Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Dodge 48re

So second gear band is burnt in my 07 5.9 diesel truck. Made it 57K. Lot of expensive options. Local guy wants $3200 to do a rebuild with some upgrades complete. Online I see a couple company's who claim it is built proof rebuild. One is in Spokane Washington. About an 8 hour drive from here. Take mine in with torque converter and trade it for one of theirs cuts my costs a few hundred. But then I get to wallow around on my shop floor to do all the work. Another option is one of the bigger Transmission shops which do have a warrantee. Small local shop? not so much. I'm betting others have already gone through this decision process. So be kind.

Here is another option I may look into more. Its problem is no local dealers for install. But it reads good http://www.atsdiesel.com/ats2/productdetail.asp?p=3099142308

You may want to search for reviews on the last company you mentioned before you pull the trigger.
The Gold Standard for 48RE builds that stay together is IMHO, Suncoast.

$4299 without torque converter or any shipping. From Florida.

I've learned that I can only afford to buy it once. Not saying your other options wouldn't work, but I know what I'd be doing.

Google dusty hawk at hawk torqueflite transmissions or HTS transmissions.

It is scheduled for a rebuild at a local shop. Updating the trans for towing. Billet torque converter, What the online rebuilders call a level 1 build. adding a fan cooled oil cooler, installed $3800. I drop it off January 9th. 2 year unlimited mileage warrantee. The big benefit for me, I do not have to do anything. Except write the check. The online options which cost more, had me doing all the under truck work.

Not a fan cooled oil cooler. Just a large one added to system on truck already. Truck is in the shop. Claim they have seen 300k out of 1000lb torque 5.9's. in Tow truck company wreckers. On the rebuild they do.

An up date. After rebuild it had a code. New overdrive sensor failed. When doing diagnostics we found the Throttle valve actuator was bad. It is what killed the trans. They changed all electronics again and new TTVA. On test drive Torque converter would not lockup. 2nd New torque converter installed. Drove it today, Finally after three months out of service it is fixed. (I Hope) While in shop one of their customers backed into the truck. Minor damage I fixed myself this afternoon. Shop did labor on TTVA free and no part markup.

Damn Dodge auto tranny’s. Good luck

i'd sell it and never look back. my 05 was a money pit. i was never so glad to be rid of a vehicle as that one. i lost thousands on it.

My -06 had 150k on it w/ auto tranny. Had a bad solenoid at ~90k but other than that it was rock solid. Didn't chip it, didn't drive it like a teenager and all was good. Did haul some pretty good loads to my house when I was having it built and landscaping it.

I know 2 people with ram 2500's. Both have had to replace transmissions and torque converters. One at 47,000 miles with no towing. I know it's a small sample, but ram doesn't seem to be be capable of making a lasting transmission. The local dealer said they have done over 1,000 most under warranty. I can't imagine that number is accurate, but maybe it is. All I know is I don't want anything to do with a ram transmission. Good luck.

I have a 16 with the 68RFE I should of got a 3500 with G56 oh well lol.. So far 68RFE has done well..

lots of 48rfe and 68rfe have over 200k on them and still running strong , the Dodge transmission issue is way overblown IMO , but any auto tranny can fail


personally , Ive had very bad luck with GM transmissions

It's not only the A/T's. I have an '08 Dodge 2500 diesel with the manual. The transmission is strong but the stock clutches suck. Mine went out at about 80 or 90k. They have that dual mass flywheel that causes a lot of problems. I no longer have it. I had an upgraded flywheel and clutch installed that should last the life of the pickup.

The older Dodges are such junk. Really a shame given the Cummins engine in and of itself is pretty dang good.

