UPDATED - Failed Tranny 2.0

[BolletuH]

I drive a one ton heavy duty truck and at the moment only tow a 6k lb camper so no where near a heavy load and I don’t drive it around like a madman. I’m not going to live in fear this truck that was built and designed to be a work truck with heavy duty components is going to fall apart.

To say these transmissions “barely hold themselves together“ is just laughable to me. People much smarter than you or I engineer and build them to do their job and in my case a heavy duty work truck. You can take your negativity elsewhere.

It’s not negativity when there is factual information out there supporting these transmissions are manufactured tightly to their intended specifications. A lot of platforms have decent headroom for power increase without inducing problematic issues.

You also appear to be ignoring the business aspect of engineering. Most engineering is spectacular and rather impressive, but there are corners to be cut to reduce cost. When you have a board of directors or executives constantly nagging you to reduce cost to improve margins this is the result you receive. If the engineers heading the construction of the transmission were completely in charge we would have one stout and impressive creation. Instead we are left with something that barely “fits the bill.” Take everything I said as anecdotal but even a cursory Google search would validate my statements.

Edit: Just realized you have the 6.4 Hemi with the 66RFE. No wonder you aren’t worried lol. Significant difference between the two powertrain entirely. Why do you think the 68RFE was derated to 800lb ft of torque vs the AISIN at 930 and eventually over 1000lb ft. The components in the 68RFE aren’t really meant for the intended platform. Once again due to financial constraints set by Chrysler. 66RFE is much better suited for the 6.4 Hemi than the 68RFE for the Cummins.

 

[Cummins diesel]

We’ve had 4 Ram HD trucks for our business and never had a transmission issue. As long as you don’t tune them like crazy and drive like Batman you will be fine. I personally like the Asin the best though. Feels a lot stouter but we haven’t had any issues with the others either. Little over 200k on the one truck and the others are close.

 

[mtofell]

As long as you don’t tune them like crazy and drive like Batman you will be fine

Mine blew twice while not towing anything or driving hard in the least. Anyone defending Ram transmissions has hitched their wagon to a pretty lame horse. As a VERY early owner of a 6.4/66RFE I know failure stories were rare but fast-forward a few years as the miles stack up on these trucks and the problems are becoming pretty common. I suppose kudos to Ram engineers since most of the trucks are out of warranty so I suppose they spent just enough building them "Ram Tough".

 

[jejb]

Mine blew twice while not towing anything or driving hard in the least. Anyone defending Ram transmissions has hitched their wagon to a pretty lame horse. As a VERY early owner of a 6.4/66RFE I know failure stories were rare but fast-forward a few years as the miles stack up on these trucks and the problems are becoming pretty common. I suppose kudos to Ram engineers since most of the trucks are out of warranty so I suppose they spent just enough building them "Ram Tough".

Depends on what tranny you're talking about. The 68RFE seems to be far less problematic than the 66RFE, for example.

 

[Cummins diesel]

Mine blew twice while not towing anything or driving hard in the least. Anyone defending Ram transmissions has hitched their wagon to a pretty lame horse. As a VERY early owner of a 6.4/66RFE I know failure stories were rare but fast-forward a few years as the miles stack up on these trucks and the problems are becoming pretty common. I suppose kudos to Ram engineers since most of the trucks are out of warranty so I suppose they spent just enough building them "Ram Tough".

I guess it does make a difference which truck you have. All of ours are diesel with the 68rfe except the one has the Asin. We pull heavy pretty much every day with our trucks to.

 

[mtofell]

Depends on what tranny you're talking about. The 68RFE seems to be far less problematic than the 66RFE, for example.

Wondering if they have different valve bodies? That seems to be where a lot of the problems with the 66 originate.

 

[buckeyexx]

Wondering if they have different valve bodies? That seems to be where a lot of the problems with the 66 originate.

Nope same valve body. And that’s the weak point weather it a 68 or 66. I just went through this with mine. I upgraded the valve body to a sonnax unit along with the solenoid pack. It seems to be better than it was at shifting but far from perfect still. I was getting the hard 5-4 downshifts before the upgrade and it’s better now. I will say the 68 is probably built to handle the load better but the 66 in my 6.4 has been loaded down pretty close to max several times just by me alone and my truck now has 158k miles on it. I think honestly it shifts better when loaded and hitched to a heavy trailer. I do however have to lock it into 4th or 5th gear depending on my speed to keep it from hunting gears. But unloaded it is a little unsure of what gear to be in sometimes.

 

[2020PW]

Between transmission and lifter issues on here I wish to God I bought the lifetime warranty. I've been lucky with no issues at 85,000 miles but my transmission has some harsh shifts every now and then.

If you want a warranty I’m more than willing to share your phone # for FREE. I get a call everyday about warranties, they can hook you up.

 

[mtofell]

Nope same valve body

Interesting.... I'm wondering if it has something to do with the generally higher RPM shifts of a gasser v. diesel. It seems I read about more problem with the 66 than 68 around here. Obviously this is far from scientific but interesting nonetheless. As mine was failing the second time high RPM shifts would send it into limp mode. The first failure was just while idling on the freeway in traffic and may not have had anything to do with the VB.

 

[MN-Ram]

If you want a warranty I’m more than willing to share your phone # for FREE. I get a call everyday about warranties, they can hook you up.

That’s funny. I was actually sitting in the waiting area at the dealership on Monday, while they were scanning the codes, and I got a call about my warranty being expired.

 

[buckeyexx]

Interesting.... I'm wondering if it has something to do with the generally higher RPM shifts of a gasser v. diesel. It seems I read about more problem with the 66 than 68 around here. Obviously this is far from scientific but interesting nonetheless. As mine was failing the second time high RPM shifts would send it into limp mode. The first failure was just while idling on the freeway in traffic and may not have had anything to do with the VB.

Actually the same valve body is used across most of not all the rfe transmissions. The one I upgraded to is the universal sonnax unit. It has the problem areas addressed which are the pistons, accumulator plate, seals and gaskets. It also came with the universal solenoid pack which is another known failure point. But to your point about the higher rpms of the gas motor it may have something to do with it. I did also install a sonnax line pressure booster at the same time. Not sure if it made any difference but figured it couldn’t hurt with the upgrade in the valve body.

 

[jejb]

Wondering if they have different valve bodies? That seems to be where a lot of the problems with the 66 originate.

I have no idea. But I do know there are different parts. I've read about folks upgrading the 66 with 68 parts, like 68 valve body pistons.