[crazyd]

My 68RFE bit the dust at 230K - was trying to get unstuck in the snow, riding the brake to keep the wheels from spinning. Lost 1st gear. Pretty sure I broke the sprag. I can drive it around in reverse or 1 on the selector, but in D it goes about 10 feet, then throws code P0731 and acts like it goes into neutral

I run an XRT Pro on the mild setting. Stock tires and gears. I have not added the trans tuning to the XRT but will probably do so after the rebuild.

I've rebuilt transmissions before - so i'm going to order a rebuild kit of some kind and rebuild it myself with the ATSG book.

I was thinking about getting this kit:
https://www.dieselpowerproducts.com...-it-transmission-kits-075-18-67l-cummins.aspx

What do you guys think of the BD kit - in particular the included sprag? Separately it's priced at $295, and most other heavy duty sprags are ~ $600, is the BD a good sprag?

I haven't had any issues with the 68RFE thus far, so i'm seeing no reason to upgrade it much past stock.

 

[Slow 6.7]

My 68RFE bit the dust at 230K - was trying to get unstuck in the snow, riding the brake to keep the wheels from spinning. Lost 1st gear. Pretty sure I broke the sprag. I can drive it around in reverse or 1 on the selector, but in D it goes about 10 feet, then throws code P0731 and acts like it goes into neutral

I run an XRT Pro on the mild setting. Stock tires and gears. I have not added the trans tuning to the XRT but will probably do so after the rebuild.

I've rebuilt transmissions before - so i'm going to order a rebuild kit of some kind and rebuild it myself with the ATSG book.

I was thinking about getting this kit:
https://www.dieselpowerproducts.com...-it-transmission-kits-075-18-67l-cummins.aspx

What do you guys think of the BD kit - in particular the included sprag? Separately it's priced at $295, and most other heavy duty sprags are ~ $600, is the BD a good sprag?

I haven't had any issues with the 68RFE thus far, so i'm seeing no reason to upgrade it much past stock.

I would recommend Revmax. I know they have a rebuild kit. I ended up rebuilding the whole transmission on my truck. But went with the 550 series with Revmax. Well worth it. They make great product and back it up. They know a lot when it comes to the 68RFE. I have the mini max and had the overdrive tune. But just recently I had Dave Mathews do a custom tune for it, engine and transmission, and made a big difference. Highly recommend a trans tune.

 

[crazyd]

I would recommend Revmax. I know they have a rebuild kit. I ended up rebuilding the whole transmission on my truck. But went with the 550 series with Revmax. Well worth it. They make great product and back it up. They know a lot when it comes to the 68RFE. I have the mini max and had the overdrive tune. But just recently I had Dave Mathews do a custom tune for it, engine and transmission, and made a big difference. Highly recommend a trans tune.

The 550 kit looks great, but not sure I really need the upgraded pan, valve body, and input drum. Those three items seem to add $3k to the price of the rebuild.

The only thing i've noticed with the 68RFE is that it seems to partially lock the torque converter going into 4th gear, which is a bit weird. And sometimes it lugs a bit too much instead of downshifting in 5th or 6th. Other than that it seems like a pretty solid shifting transmission.

What do you notice most about the upgrade?

 

[Slow 6.7]

The 550 kit looks great, but not sure I really need the upgraded pan, valve body, and input drum. Those three items seem to add $3k to the price of the rebuild.

The only thing i've noticed with the 68RFE is that it seems to partially lock the torque converter going into 4th gear, which is a bit weird. And sometimes it lugs a bit too much instead of downshifting in 5th or 6th. Other than that it seems like a pretty solid shifting transmission.

What do you notice most about the upgrade?

Well with the the TC locks up really good on 4th gear. You could feel it. And you won’t get 6th gear till you get to about 60 mph. Shifts are a lot more firm. And over all you the truck moves. Pulls hard too. You can just feel it.

 

[Clean Diesel]

I would go with the BD kit. It gives you what you need for the valve body as well as the rest of the good stuff. Definitely use the transmission tuning after the rebuild. I have the BD diesel protect 68 valve body kit along with the pressure box. I can't say enough good about it. Unless your going racing or pulling that should be more than enough.

 

[crazyd]

I still need to pull & tear down the transmission to see if the case is salvagable - it looks like in some cases when the sprag breaks it might crack the case.

