clunky downshift when stopping. I hated that. Glad it's gone and hopefully stays away.
 

BlownGP

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Just rolled over 50K miles with my 8 speed with zero problems. That includes about 10K miles of towing a 6K pound open car trailer over some good size hills/small mountains. I really like the knob and the upshifts are seamless and if I get into hilly areas, the tow/haul mode really settles it down.

I really enjoy this transmission.

Damn, you must drive a lot..lol



Good you posted, not sure many people are at 50K with the 8 speed. Interested to see how they do with miles on them.
 

Boompa

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Only at 1500 miles but the clunky downshifting has stopped completely. Was VERY annoying the first few hundred miles. No issues at all now. Getting used to the knob, but overall I think it's probably a bad idea for all the reasons mentioned above: grabbing it by accident, etc. I'm betting they do away with the knob in a year or two.
 

AOFA

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A clunk when almost stopped could be the fuel tank. If you have about 3/4 tank of fuel, right before you stop, you could get that fuel shifting and you will hear a clunk. Only with 3/4 tank. weird I know, but its reality.
 

Diller

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Damn, you must drive a lot..lol



Good you posted, not sure many people are at 50K with the 8 speed. Interested to see how they do with miles on them.

Tell me about it. 100 miles a day minimum for my commute plus dragging the race car all over the southeast. I didn't plan on buying the Laramie trim level but glad I did now that I spend so much time in it.

One of the reasons I like the knob is that it makes doing 20 point turn-arounds much less of a bicep exercise. You guys might be right that it will be replaced in a few years but I don't see it ever going back to the big stalk. No more reason to have the big lever as all the connections to the trans are electrical.
 

BULL55

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3200 Miles on mine no issues I love the 8 speed.
 
J

jub jub

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I love the 8 speed! Comes out of the whole like a cheetah on steroids!
 

InspectGWS

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I went and test drove a new crewcab sierra today with the 6.2..... stuck between a rock and a hard place now lol..

You are not stuck - purchase the RAM...

I traded my 2013 Silverado Crew Cab 4x4 with the 6.2 on my 2014 RAM - and I hadn't driven anything MOPAR since 2005...the RAM is exponentially a better truck...starting with "coil" springs (or air ride in my case) in lieu of "leaf" springs for a rear suspension...and with the custom Diablosport tune, I believe my 5.7 and the 8 speed would easily keep up with the 6.2 from light to light...

11,900 miles on my 8 speed - bad ass...
 

Grad12

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Tell me about it. 100 miles a day minimum for my commute plus dragging the race car all over the southeast. I didn't plan on buying the Laramie trim level but glad I did now that I spend so much time in it.

One of the reasons I like the knob is that it makes doing 20 point turn-arounds much less of a bicep exercise. You guys might be right that it will be replaced in a few years but I don't see it ever going back to the big stalk. No more reason to have the big lever as all the connections to the trans are electrical.


I agree. Everyone I talk to says, I don't know if I could drive that. Needs just a bit of getting used to. Just watch me back up a trailer with the knob, so nice, so smooth.
 

AirborneSilva

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I agree. Everyone I talk to says, I don't know if I could drive that. Needs just a bit of getting used to. Just watch me back up a trailer with the knob, so nice, so smooth.

I love my 8 speed but would still rather have the shifter on the console.
 

clays laramie

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Love the 8 speed. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. Shifter takes a week or 2 too get used to.. love it.
 

RyanJM

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I wanted the 8spd when I got my 14 but apparently dodge doesn't see it necessary to have the 8spd with 3.92 lsd option on the express they stick you with only 3.21's so I ended up with a column shift 6spd with 3.92's. It's a option on everything apparently except the express.
 

CherryRed

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I have the 8 speed in my truck, and it's brand new (just hit 100miles) idk if it's possibly bc of the tow package, or what, but does anyone think the truck shifts a tad but hard? Or shifts revving a little high? This could be 100% normal, it's my first truck and I'm coming from an 09 2dr JK wrangler....

From the FCA press release (http://media.chrysler.com/newsrelease.do?&fIId=12166&id=12220&mid=23):

"Fully electronic, both the 8HP45 and 8HP70 transmissions feature on-the-fly shift map changing, with manual shifting steering capability using wheel controls. More than 40 individual shift maps for very specific conditions optimize shift quality and shift points for fuel economy, performance and drivability. The intelligent software takes into account variables including engine torque gradients, kick down events, longitudinal and lateral acceleration, hill detection, friction detection and downshift detection to determine the appropriate shift map. Additional parameters integrated into the control strategy include vehicle speed control, electronic stability control interaction and temperature. The result is automatic shifting ideally attuned to the performance requirements of almost any driving demand."
 

NYCruiser

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And to think they used to only need a vacuum line and kick down linkage. Lol


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