'05 Ram 2500 transmission

[jinman]

Maybe they knew the problem and didn't even rebuild it, just disconnected the battery overnight

Think so?:laughing: They did offer to give me the parts and I could tell the transmission had been out. They also gave me a 3 year warranty. An older gent owned the shop and his son owned another shop in a town 20 miles away. He took my truck to his son to rebuild because his techs in his shop were experts on the 47RE. This was in 2001 and that's why the price seems so little by today's standards. I think the cost of the new torque converter was over $600 and not an OEM Dodge part but an aftermarket builder. Anyhow, I'm thrilled with the job they did and I've surely put thousands of trouble-free miles on the transmission. I think rebuilding is a great way to go if you have someone who knows their business and wants to be in business 10 years from now. Sloppy work tends to limit the life of your business.

Joshua, I think people want to sell and install new transmissions because they can make as much or more as a rebuild and they can do the swap without the hours of labor. They also have a warranty from the manufacturer of the transmission instead of having to warrant their own work. A shop that does rebuilds and has a good reputation is rare, but worth the search.

BTW: I took my truck to a Dodge dealer (not where I purchased it) and they said they only did replacements with new. They tested my transmission and told me I needed a new one. I paid to have them run a test and they charged me $75 for a "fluids disposal fee." I was picking up the truck right before they closed and a buddy just dropped me off. I wanted to talk to the service manager, but he was not there. I thought the fee was bogus and still do. There was no charge for added fluids, so how could they charge me that fee? Of course their clerk was not the one to argue with. It was nearly $6k for a new transmission there and my $1800 rebuild sure made that deal look bad. You just never know who you can trust.

 

[groundcover]

Years ago my '99 cummins wouldn't stay locked up in overdrive. Took it to the dealer and they couldn't find any fault codes . Took the service guy for a ride and he was ready to put in a new trans . I wasn't happy with his take on the problem and did a bit of digging on line. Found a TSB from Dodge that called for a reprograming to fix interference from the alternator. After several more battles they did the recall and was fine for years.
When it started to bother again the dealer wanted to replace the TPS , I took it to my diesel wizard to get a price. He said all I needed was a noise filter, has been fine ever since !

 

[groundcover]

Years ago my '99 cummins wouldn't stay locked up in overdrive. Took it to the dealer and they couldn't find any fault codes . Took the service guy for a ride and he was ready to put in a new trans . I wasn't happy with his take on the problem and did a bit of digging on line. Found a TSB from Dodge that called for a reprograming to fix interference from the alternator. After several more battles they did the recall and was fine for years.
When it started to bother again the dealer wanted to replace the TPS , I took it to my diesel wizard to get a price. He said all I needed was a noise filter, has been fine ever since !

 

[scott_vt]

Good Evenin Josh,
I have a 2000 and mine finally died right around 115,000. I had a local transmission shop do a rebuild in 2008 for $1900. To this day I havent had any problems with it but to be fair I havent put alot of miles on it because I also bought a smaller PU for the gas mileage...

Good Luck with your rebuild !

 

[WilliamBos]

Havent heard much about it.

I know the 5-speed autos that they started putting in the non-diesel trucks in 03 with the gas motors is pretty good. But they stuck with the 4-speeds for the cummins for awhile.

I cannot afford a new truck. And probably never will at a $50k+ pricetag. Therefore I am always a generation behind on knowing what is good and what is not.

Thanks. I hear you on sticker shock. But with the way diesels are being hotrodded, unless i can get a low mile trade/off lease with warranty, a used diesel scares me too much.

 

[SageBrush]

Don't put an OEM 48RE back in there! Just say NO. Money is much better spent with a quality aftermarket version that will be soooo much more efficient and will get the power to the ground. I personally have a DTT built crate transmission behind my 400hp 1000 lb torque monster and it has been holding up great for about 5 years now. I towed my 18,000 pound 43' toy hauler all over the SE so my DTT is well tested.

I also like Goerend Transmission, Inc. - Torque Converters, Transmission and they had some budget minded set ups. It came down to DTT, Goerend or Suncoast for me. I liked the DTT torque convertor concept the best since I was running lots of torque and needed billet shafts and a billet TC. DTT is the old guard IMO and they have a great valve body with a very tough TC. They start around $2400 plus labor and go up. Plus a good TC will run over $1K, like a triple disc. http://www.dttdiesel.com/category-s/2309.htm?searching=Y&sort=2&cat=2309&show=10&page=1

With high mileage you will probably need a full rebuild so, a crate swap would be fine. Sometimes you can save money by reusing many of the parts if the transmission is low mileage, 160K is not low mileage though. Depending on options, the cost will be $4 to $6K if done right. The last one I bought ran me around $5,000 installed with lots of goodies and I replaced all the cooler lines with OEM. I highly recommend you install brand new lines and probably a new cooler too. No need to go all out, just let a well known transmission builder know what power you need it to handle and how hard you work it. A near stock set up with minor tweaks is actually less than an overpriced Dodge offering.

