How many failures in the last couple of model years have you seen reported that weren't on modded and tuned trucks?

They have been continually upgrading weak points in them.

And, I tow heavy a lot, and have never seen trans temps go much higher than normal even under high load.

Simple maintenance and no abuse is all it takes. 263,650 miles so far.

 

If I remember right, below 220 degrees F is preferred. Around 240 is time for a fluid and filter change and add a cooler.

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A while back I watched a 68RFE being broken down to be rebuilt on YouTube. It was from a tow truck that had submerged the tranny. The tech said the 68RFE is a good tranny, just don't get it wet inside as the water causes delamination of the disks.

 

I don't know of a tranny that enjoys water as a atf supplment

 

What I learned is if towing heavy, lock it out of 5th and 6th gear, they are both overdriven and the od clutch pack tends to slip under heavy loads and burn out. It happened on my 07.5, at around 107k miles, towed to much in 5 and 6 because the cummins had plenty of power to pull my 12,000 lb 5th wheel. On my 13, I definitely keep it out of 6 and will run only in 5th on flat ground cruising steady speeds. Temperatures run 170* empty or loaded on flat ground. I will hit 210-220 on 7-10% grades that require me to run in 2nd and 3rd gear because of tight switch back curves that I run with trailer 1 or 2 times a year.

 

I've always tow in 6th when practical, when the load is not too great, speeds near 70 or above.

Lock out 6th when lots of hills or when towing at 65 or slower.

So far, so good.

Like I posted, continuous upgrades and improvements have been made to the 68RFE, much better now than a few years ago, TONS BETTER than when first introduced.

 

99.9% of the failures are from people that delete/tune the truck. If you are stock you shouldn't have anything to worry about.



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Eh, not really, it's the nut job behind the wheel that does the damage, not deleting and tuning.

What I learned is if towing heavy, lock it out of 5th and 6th gear, they are both overdriven and the od clutch pack tends to slip under heavy loads and burn out. It happened on my 07.5, at around 107k miles, towed to much in 5 and 6 because the cummins had plenty of power to pull my 12,000 lb 5th wheel. On my 13, I definitely keep it out of 6 and will run only in 5th on flat ground cruising steady speeds. Temperatures run 170* empty or loaded on flat ground. I will hit 210-220 on 7-10% grades that require me to run in 2nd and 3rd gear because of tight switch back curves that I run with trailer 1 or 2 times a year.

I lock out 6th, never 5th unless I'm going slow.

Dodgenutfarmer is spot on. Your over drive clutches with fry, 5 and 6. I just fried mine I am lifted with 37s and tow often. They made it 70k miles tuned and deleted on 100hp most of the time. Replacing the clutches isn't a big task but you can tell when they are shot... Make sure you do a nice break in before towing. My dad's 2017 has been in the shop 4 times now for tranny issues... We just can't get it figured out...

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37's on a stock rear end im guessing?



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I only know of one failure on a stock truck (Jared), and otherwise they are pretty solid. As Ltngdrvr said, he has 263,000 on his and he delivers 5th wheel rvs for a living, so at least 50% of his miles are towing trailers in the 10,000 lb plus range.

I had a valve body fail in mine, but it was a random casting flaw. Nothing about the design at fault.

 

Dodgenutfarmer is spot on. Your over drive clutches with fry, 5 and 6. I just fried mine I am lifted with 37s and tow often. They made it 70k miles tuned and deleted on 100hp most of the time. Replacing the clutches isn't a big task but you can tell when they are shot... Make sure you do a nice break in before towing. My dad's 2017 has been in the shop 4 times now for tranny issues... We just can't get it figured out...

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Mine weren't fried that bad, but I was also stock:wink2:

 

I pulled last summer a 5th wheel (14,000lbs) in the Sierra foothills - many times I was into 4th gear. Never saw trans temps over 205, but engine oil temp was screaming. The 68RFE is up to the task. Cal. Hwy 88 is definitely tough on equipment.

 

I pulled last summer a 5th wheel (14,000lbs) in the Sierra foothills - many times I was into 4th gear. Never saw trans temps over 205, but engine oil temp was screaming. The 68RFE is up to the task. Hwy 88 is definitely tough on equipment.

It's not about the temp, it's about the torque on our baby 5 and 6 clutches. 😁

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That's right , I tow mostly in 5th, 6th just drives up the EGT.

