An observation

Dodge seems to have their transmission problems pretty much in hand it would seem. My 05 was problem free.

Don't kid youself that there haven't been a bunch of problems with the Dmax and the allison.

Ease of operation. Multiple drivers.

Who keeps their pick up 1,000,000 miles?

I have a 98 Ram 1500, 5.9L V8. Am I to expect some crisis down the road in my auto-transmission ?

No, your motor develops 325 ft lbs of torque at 4,000 rpm. The CTD developes in excess of 500 ft lbs at 2800, but more importantly, 400 ft lbs at slightly past idle speed.There's the rub. Steve

The 05 developes 610 ft lbs. The transmission deal's with it fine.

Roy

Yes - automatic, due to their nature, are more prone to wear. This isn't news.

Max - how's your puny 47RE doing behind your Cummins? 6+ years and still going, right?

SUVs are known to suck up more gas than econo-boxes. Why would anyone choose to drive such a huge vehicle?

For me, personally? The convenience of the auto - the better performance (especially with a turbocharged vehicle) - the ability to upgrade it and put more power through it than a manual (you can upgrade your clutch all you like - the gearbox is still only rated for a certain torque input, then gears start to shear).

Says who? The 48RE has been extremely reliable (I believe Dodge and Ford are about neck and neck when it comes to number of failures during the warranty period, with Chevy a distant 3rd). The 68RFE will be even more reliable, since it's designed from the ground-up with two overdrive gears (the 4xRH/E's OD was an after-thought, and suffered as such).

Well, 350K at best before an overhaul, good for two overhauls. Why can't you give the transmission the same allowance? Treated properly, a modern automatic can easily go 200K before an overhaul, and as others have pointed out, a very small percentage of people will keep a vehicle over 200K - let alone 1M (not saying there aren't the rare exceptions - but that's just it... rare).

Notice the new trend in diesel-powered trucks? The one where the manufacturers are de-tuning the engine output when mated to MANUAL transmissions? Chevy's doing it - Dodge will be doing it this month, and Ford's right behind when their new engine.

Roy, I think the observations do not support your experience. You are clearly an intelligent driver that does not abuse his machinery. In fact there probably are many automatic owners that are similar to you, but your experience is not the norm. Check the Dodge groups and forums yoursef.

I may not run my truck 1,000,000 miles, but somebody will, hence the high resale value. I do run my truck 300,000 and I really would not like to have to repair my gearbox 3 times either. Steve

I'd suggest that perhaps you look at the tdr, look here. I don't see many complaints about the autos.

One thing to keep in mind. Count the number of post's about transmission problems, the figure that percentage against the number made. Also I don't know many people who post how wonderful any part of their car or truck is unless asked.

High resale value is mostly coupled to the higher purchase price.

Roy

Tom,

Explain the first part of this, about Chevy being a distant third. Are you saying Chevy has more or less trouble?

Al

More.

Doing just fine at the 72,500 mark. I recently pulled a loaded car trailer (93 S10 blazer 4dr) from State College PA to Bloomsburg, ran at 70mph across I80. Slowed to 60MPH and manually dropped to 3rd gear to run the hill outside Lock Haven. Had 0 problems, and got an average of 14mpg doing it. Prior uses of the trans include dragging many vehicles home on the trailer, mostly in OD. Numerous runs to the Eastern Shore of Maryland at 75+mph, and one incident where I hooked on to a loaded OTR rig and helped pull him off a patch of ice.

IOW, I don't exactly take care of the trans like a mother hen.... in fact, I've changed the fluid exactly twice in 72k.

Yeah, these things are loaded with problems. Not.