I was all smiles when I drove my first aftermarket transmission behind a "mild" Cummins. The power off the line was a huge improvement, no comparison to stock at all. The truck just leaps off the line even when loaded or overloaded. The OEM set up is horrible in comparison IMO. You do feel the very firm shifts, but the power handling is awesome. After my first trans upgrade I went all out on the engine, injectors, big turbo, injector pump work etc.. I love how I can burn up my 4 rear tires at will! We also have a mostly stock truck with 104K on the stock trans, still waiting for that 48RE to wear out.

 

[coobie]

Two places to look for dodge truck tranny.Goerend bothers,St. Lucas Iowa and Dusty Hawk located in western Mi.Been to both places,they are top notch.

 

[mudcat47537]

I had a 98 Cummins that the converter failed and polluted the tranny at 150k I replaced with a stage 4 ATS and if went to 512k with a hopped up motor. Many many passes down the drag strip, flat footed launches even while towing and a few hooks to the sled. A considerable amount if towing with a slide in camper. The truck was totaled with 512k on it and the tranny was pulled and sold for $3500 and is still going strong.
It made the truck amazing to drive smooth shifts and no wasted power creating heat.

 

[dodge man]

The 48RE was first put in the Dodge trucks during the 2003 model year run, later during the run, not early. It is a 47RE with some heavier parts.

I have personally rebuilt two 727 torqueflites from classic Mopars, but its been more than twenty years ago. The design of the 47RE and the 48RE is actually based on this transmission, but they have an overdrive unit on the back. I can't remember the exact cost for parts, but I think it was $300 or more back then. I can't imagine you could get the parts that cheap for a 48RE now. If you do some upgrades which I think the OP said they were, maybe a shift kit, all new gaskets and seals, new torque convertor, new fluids, its going to add up. The first one I rebuilt took me about 6 weeks to do as I had no clue what I was doing and wasn't in a hurry. The next one I did took less than a day. Depending on the experience level and number of helpers, a guy could pull it, rebuild it and put it back in in one day, but 1 1/2 days to 2 days is more likely.

I actually went on line and looked up the parts, if you went the cheapest route, you are looking at around $700 for parts. The biggest cost difference is going to be in torque convertors, a high quality one will be over $1000.

I guess the point I'm making is I don't think $3000 to $4000 is out of line to rebuild a transmission. I know one of the high end rebuilds would be nice, but unless you have the money to upgrade, I think the rebuild will last a long time if done correctly.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Picked up the truck today. She says it goes into gear much more positively than it did. Only time will tell for the rest. For those who might be interested, I've attached the itemized bill of materials for the repair.

 

[dodge man]

I think that is a very fair price. If they did a good job, it will last a long time unless you have the truck turned up for power.

 

[wmonroe]

Everything on there looks normal except for the input shaft. Was something damaged on the old one? That shouldn't normally be replaced when doing a rebuild. Did they say what the stall is on the torque converter. Looks like they put in upgraded or HD parts, you should be good to go now.

 

[joshuabardwell]

They reported that the input shaft was cracked. I didn't personally verify that. I don't know the stall on the torque converter, sorry. The HD parts was part of the reason I liked this shop right off. The original mechanic just wanted to drop in a one-for-one replacement. This shop was right off the bat with, "Yeah. That transmission sucks. Here is how we will make it not suck anymore."

 

[dodge man]

It's common to upgrade the input shaft on them.

 

[wmonroe]

I have heard of lots of people upgrading to billet input shafts because of other modifications. Really no need for a billet input unless you are planning on boosted launches.

 

[Raspy]

When Dodge put the 48RE in the 2003 trucks they didn't build them as strong as they could, only strong enough to hold stock Cummins power. And they put a cooler on that was good enough to keep them from burning up during heavy use with the converter unlocked.

The truck cannot come to a stop with a locked TC without killing the engine if it's in gear.

The TC is barely strong enough and is a good item to upgrade if the tranny is out of the truck. Other items are the input shaft and the intermediate band. A valve body upgrade will make firmer shifts which means less slipping and wear. Many heavy duty parts are available that can make this tranny hold enormous power.

There was also some weak flex plates installed but I can't remember the year. It might have been 2004. They can crack, so a close look is good, or replacement.

I've got 270,000 on mine now and have to be a bit careful. At 100,000 I upgraded the TC, but cheaped out and did not get a triple disk. Big mistake! My Cummins is turned up and I can slip the converter anytime I get on it too much at low RPM.

When it comes time I'll probably get Georand or other quality heavy duty trans, but not one from Chrysler, as it will be the same thing I started out with.

It would be so nice to slip an Aisin 6 speed auto in, but the earlier computers can't operate them.