 

This is where i like the 3.42 gears. You can lock out one or both overdrives and still tow at a decent speed. I always thought the lower geared rear ends were where it was at. But, for my needs at least the 3.42 are perfect.
I do have one piece of advice and that is enjoy the truck. They are disposable. No matter what you do the transmission will eventually fail. Even if you never use the truck it will still rot away. It is nice to have a new truck. We think this is it my last truck. But the reality is Ram cranks them out everyday so if issues arise you have the best warranty in the industry and it can be replaced.

 

Can someone define "abuse" as it pertains to a stock truck? I am unsure what being hard on the transmission really means, given that it is an automatic and does whatever it wants (68rfe here).

 

Oh, I'd say running hammer down all the time, hammering the throttle every time you take off, hammering the throttle when towing.

My truck pretty much never sees more than 3/4 throttle, and usually no more than 1/2. It's not a hotrod, it's a truck designed to do work.

 

I was speaking with a Ram technician and he was saying the Torque Converter was the weakness


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Me I never let the pedal touch the floor. No need to. Didn't buy a hot rod-even if it is deleted and is wicked fast now. I have to remember it's a work truck.

I'll usually accelerate pretty fast every now and then but never to the point where I have to downshift. I always roll into the throttle. Let it finish it's gear then upshift to the next. That's how I do jt

 

It will bury the speedometer completely ..... That's fast enough... Lol

Drive like a granny, and your truck likely won't have issues. Trying to beat a Honda civic off the red light pulling your holiday trailer, probably not as good for the tranny (fun as hell though).

 

So for the guys with stock gears and 37 what do you guys do not towing. Around town I usually lock 5&6 out and the highway I usually do 70 sometimes I lock 6 out sometimes I don't. What do you think is better for the trans?

 

Re-gear.


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A friend of mine runs this trans in a 2011 2500. He is now deleted and not on any power tunes. He tows heavy loads of cattle and other farm equipment regularly. He estimates a live load of 20,000 pounds when the stock trailer is loaded full. Mind you this is on the semi flat prairies. He is well north of 200,00km now and his trans has not missed a beat. He tows lots, he tows heavy but does not drive like an entitled teenager and his truck is doing just fine.

Of course this is subjective. Just another dot of information to add to the list.

 

Well damn I suppose I can be the test mule for the truck that is relentlessly "hammered." 34k miles and counting on my 16 2500 and I have held it to the floor for more than ten minutes straight while hauling 17,000 lbs over a mountain pass. I floor it daily and hold it there from stoplight to 80mph. It is so gutless compared to anything else I drive (mostly sports cars) that I can't really stand to drive it any other way. I will be sure to document maintenance and repairs! A trucker told me the engine is designed to run hard and to just "let it do it's thing" (conversation was in reference to hauling heavy weight over the mountains). I didn't think to ask him about the transmission. I don't lock out a gear or run it manually, just use tow/haul mode and the exhaust brake. It will be interesting to see if my transmission or turbocharger die sooner than average. Glad I bought the 100k warranty.

 

Meh I do the same thing.. While towing and full throttle however will burn up your 5 and 6 clutches guaranteed. But that's only a thousand to 2k to replace. Burn it up!

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Back to the definition of hammering... what about flooring the pedal from a roll? Sometimes, ok more than sometimes slow drivers texting or talking piss me off and I floor it to get around them. Does that damage the 68fre?

 

Per my dealer: There are input and output speed sensors on these transmissions... If you were slipping it will let you know.

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For temperatures, I had the thermostat/valve between the trans and the trans cooler fail (stuck shut) and was seeing temps over 210 a lot, even unloaded. Dealer did not figure it out, so I replaced it myself, only about $60. Now back to 160-190 even with a load, rarely breaking over 200.

 

Good to know, everyone. I've towed our 12k fifth wheel once with this truck, and it's just being daily driven on mostly highway conditions now. Whenever we tow, I will make sure to keep it in 5th. It doesn't seem to like 6th that much, either. Every small hill, it needs to downshift and does a rev flare, and I hate that, so I suppose I can kill two birds with one stone by keeping the rpm's around 2k while towing in 5th and maybe help prevent trans failure.

 

good thread. it was going great until the Richard measuring contest started. I keep mine in 5th when towing and it seems to work fine. thanks for all the good info.

 

Gotta love transmission threads...

Note -- The OP never mentioned towing hard, deleting, tuning, adding HP, etc... He just asked if there was anything "extra" he could do to ensure longevity for his otherwise running perfectly 68rfe.

This was answered in post #2: "Simple maintenance and no abuse is all it takes. 263,650 miles so far."

-Guzzler