Chrysler 68rfe rebuild or replace?

[The motor guy]

Time for a new transmission on the 2007 dodge cummins. Only made it 173k before it started going into the limp mode in the lower gears. Sounds like valve bodies and torque converters are weak points on these things. Trans has 240k now as I just take it easy until the torque converter locks up in 4th gear. I'm tired of having the acceleration of a school bus though.
Now with that being said, I've heard some horror stories about trans shops where they get it rebuilt and it runs okay for 5k miles and it acts up again etc. Looks like we're around the $9k mark for a stage 1 suncoast that has a few fixes for some of the common issues. Sounds like Chrysler hasn't done anything for these earlier models to correct early failures, so I'm not really a fan of rebuoding what I have, but at the same time $9k is a lot of money for an 07 model, but I do still love this truck and imo it's the same thing as the newer models minus all the extra electronic nonsense. Opinions?

 

[Kira]

Is there a source of real industry-wide data, not just "some horror stories" and "Sounds like Chrysler hasn't..."?
Is Suncoast a swap (send them yours, they assess the useability of your care, and they send you one they have on hand)?
Are rebuild kits available?

What's a replacement truck cost? Is 240k a reasonable lifespan in your application?

 

[The motor guy]

Is there a source of real industry-wide data, not just "some horror stories" and "Sounds like Chrysler hasn't..."?
Is Suncoast a swap (send them yours, they assess the useability of your care, and they send you one they have on hand)?
Are rebuild kits available?

What's a replacement truck cost? Is 240k a reasonable lifespan in your application?

I think the transmission repair shops in general have a bad rap unless it's just a wives tale. I think either way. They can rebuild mine or just send them my old one and swap with a one they have. I think that's the fastest way.

 

[The motor guy]

well like I said, I made it 173,000 miles before it started acting up and I limped it along for another 60k by just keeping my foot out of it. Imo, 173k is a bit early for a failure. I personally expect 250k out of a modern automatic before issues. No reason not too assuming it gets a fluid change every so often. I limped it along thinking it was going to fail and leave me stranded on the side of the road in the next few thousand miles, not 60k miles, still is perfectly driveable, as long as a trailer isn't behind it.

 

[Kira]

Perhaps a light foot is what this trannie needed all its life? (not scolding, just thinking).

Do stand-alone companies like Allison make superior transmissions?

 

[The motor guy]

Perhaps a light foot is what this trannie needed all its life? (not scolding, just thinking).

Do stand-alone companies like Allison make superior transmissions?

It's always had a light foot it's whole life. It's just a poor design like most Chrysler transmissions. The allison defuels in between shifts, so it's a not a simple swap. I believe ATS makes a swap, but it's NOT cheap.

 

[clinebarger]

68RFE's are good for around 200,000 miles behind a Cummins, Some make it to 300,000 miles if not worked hard.

RFE unit's don't have a Valve Body in a traditional sense.....They have a Channel Plate, Accumulator Body, And a Solenoid Pack.

These unit run a little high dollar if you want one built right.....
*New Mopar Solenoid Pack.
*Oversized Solenoid Switch Valve & Plugs...High Wear area that can cause limp mode & burn frictions.
*Billet Channel Plate, The factory castings like to flex & leak.
*Billet Accumulator Pistons & hold down plate
*Sonnax Overdrive Housing kit....The Overdrive Clutch is the weakest clutch
*Sonnax line booster kit
*New Mopar line pressure transducer
*Delete the thermal bypass
*At least a twin disc billet front converter
Of coarse replace all bushings, frictions, seals, Vacuum test all the valves in the Pump.

I build these.....And Aus Tex Transmission builds some nice RFE's as well, The owner Pepe Torres is well known in the industry.

 

[The motor guy]

68RFE's are good for around 200,000 miles behind a Cummins, Some make it to 300,000 miles if not worked hard.

RFE unit's don't have a Valve Body in a traditional sense.....They have a Channel Plate, Accumulator Body, And a Solenoid Pack.

These unit run a little high dollar if you want one built right.....
*New Mopar Solenoid Pack.
*Oversized Solenoid Switch Valve & Plugs...High Wear area that can cause limp mode & burn frictions.
*Billet Channel Plate, The factory castings like to flex & leak.
*Billet Accumulator Pistons & hold down plate
*Sonnax Overdrive Housing kit....The Overdrive Clutch is the weakest clutch
*Sonnax line booster kit
*New Mopar line pressure transducer
*Delete the thermal bypass
*At least a twin disc billet front converter
Of coarse replace all bushings, frictions, seals, Vacuum test all the valves in the Pump.

