1). If you think it needs to be done ... then it absolutely does. I change mine at 40 to 80,000 km intervals, depending on how much towing or how hot and hard I've been on it during those km's.
2). Please disregard any comments telling you not to do it because if it is old because it will fail the transmission. Absolute hogwash! Terrible, terrible advice. A proper filter and oil change will not fail the transmission. It will restore performance and reliability. If it quits after a service, it is because the transmission
was already failed. In which case you have done yourself a favour and found out about it before you are out on a long road trip with family in the freezing cold weather, totally dependent on the truck, and get seriously inconvenienced by a surprise failure.
3). There is no such thing as a "lifetime" fluid. All that means is they expect you to get rid of the vehicle long before it fails. If you don't and you still have it when it fails, then the vehicle has reached the end of its "lifetime", whereby the lifetime fluid is then no longer required. If you are keeping and running older higher mileage vehicles, be in tune with the vehicle and stay on top of the ongoing maintenance, especially changing the fluids on a regular basis. Even though some of the fluids usage are very long life, such as ATF, there is no such thing as lifetime. Period. Change the fluids when they should be. Change the coolant every 4 years and the ATF at 40-80K.
4). For a simple straight forward, clean, safe, and thorough way to change out all the transmission oil including the torque convertor and cooler, consider having a look at my short write up in post #6 at this link.
http://www.dakota-durango.com/forum/...d.php?t=450050 Your ram will have the same transmission, 545RFE, and the process will be exactly the same. The Dakota was done in that thread post. My Ram is getting done exactly the same day after tomorrow.
Be a responsible owner. Take care of your vehicle so it can take care of you. Hope that helps! Good luck.