And here I am, driving my 2nd Cummins powered 2500, my 5th Dodge/Ram truck in a row since 1996. All have been auto transmission trucks, all except the current 2014 with well over 100k miles on each, and no transmission failures, except my 2003 Cummins. It broke the reverse gear piston actuator lever while backing a loaded trailer up a steep driveway. Freak occurrence, even Garmon Diesel Performance hadn’t seen it before. Still allowed me to drive it in 3rd gear to him for repair. Took the opportunity to beef it up as I had done a few engine upgrades. This was at around 60k miles. The truck dynoed 503 hp and 1060 ft/lb to the wheels after the build and was problem free until I sold it at 297k miles.

So yeah, I would avoid them like the plague. Terrible trucks, not sure how they have survived in the current market, with all those flawless competitors out there........ cough, cough.

Try buying a used one with any life left in it. The local dealers never get them. Those that own them, get ridiculous prices for them if sell. E

So out of 5 Ram's you have had one tranny failure. I guess if a 20% failure rate is good...

What brand doesn't have failures?

Yep, and a freak occurrence at that. So what? I’m not going to knock the product when I have probably a combined 700-800k miles on these trucks, and have never had to put one of them on a flatbed due to breakdown. When I look at the GM and Ford forums, I feel pretty damn good about my choices. I use my trucks as trucks, tow up to 12k with them quite frequently. My 2014 has a separate odometer for trailer tow miles, and the truck has 98k miles on it now, 27k of those miles are with a trailer behind it. I’m not confident that any of the other manufacturer’s products would have given me any better service than the Rams have. What say you?

Word.
I could go on about the 5 Chevy 1 ton transmissions we have lost at work, which led to the purging of GM from our business.......

Well, I'm glad you are happy with your trucks. They do all break and some break in their own special ways. Truck brands are almost as bad as politics sometimes. I have two Chevy HD's right now, so plenty of mud could be slung my way. I don't think a 20% failure rate is particularly good, but you do seem to have a lot of miles on them, and are happy with them can't argue with that. Heck, the TACO guys seem happy even if their frame rusts completely through!

I think Ram's have a spotty rep for transmissions but then again, I have never owned one. The two in my immediate family both required new transmissions, one under 50k. That is what I base my very limited experience on.

My new 2002 chevy silverado 1500 was worst money pit I ever purchased.Sold it at 32,000 miles used 1 quart of oil every 1,800-2,000 miles.Chevy told me normal.My 2004 dodge 2500 with cummins diesel ran flawless until sold at 88,000 miles.My 2006 ford f-150 is just ok,had better trucks.My 2016 Ram 2500 with the 6.4 hemi has only 25,000 miles on the OD but flawless so far.All brands have there TURDS..

Yeah, my frame rusted through,............................
I wouldn't own anything but a 'yota..............



I get sick of this crap, Toyota and Ford guys seem the worst.


Not all, just the fanboys.

On this forum alone, it's evident that Dodge and Ram don't have a monopoly on transmission issues. Here's a pretty recent link that bears this out, one in which you participated.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/12541416/1

It's also plain to see that you have a chubby for Ram products anyhow, not sure why, and not causing me any loss of sleep, but it does explain some of the comments.

Your quote from one of the other threads on fuel economy:

"You want to hear fantastic, phenomenal, of of this world stories about mileage? Just ask any Ram owner with a Cummins. They will make some of the guys on this thread look like pikers. They must take them all in the back and offer to pay them every time they tell a MPG story. They won't stop telling you how good they get."

Not a call out thread, just an observation.

I agree. Nothing is perfect out there.

We have a 2001 3500 Dodge 5.9CTD/48RE and with only 78k miles on it, its on the 3rd transmission. One warranty and one on our dime. Its cursed.
Rebuilt a many GM 4L60E transmissions also. I don't see any reason to use them in a 1/2 Ton truck that is going to be towing. The large gear splits and weak internals are its problem.
But at least for GM a transmission swap to a better unit is easy. The 4L80E fits in the same space as the 4L60E and is a whole different animal and tuning for it is even easier.

