Hey fellas, I'm new to the group. I recently bought a 2000 1500 4x4 and sure enough the tranny just went on it. I'm a decent driveway mechanic (owned an f150 before this, so I'm no stranger to stuff breaking) but by no means am I an expert. I've read some old posts about the PATC Mega Viper Trans, but it seems awfully expensive. I wouldn't mind putting a manual in, but after custom fabricating it'll probably end up being just as expensive. That leaves me with doing a rebuild, but if I'm going to do it I want it to last and be reliable. Are there any heavy duty parts that I can use in a rebuild and (hopefully) avoid future problems? For context I use this truck as a daily driver and do some wheeling on the beach (soft sand) in the summer, but no plowing or towing or anything of that sort. Any help is appreciated.

 

PATC also sells complete rebuild kits of various levels. Gives you extra clutches/steels in various places, plus all the other stuff that goes along with a rebuild. They ain't cheap, but, this is definitely an instance of "You get what you pay for."...... There are also a selection of upgraded hard parts. Rumor has it, the 47/48 trans stuff will fit in the 46 case as well, and they are significantly more robust. The 48 makes things a bit more complicated, as it uses a different style neutral safety switch than your truck, (as do all the 02?? and up transmissions.) Could likely just use the correct parts from your original trans there, and be good to go.

Either way, yeah, it ain't cheap. Even a stock rebuild by a shop ain't cheap......

But, if you want it to last, biggest thing is, keep it COOL. Get rid of the check valve in the trans cooler line, install an upgraded cooler, (in addition to whatever else is already there) install an external filter, etc. Temp gauge would be a REAL good idea.

I had 200K on my 46RE in my 96, and it was still shifting just fine, and I regularly hauled around 8K lbs of trailer and dirt... (probably more.....) If you take good care of it, it will last.

 

Re: HeyYou

Thanks so much for the reply and the helpful info. I'm going to price out a rebuild with higher quality parts from PATC...hopefully its doable. I always wondered what makes these dodge transmissions so unreliable -- excessive heat certainly makes sense. Regardless of which route I end up going with this, I'll make sure to keep her plenty cool. Thanks again my friend.

 

They are based off the 727 with an overdrive, You hear how unreliable are but the next time you drive by a transmission shop look in the lot and count how many of them are there. I have 230K on my daily driver and never had any issues with it. I have 2500 with the external trans cooler so that helps also. If you check out the list for the viper build the billet/forged parts really jack up the price. Use the bands, sonnax parts and a good cooler and it should treat you well. Might opt for the aluminum accumulator pistons, The factory ones where plastic. I don't believe they give you any info on the sonnax stuff so check out the list of what's available.
https://www.sonnax.com/units/400-46re

 

Re: Moparite

Great info! I just don't enough about transmissions to know which parts are overkill in the viper kit, so I really appreciate your 2¢. Money is definitely tight so if there's anywhere I could save money while also keeping the rebuild reliable, I am all for it. Thanks again.

 

https://transmissioncenter.net/shop/...agle-clutches/


This is the kit I used, having never rebuilt a tranny b4. It was fairly simple... and it's still running stronger than any of the used ones I put in before it... hope this helps

 

Re: Thomas Bridges

Sweet. I'd assume you followed some type of instructions when you rebuilt, you don't by any chance know where I can find something like that? If not no big deal, I'd just find it super helpful to see a step by step writeup of doing a rebuild so I'd be able to judge if it looks like something within my skillset. Regardless, thanks a ton for the link to the kit you used.

 

I'd search YT. There's gotta be something out there. I found a really nice multi-part series on the 4R70 so it's highly likely there's good stuff on other makes

 

I rebuilt my 46re pretty cheap. I bought another 46re transmission for $150 and took it apart. I found the clutches were in decent shape just the OD snap rings were broken. I reused the best clutches/steels, so think I have around $200-300 into my rebuild. The transmission works pretty decent for a home rebuild. If you want a beefier trans, find a used 47re (not wrecked/ruined). The 47 drums has more clutch count in the direct/od drives packs

Here is a youtube link, jimmy does a decent job showing you how to.

 

THATS THE ONE.... he helped me through my very first rebuild