I figured there would be plenty of information on this subject, but I searched and found nothing.

I've got a 545rfe shift kit that I was thinking about installing in my 04 1500. What do you guys think about these for towing and with the family along? I haven't installed one yet but have heard some complain that it shifts harsh enough to cause spouses to complain.

 

I looked into these when I had a DSP with no support for my trans. What I found is that people were split about how much of a difference these kits actually made. Some said that it made a good improvement in shift firmness while others said they noticed no difference at all. I decided to bag the whole idea and go with a tuner that gave me control over my trans instead.

 

My Dakota has the same transmission as the ram and the tuner eliminated torque management and moved the shift points up, but did nothing about the speed of the shifts. From what I can tell, the shift kit will make the shifts quicker.

 

That is what I thought too until I read more about it and found that it really only made a noticable difference for some guys and not others. It seems like people have had just as much sucess with the resistor mod as they have with the shift kits.

 

I'm going to take a wild guess and say the resistor mod is the same as the resistor included in the shift kit? I've already got the kit so I guess I'll just throw it in and see what it does, then I'll let everyone know what my experience was.

 

Yup, you can just buy a resistor seperately without having to get the whole kit. But since you got the whole kit already you might as well put it in and then keep us updated on how it performs for you.

 

Here is some info about the effect of shift kits on our transmissions and why the kit might not always have noticable results:

"Spoke with my Brother-in-Law on Monday who works at Daimler Chrysler in Detroit (the main reason I am now driving a Dodge Ram & not a Chevy anymore.) Anyway, I asked him to talk with the powertrain engineers about the best way to firm up the shifts of the 545RFE. I asked him to talk to the engineers about the Stage III at SharaDon Performance and the TransGo shift reprogramming kit, both with and without the resistor. I asked him to get the word from the engineers specifically about how any of the shift firming options from above would affect transmission longevity. I also told him that I was running a SC tuner and also asked him find out if they believe anything negative would come from combining the tuner and either of the two shift firming options. I heard back from my Brother-in-Law last night and he told me that the engineer he spoke with, told him that, "transmission functions relating to shift firmness and execution is 100% software controlled." That according to the engineer, while the physical changes to the valve-body and internal transmission controls will work in creating a firmer shift, the mechanical changes could possibly create a condition in contradiction to what the transmission is trying to accomplish via the PCM."

 

Well, it will only shift so quick with according to the spring pressures in the valvebody. I don't know what the total firmness is that can be achieved from the stockers.