Also thinking that a new valve body might be a good idea simply because of mileage.

I'm now rethinking to maybe get the BD sprag ($295), the revmax valve body ($699), the revmax input drum ($695) and the mopar master overhaul kit ($150) totaling ~ $1839

On my last rebuild, most of my labor went into cleaning and rebuilding the valve body and input drum so having those two items show up ready to install is a big time savings, plus it looks like I would get most of the benefit of the 550 kit.

 

[charlie175]

I had the Revmax kit put in mine. My overdrive clutches were shot. I never towed in 6th but I think it was from them engaging at such a low RPM
The revmax kit (I got the brain module also) now shifts much different. Probably how it should be from the factory, however my MPG dropped a lot.
It's shifts up/down much more now. 5th around 50 and 6th 55 or so.
Tows much better but I also got their Trq. Converter.

 

[SloChicken]

A new valve body from revmax will allow line pressures up at 225psi.
The stock body can only produce about 180psi.
This is your clutch holding capability, so if you want the transmission to do well long term a valve body that allows appropriate pressures is integral to the rebuild

 

[Clean Diesel]

The BD Diesel Protect68 kit raises the pressure dynamically up to 260 psi at full throttle. The only reason I would replace my valve body is if it had a ton of miles on it and the bores were worn out.

 

[crazyd]

Inside of the transmission looks great. Good amount of clutch debris. Very little metal on the magnet. Need to cut open the filters and see what is inside.

Sprag looks fine at first glance but is locked up solid. Can't even disassemble it

Realistically I could probably throw a sprag in this, slap it all back together and call it done, but it would be a shame to not build it right...

 

[Clean Diesel]

I would agree. You've already got it apart, might as well do it right.

 

[crazyd]

Decided to order up the BD Stage 3 kit from Xtreme Diesel: https://www.xtremediesel.com/bd-power-1062023-stage-3-performance-transmission-build-it-kit

Should be here on Wednesday

 

[El Pozzinator]

Any idea what the difference is between the stage 3 and stage 4 kits? Sniffing at them the last few days looks like stage 4 just adds the “protect 68” valve body modification setup. Still not sold on “ruin your own valve body” marketing on that, especially since I’m already running a tuned TCM as an earlier band aid. Definitely keeping an eye on your progress here - driving around without 6th gear is getting REAL old, REAL fast.

The dude abides, but the truck doesn’t like going into limp mode every time trans fluid hits 130*...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[crazyd]

Stage 3 includes most of the Protect68 kit, Stage 4 adds in the pressure controller.

"Protect68" is described in some articles as also putting in an upgraded aluminum pan - i'm not going to bother with that, i'd rather add an extra trans cooler if temperature becomes a concern (which it hasn't been for me)

I have a low opinion of "fooler" or "piggyback" boxes of any type, so I ordered the Stage 3, and will probably run the XRT overdrive tuning (if I can still buy an unlock code from somewhere).

 

[El Pozzinator]

i've never been a fan of pressure boxes or foolers for anything. just seems like the more we try to convince these computers something isn't the way it is, the worse stuff ends up broken as a result.

ran across this multi-part 68rfe rebuild last night, maybe not so helpful to you in the middle of the rebuild but quite likely helpful to someone else considering a DIY deal:

definitely makes the slushbox look a lot less like untouchable voodoo.

 

[crazyd]

i've never been a fan of pressure boxes or foolers for anything. just seems like the more we try to convince these computers something isn't the way it is, the worse stuff ends up broken as a result.

ran across this multi-part 68rfe rebuild last night, maybe not so helpful to you in the middle of the rebuild but quite likely helpful to someone else considering a DIY deal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BlQiWQzVPQ

definitely makes the slushbox look a lot less like untouchable voodoo.

So far i've rebuilt a VW DSG and a GM 4T65E in my garage.

The 68RFE is vastly easier to work on than either of those. Once you remove the valve body and the 6 oil pump bolts everything comes out easy, in simple to understand assemblies. No bands to deal with, and the cartridge filter seems to keep the fluid very clean. Clean is good - a clean transmission is much easier to rebuild.

