new around dodge...well..new to trucks all together. are the trannys that bad? i did a google search and it seems that way.

 

Depends on the truck, and how it was treated I guess...

I strongly believe that if you have the USA built truck its better than the Mexxico built trucks. Mine was made built in Michigan and ive had very very few problems to all of my friends trucks that were built in Mexico. I don't know if the Michigan built trucks are rare, but I haven't seen many.

My truck has 102k on it, very regularly tows a trailer, was owned by someone before me who towed a trailer from Minnesota across the country and back, and ive beat this **** out of it and my tranny shifts flawlessly. I did have one problem where I was told it was going out... wouldn't engage reverse and whined badly... turns out it just needed a filter change (80k) and still works great to this day.

I don't know if there is any truth to my us built vs Mexican built truck theory but it seems that way. for example I rebuilt both my differentials myself not because they were bad, but because I wanted to put my 4.56 gears in... ive read in the past these trucks are very common to use cheap Chinese bearings in the diff's, every bearing in mine was a timkin brand, which is very widely known as top of the line... and not just in the automotive market, in aerospace, jet engines ect.

Dodge probably uses the same exact trannys in the Mexican and us built trucks, they were probably made in the same place... I think its a hit or miss really, I think they are a good tranny overall that dodge just wanted to save a couple bucks on each unit and used cheaper parts. It is also well known that you can get a 46re tranny to handle tons of power very reliably.

 

In a word...yes. They really are that bad. If you get a good rebuilder when it goes, it'll treat you better than stock.

Side note: 07gixxer600: that is one of the HUGEST signatures I have ever seen......at the same time, it is also one of the sexiest! You got a great looking truck, man! Looks just like mine (black 99 Sport Reg Cab lifted) with better paint (way better) and better looking wheels.

 

I have a Messican truck and am happy as hell with it. I've read here that the USA built Dodge trucks are actually worse quality and reliability.

 

A saying that I read a little while ago on here went something like "There are two types of dodge trucks, ones that have had their transmission rebuilt, or ones that will soon need it". I think this statement is somewhat accurate. I had my trans rebuit a couple of years ago (under warranty) and then about a month ago my oil pump in my trans went bad and I ended up rebuilding it myself this time.

Anything I have read has said that a stock Dodge transmission will last usually between 80K and 110K. Then once it is rebuilt it should last you the rest of that trucks life. (Unless your oil pump goes out....)

 

What all did you do when you rebuilt your transmission, and how long did it take?

 

I know I was so mad that I dident know how to resize it... im used to windows XP and i downloaded a powertoy for it that I could right click a image and resize it but I cant get that for this computer that runs vista...

I will resize it soon though... thanks for the complements.

 

Im at 112,000 miles and my tranny is holding up strong, I tow weekly, and take many roadtrips, so with my experience, there not half that bad..

on a side note, i had a chevy s10 and at 50 k the u-joints snapped, drive shaft ate ****, tranny blew up, truck launched in the air, and traveled about 20 ft on the front tires. its a gamble as to what you'll get with an "American built"

 

I started rebuilding it last Saturday and just finished it this Saturday (Due to work constraints). I only worked on it the two saturdays. I had already had it pulled out and took it to my cousins in the morning (heated garage with big work bench). We tore it apart and replaced all of the clutches and steels of the trans and one set of the overdrive (the other set requires a bench press to get the clips out. We didn't really dis-assembly everything because we found my problem right away. If you look at my first post I ever did on here (about my trans problems) that explains what happened. I found out my new oil pump didn't have the proper seals on it and that was why the funny business. Since it was out we replaced the stuff anyways. The reason that I didn't finish it on the first day was because I found out that my reverse drum was all scored up and that the piece it sits in was scored up. According to I believe MonteC, this is because of no fluid flow in park. I also went ahead and put the TFOD JR shift kit in it from Transgo. I had to work all week and didn't get back to it till last Sat. and finished it up. I threw it back in last night but didn't get a chance to hook up my driveshafts yet to test it. (Need to replace the rear u-joint today). I have school until Wed. So I am hoping to get it on the road Thursday night. I am somewhat educated on it now so I can help with some problems if you need.

My computer is running really slow right now (at work). I will try to post a link to the other post later on.

 

Cool. I've been debating on farming out the rebuild versus doing it myself. Buying $300 in special tools doesn't bother me because that's cheaper than $1800 for the rebuild.