Ok guys, complete Newbie here. I have owned a couple of classic mopars, but havent owned one in a while. I am looking at buying a 2003 or 2004 Quad cab, 4.7, 4x4. I just graduated college and I am looking for a nice truck and one that is very reliable. I am nervous about the transmissions in the Dodge. Is this a 2nd generation problem only? I was told by a dealer that most of the 05's have a newer tranny that really holds up? How are the tranny's in these (2003, 2004)? Help a guy out!

 

I have a 03 QC, it has the 5-spd Automatic tranny. Never had a problem at just over 50,000 miles.. Great truck, and it will take you wherever you want to go. I haven't ever been stuck, and have had the thing almost submerged. Looks good wearing mud, and wax.....

 

Any particular reason you want a 4.7L? The tranny should be fine if you give it the regular maintenance. Mines strong...like bull!

 

The old trannies had problems because of maintenance. Many people simply did not realize (or read the manual) to see that the bands needed to be adjusted every 30K miles and you had to change the fluid. When the bands started to open up they created a lot of heat which toasted the fluid, which caused more wear, which caused more heat; just a vicious cycle that ended up in tranny death.

The new 545-RFE is automatically adjusting and has been realtively problem free. The most common complaint around here is a electronic servo every now and then.

Bottom line, get one with the 7/70 powertrain, pay the $100 warranty transfer fee and be done with it.

 

Is the tranny from the 2nd gen the same as the 3rd generation? Do the 03 and 04's have good tranny's in them, or problem tranny's?

 

All the Hemi's have the 545-RFE tranny. The 4speed tranny behind the 4.7L is the older model, but still good. You can get the 4.7L with the 5 speed 545-RFE tranny also. Just check the tranny code.

As far as 'problem' trannies go, anything will fail if neglected long enough. If you don't adjust the bands and don't change the fluid, it will fail prematurely. The 545-RFE tranny is automatically adjusting but still needs fluid and filter changes.

 

I disagree about the 2nd gen problems being from lack of maintanence. I had an 2000 Ram 4X4 quad cab with the 5.9 and within the first 30,000 miles I had 4 dealer rebuilds on the trans. In my opinion, I think there was a casting problem that was keeping things from sealing up and they were just putting a band-aid on doing the rebuilds. When the lease was up, the trans was slipping again. I also had a 97 that was bullitproof to 90,000 but my 2000 was a pile of crap. We will see how my 06 turns out..[8D]

 

You do get a bad one every now and then. All my 2nd gen friends (3) have well over 100K miles with routine maintenance. One is a 96 RCSB 5.2, 99 CCSB 5.2, and 01 CCSB 5.9; so I was just speaking from my experiences with the older trannies.

I had a case problem with a 4L60E that was rebuilt 4x under warranty. The case was eventually swapped out with another 4L60E and I didn't have nay more problems.

 

my 03 hemi has over 100,000 miles on it and has no problems on the tranny, still drives like when we bought it, only problem we have got was some throttle actuator malfunction

 

Yep my 03' Ram QC has the 545-RFE 5spd tranny, and I have never had a problem with it, but my buddie's 02 QC has the 4L60E 4spd, and it has been in once already for a slipping 3rd gear, has just over 50,000 miles..