I spent 8+ hours cleaning out the GM valvebody with a tiny little paintbrush in a parts washer to get rid of the metal "paste" that was spread out through the transmission. 3 piece valve body with the oil pump integrated and 10? solenoids is very complicated to put together. Lots of special tools required for the GM transmission. Crazy chain drive inside the transmission. GM also designed the transmission with the wrong 3rd clutch clearance - the transmissions are out of GM spec even when new - had to manufacture parts to fix that.

The VW transmission was pretty simple but the way it gets assembled makes it very easy to damage the internal parts - when you bolt the case back together many pieces need to be lined up simultaneously which makes it quite an ordeal, and if you miss something you are going to bend a shaft or break something

On the 68RFE It doesn't look like you need any special tools except for a press (or c-clamps), retaining ring pliers, some feeler gauges, and a dial gauge indicator to set the end play. The fact that it is a relatively large transmission actually makes it easier to take apart, it has big snap rings that come out with a screwdriver vs tiny stuff that requires very stout & small pliers.

Once the transmission is out it takes maybe 15 minutes to break the transmission down into discrete assemblies.

 

[Clean Diesel]

Regardless if your "fooling" the computer or trying to re write the computer, your still manipulating it to do what you want against what Dodge intended. That being said, I've had several deleted diesel trucks from Dodge and Ford and all but one had the transmission tuning just right. With the adaptive learning of the 68rfe the BD prsssure box along with the valve body modification works like a champ day after day, week after week without hiccup. I guarantee the Rev max valve body is modified the same way. And in order to run it you have to program the transmission for more pressure. Whereas the BD uses the factory shift strategy along with a linear pressure increase which doesn't cause any issues with the way it shifts. I'm very comfortable with using it. If something changes I'll let you know and then you can give me the, "I told you so".

 

[SloChicken]

Regardless if your "fooling" the computer or trying to re write the computer, your still manipulating it to do what you want against what Dodge intended. That being said, I've had several deleted diesel trucks from Dodge and Ford and all but one had the transmission tuning just right. With the adaptive learning of the 68rfe the BD prsssure box along with the valve body modification works like a champ day after day, week after week without hiccup. I guarantee the Rev max valve body is modified the same way. And in order to run it you have to program the transmission for more pressure. Whereas the BD uses the factory shift strategy along with a linear pressure increase which doesn't cause any issues with the way it shifts. I'm very comfortable with using it. If something changes I'll let you know and then you can give me the, "I told you so".

Revmax does offer a “no-tune” 68RFE now.
Available as the kit below, or as a complete transmission
Personally, as I was purchasing an entire transmission I opted revmax’s own TCM tune, but the no-tune transmission was an option.
Can’t imagine why anybody would want to go that way but to each his own.

https://revmaxconverters.com/product/68rfe-zerotune-technology-tuneless-transmission-upgrade-kit/

 

[crazyd]

Been making some forward and backward progress on this build.

I've got everything disassembled. New sprag is installed.

The old clutches are pretty worn out. Very little friction material left.
I have a few small scorch marks on the overdrive clutches, so my clutch pressure was not sufficient.

I deeply scratched one of the sealing surfaces of the input hub when my snap ring pliers let loose when removing one of the molded pistons, it's junk now. I ordered a used input hub off ebay for $80.

Also ordered new molded pistons for another $100 since they weren't included in the BD kit.

The SSV valve in the valve body is extremely loose, so i'm going to replace the entire valve body with the newer anodized OEM one for another $600

Ordered a drum compression tool for $30. It's awkward to compress some of the springs in the drums with my hydraulic press.

Ordered a $100 set of 16" snap ring pliers, so I don't mess up the input hub again.

Haven't yet decided whether I want to replace the torque converter. I might keep the old one for now

$2,160 and counting.

 

[El Pozzinator]

if you haven't been on PATC's website, they have some pretty good prices on stuff if you're looking for bits and pieces. seems like the same stuff some of the other builders are using but with substantially lower prices. for instance, i've seen the billet trans filter adapters going for $30-50 depending on where you look; PATC has one for $12. they've also got a billet input shaft advertised as 300m for under $600, i think it's a sonnax part number. i'd definitely look elsewhere if you end up needing a pump though; looks like they only have mopar units and they want almost $800 for them, while the modified high pressure pumps from Revmax and Suncoast are cheaper than that...