I just bought a 01 ram 1500 the transmission was replaced 5 or so years ago records only have year no mileage numbers and previous owner didnt remember. Truck has 197k on it engine has 120k on it. I do serious offroading lots of nasty hill climbes and swamp trails and use my truck as a daily driver and for long trips on the hwy. I have heard many bad things about the 46re, but mine works good. I dont want mine to break or overheat so what upgrades should i get and im not trying to burn my wallet. Im already going to get a second expensive cooler with a fan on it and delete tge bypass valve in the line going to the radiator and put all new atf+4 in it with new filter and all. But should i get shift kits or upgrades of that asort ive seen this is the cheapest one(46re 47re 48re Solenoid Upgrade Kit Dual Pack Solenoids Governor Pressure Speed Sensor Electronics by Oregon Performance Transmission
$178.49
Oregon Performance Transmission) and it says itll make the trans better then stock and replaces some sensors and a spring, but is that going to make the trans last longer or just a waste of money i could spend on gas? Are the upgrades i said i already am doing good enough? The truck will have some big tires on it eventually so account for that too. I dont tow anything besides i might tow a small trailer with. Jet ski or small camper but nothing near the tow capacity.

 

A big trans cooler, and eliminating the check valve are both good ideas. A shift kit wouldn't hurt, especially if it actually allows torque converter to get fluid in park. (stock does not, hence, why you must check fluid level in neutral.) Replacing the electronics won't help, if you aren't having a problem. (it probably already has the 'upgraded' electronics)

You need lower gears with bigger tires. Not an inexpensive proposition...... your trans will thank you for it though. It'll help get you up those hills too.

Might also consider the transfer case saver.... It's a collar that replaces the snap ring that likes to fail, and munch up your t-case.

Moving this to second gen ram section for ya. Welcome to DF!

 

Depending on how diy savvy you are, you could do a semi-stock rebuild on the unit yourself and put 48re internals in it for pretty cheap. Here is a series that will walk you through the disassembly and reassembly in painstaking detail:
Other than that, external cooler and external filter (derale sells one that takes a spin on oil filter) are nice. Put a temp gauge on it and don't overheat it.

 

Ooo, yeah. Forget the external filter. Adds fluid capacity, additional cooling, and filter changes are a two minute operation. Excellent idea.

Trans temp gauge may not be a bad plan either.

 

Havea link to the external filter, I couldn't find it? Does it have a bypass and a thermal valve to hold fluid before it gets too the cooler?

 

There are a bunch on ebay, I didn't see one with a thermal bypass valve though. I know I have seen them in the past, but, can't find 'em again. You can get the bypass valve separately though.

 

I use this https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

With a Fram Ultra Synthetic filter on it. ATF needs filtered down to a much lower micron level than regular engine oil, so you want a good filter with a good micron rating. The Fram filters have bypass valves built into them also (although not thermal). Be sure whatever filter you use has a bypass built it.

 

Thanks partner!

 

well ive rebuilt just about anything but automatic transmissions all my other vehicles are manual and this is my first auto, so is it truly as difficult as they say because many say ring and pinion is hard but that was easy for me to learn. Ill definitely be putting a big cooler found a good 40kgvwr rated one its a stacked plate and fin. And ill put the best that fram filter in it with a complete drain with torque converter and all. Also it doesnt have the trans cooler bypass valve taken out so ill do that to it leaks from there. Ill look for a decent priced shift kit and ill re gear when i put some bigger tires on for sure. Thanks for the advice if i can rebuild ut with 48re parts in my garage then ill do that too.

 

They aren't hard as there are many videos on how to take them apart. Read Monte C Transmission Corner as there is good advice there. If you set the pieces up as you take them out (so you just reverse it) it's easyish.