I build these.....And Aus Tex Transmission builds some nice RFE's as well, The owner Pepe Torres is well known in the industry.

How long do they last once upgraded?

 

[The motor guy]

68RFE's are good for around 200,000 miles behind a Cummins, Some make it to 300,000 miles if not worked hard.

RFE unit's don't have a Valve Body in a traditional sense.....They have a Channel Plate, Accumulator Body, And a Solenoid Pack.

These unit run a little high dollar if you want one built right.....
*New Mopar Solenoid Pack.
*Oversized Solenoid Switch Valve & Plugs...High Wear area that can cause limp mode & burn frictions.
*Billet Channel Plate, The factory castings like to flex & leak.
*Billet Accumulator Pistons & hold down plate
*Sonnax Overdrive Housing kit....The Overdrive Clutch is the weakest clutch
*Sonnax line booster kit
*New Mopar line pressure transducer
*Delete the thermal bypass
*At least a twin disc billet front converter
Of coarse replace all bushings, frictions, seals, Vacuum test all the valves in the Pump.

I build these.....And Aus Tex Transmission builds some nice RFE's as well, The owner Pepe Torres is well known in the industry.

Everyone says the Overdrive clutches are the weak link, but 5th and 6th gears are the ones that done give any issues lol

 

[clinebarger]

The Solenoid Switch Valve/Plugs & Solenoid Pack are still wear items no matter what gets done.

I call a SSV ream/oversized Valves, Solenoid Pack & Pressure Transducer a "RFE Tune-up"....Most likely should've been done right after the first time it acted up.

 

[The motor guy]

The Solenoid Switch Valve/Plugs & Solenoid Pack are still wear items no matter what gets done.

I call a SSV ream/oversized Valves, Solenoid Pack & Pressure Transducer a "RFE Tune-up"....Most likely should've been done right after the first time it acted up.

What does that cost? Is it too late at this point?

 

[clinebarger]

$1,400 turn key with fluid & both filters, At that mileage the unit needs gone through for nothing else than the converter clutch is getting tired.

Can it prolong the inevitable....Yes it can assuming all the clutch packs have life left in them.

 

[The motor guy]

$1,400 turn key with fluid & both filters, At that mileage the unit needs gone through for nothing else than the converter clutch is getting tired.

Can it prolong the inevitable....Yes it can assuming all the clutch packs have life left in them.

They can check the cvi values with a scan tool though, right?

 

[nascarnation]

Do stand-alone companies like Allison make superior transmissions?

I like to think so, but realize the design parameters and cost targets are different from the high volume auto manufacturers. The Allison 1000/2000 series was originally concepted to replace the AT5XX series for the 30,000 lb commercial market. (school bus, delivery trucks, etc). It was adopted for the pickups as a marketing strategy.

 

[The motor guy]

I like to think so, but realize the design parameters and cost targets are different from the high volume auto manufacturers. The Allison 1000/2000 series was originally concepted to replace the AT5XX series for the 30,000 lb commercial market. (school bus, delivery trucks, etc). It was adopted for the pickups as a marketing strategy.

The commercial version usually doesn't have much hp though, so less likely to tear things up. An m2 freightliner box truck only has like 260hp on their 6.7 cummins.

 

[nascarnation]

The commercial version usually doesn't have much hp though, so less likely to tear things up. An m2 freightliner box truck only has like 260hp on their 6.7 cummins.

True but the duty cycle is usually more severe and the expected life is often a half million miles.

 

[clinebarger]

They can check the cvi values with a scan tool though, right?

The CVI's can be off because problems in the Solenoid Pack & or Solenoid Switch Valves/Plugs.

 

[clinebarger]

The commercial version usually doesn't have much hp though, so less likely to tear things up. An m2 freightliner box truck only has like 260hp on their 6.7 cummins.

The Allison 1000 will easily handle 650 foot pounds of torque & live forever in a light duty pick-up, Horsepower doesn't kill transmissions.

I have yet to see a late 6 speed Allison 1000 die behind a stock Duramax unless it was ran out of fluid! I put over 400,000 miles on my '06 LBZ.....Zero issues with the transmission.

 

[The motor guy]

The CVI's can be off because problems in the Solenoid Pack & or Solenoid Switch Valves/Plugs.

I see, so you can't check it until you have all that functioning correctly, probably along with the valve body too.

 

[clinebarger]

The Solenoid Pack for all intents and purposes IS the Valve Body....The only dynamic valve in the part usually considered the Valve Body is the Solenoid Switch Valve & 3 Isolator Plugs.

Chrysler has some wacky engineering compared to other transmission manufacturers.....Though it's elegant in it's own way.