You shouldn't let some random internet strangers option of the brand of truck you drive cause you to worry. Like I said, I have some of the dreaded Government Motors trucks, so that means I am probably like the main character in the old Charlie Daniels song "Easy Rider". Carry on, and rest assured, I would sure rather drive a Ram than a Ford!

I have owned fords. E4OD enough said. The 2004.5-2007 48re in my truck was killed by the bad "Transmission throttle valve actuator" In other words the electronic shifter was shifting in and out of gear under load and smoked the bands and torque converter. This was a Mercedes Improvement, Is my understanding. I drive it hard and it gets a lot of washboard gravel miles. My best guess is this washboard is what killed the TTVA. I was told by the shop which builds these transmissions by the hundreds a year. It was not a part they ever replace. One a few years ago. Was the story I got. Got a check in the mail this week from the shop. Rebate on TTVA mark up. 3 techs now know how to diagnose a failing TTVA so somebody learned from my suffering.

And there you have it!

That said, I used to say the same about dodge/ram trans based on not actually owning them. Now I own one. It's the best truck I've ever had. Not even close. Including a Tundra and a Tacoma, a pile of Fords, and one Chevy. Trust me, one Chevy was waaaay more than enough.

I have an 06 2600 but with the 6spd manual. I have bought and sold quite a few 3rd gen 5.9L over the past years. I do it on the side as there is a good market for clean low mile 5.9's and I live in that rust free dodge country so they are around. As a result I have looked at a thousand of them in ads and in person. The 48re and 48r are pretty much the same tranny according to my trans shop friend. I have seen plenty of 48's with 200+k miles of towing and 100% stock. Those chrysler trannys statistically dont have any worse a failure rate than the other 2. But the dodges have the highest towing use as they had the best diesel engine so they got the most use and esp when ford gave up on the 7.3l.
The bottom line is that auto trannys need close attention to maintenance and more frequent fluid changes when towed and esp if run HOT. Once that oil gets too hot it will wear out the trans real fast. On the 100k mile trucks I buy I find lots of oil change and alignment receipts in the glove box but few if any trans service receipts. Seems like most people have a tendency to keep the more expensive receipts but I dont find them.

If I can fault Dodge its because they dont stress the fuild changes on the auto at shorter intervals when towing or one just one overheat incident. The same with my g56 6 speed. It needs one more quart than recommended to last for eternity.

The aftermarket boys jump on the 48 'issue' to make you think that once you have fried your 48 you should spend 2x as much to rebuild to beef it up so it doesnt happen again.

Of course every now and then one can have a faulty control part fry your trans but that can happen with any make.

Bottom line maintenance is cheap! Also how many people do a proper coolant and brake fluid flush every 50k or so!

Dodges auto transmissions being junk is no secret.

Neither is your bias, and ignorance, apparently.

Neither is your bias, and ignorance, apparently.

Thats ok. He drives a ricer so what would he know!.

Owned three dodge diesels and worked in the auto industry in a R&D capacity. I have no brand loyalty and I run what works. Its not dodges of the vintage in question.

What constitutes a reliable vehicle, LOL.

Damn right, in factory form they suck, especially behind a Cummins, I called Firepunk Diesel and had em send me one of their rebuilds complete with billet shaft and triple disc convertor good for 550 HP, all damn good so far for over two years.

The reason why my transmission has the single disc billet torque converter. The triple disc takes more fluid volume/pressure to operate which causes more heating to the fluid. According to a couple techs I talked to. It is the same size outside but they cram 3 discs in it. More parts to break. Made sense to me.

Umm, no. Triple disc converters can live with much higher torque outputs, given the vastly increased surface area of the clutches and steels. Single disc converters are generally a lot less expensive to build, though. I know firsthand that a single disc will not live behind a Cummins making 1200+ ft/lbs of torque for long.

And 99% of cummins drivers will never see a benefit of the extra expense. The 48re Pump will not fully utilize the 3 disc torque converter. Waste your cash however you want. It is yours to waste.

If you say so