147k on the clock and mines toast. Nothing but exhaust and 35's no real power adders...

 

The bad tranny reputation comes from pre-2003 automatic Dodge diesels. They had a lot of reliability issues. The biggest problem was a torque converter that so often went south. The 03 and up 47 and 48RE are MUCH improved.

 

173,000 with no problems. I change oil, filter and adjust bands every 50,000. The front band wears a substantial amount and should be completely wore out by my next service. That`s about 225,000 and it will be getting rebuilt.

I pull 15,000 - 20,000 lbs. on a regulat basis. My Smarty is set on 5. I don`t baby it but I don`t drive it like a race car either. It works hard.

So far I am quite happy with the tranny.

 

I have an 06 with an auto. 52,000 TQ went. All stock not abused. I pulled a 7000 lb toy hauler four or five times a year for 3 years. Ended up putting in an ATS trans didn't want to take a chance on something else in the trans failing.

 

Keep this in mind, when it comes for a tranny rebuild, an auto can be rebuilt for 3k easy. A 6spd rebuild will guaranteed cost you 4-6 thousand.

My 47RE in my 01 has held up so far, with exactly zero problems, just routine maintanance.

From what I've heard, the 48RE is even better than the 47RE.

Just one thing: Do NOT add a chip, or I guarantee you will have tranny problems. These trucks already have enough power at stock level to chew a tranny apart. You'll be diggin your own grave if you throw a chip on it. If you leave it stock, and don't abuse it, you should have a reliable tranny for many years.

 

Not on a NV5600... 1000-2000 for most rebuilds...

 

80K on my 06 tranny no issues. I have flushed it twice and have towed a 30ft fifth wheel for at least 20K of that.

 

I believe you are thinking of the nv4500 (5spd.) Up here you can get those rebuilt for $900-1000. Such a simple tranny to rebuild. The six-speeds can be a nightmare if they break down. The cheapest I have ever heard for a six speed rebuild was 4 thousand.

The parts for the nv5600 are starting to become hard to get, and the g56 parts are **** expensive.

I'd prefer a manual any day, but when the rebuilds are that high, I'll stick to the simpler transmissions.

 

Maybe the truck is to be used once a month in Kansas to haul 1 garbage bag of aluminum empty beer cans to the recycling center in the next town 2 miles away.
Maybe the truck is to be used to tow a heavy Cat track-loader over the Loveland Pass in Colorado 3 times a week.

Those kind of considerations "may" make a difference in your decision process.

 

Thanks for all the replies. However, I ended up walking away from that truck due to other questionable things. I ended up with an ultra-clean, rust free 02 quad long bed 6spd with only 71k on the clock.

 

I have 70k on mine and my Jr. is set on 1. I would suggest dropping the pan, replacing the governor pressure solenoid and governor pressure sensor with the heavy duty ones, and drill a drain plug into the pan and fill it up with Amsoil. I just did all of that last month, took a couple of hours and it is running smooth.