I'd say it depends where you live or plan to tow. Back east and across the plains should be OK without an e-brake. In the Rockies and out west here I wouldn't go without. The ebrake can provide an extra measure of assurance with the constant retarding power when you have those steep, miles-long grades to deal with.<br><br>Vaughn

 

PacBrake has had their e-brake for the 2003 availabe early January. I saw one in Quartzsite at the RV show the week of Jan 22. The dealer priced it at $975 + $200 for installation.<br><br>No other manufacturer had one available at that time. As others should appear the price may drop.<br><br>I am towing my 5er (11000#) with my 2003. I am convinced I need an e-brake. I just returned from a trip towing 2000 miles, mostly in California. Several 7% grades of over 5 miles in length which I had to descend with the 5er pushing me convinced me the e-brake is needed for maximum safety. How can you put a price on safety?

 

I have this Truck and Tranny. Have had it for 3 weeks, will post pics soon. It is by far the most awesome throaty yet deliciously silent and powerful vehicle I have ever seen, much less ever had the chance to drive/own. Since starting my search I have waited 8 months for this truck tranny combo, and I am thrilled with it. There is NOTHING to not love. It does seem with all 555#s of &quot;move my house off the foundation&quot; torque....that the tranny at times seems to play a li'l catch up on low engagement. This though is a pill I am willing to swallow. I tow a 32' 5th wheel and can't wait for this weather to break. Mine is a 2500 SLT Quad Cab w/3.73s on an 8' box - Patriot Blue.

 

<br><br> When you get lots of miles on that thing and decide to upgrade that tranny to one that put's those ponies on the ground, You will not believe what you have been missing all along.<br><br> A good TC and valve body can really help

 

Well, I'm probably violating some rule somewhere but I thought hearing what at least one aftermarket tranny supplier thought about the new 48RE would be informative to most:

This was posted by Bill Kondolay from DTT on the DTT website. It looks like the 48RE should be a good unit. Maybe a new TC might be needed for better fluid coupling but for a stock tranny it sounds pretty good to me.

 

Iam getting my new truck on 4/24/03 . Can I tow in over drive with the 48re? :) :)

 

[quote author=clifford link=board=20;threadid=8175;start=45#128911 date=1050545986]<br>Iam getting my new truck on 4/24/03 . Can I tow in over drive with the 48re? <br>[/quote]<br><br>I am towing 9,800lbs on flat ground in overdrive without a problem so far. Have not towed enough in mountains to determine the gear but would guess you would need to disengage OD.

 

No problems with mine so far.I pull a 28ft car trailer with a 2500# car plus equipment(not sure of the total weight).Trans shifts very firm under load,especially when the converter locks up in OD.Seems much better than my old 47rh even though i can't say anything bad about it because it has 151000 mi on it and still going

 

[quote author=Jack Thorpe link=board=20;threadid=8175;start=45#144510 date=1054481648]<br>I'm curious how these things are doing so far.<br>[/quote]I tow 6000 in the mountains- 8% grades and mine is working real well, shifts are solid but not harsh. It shifts better than any other truck auto I have owned including the last of the bullet proof C-6's that was in my 89 460 Ford.

 

[quote author=clifford link=board=20;threadid=8175;start=45#128911 date=1050545986]<br>Iam getting my new truck on 4/24/03 . Can I tow in over drive with the 48re? <br>[/quote]I do but I only tow 6000 lbs, I have 3.73's and 33&quot; tires and drive would be too low for speeds above 55 while towing.

 

clifford, Use any gear you like when towing with 48RE, as long as you can maintain 1800 RPM in that gear. If you find it downshifting frequently, lock it out of overdrive. Remember each shift wears clutches and shortens life of fluid. Lockout is to prevent excessive clutch wear. <br><br>Automatic doesn't mean set selector lever and forget, you must still be the brains of the outfit.

 

So what's the story guys? Is the 48RE the next best thing since sliced bread or what? And of you guys with BOMB's on the truck, how is the tranny holding? Do you tow with it?

 

I am tickled pink with mine. Over 10,000 miles in a little under 3 months and running better every day. The heaviest loads I have had to date behind it was about 32k. I hauled two loads of round bales behind it on a 40' flatbed gooseneck for about 25 miles a piece weighing over 32k. I locked the OD out for the simple reason that I didn't want to go that fast with that much weight on the hilly roads I was on. That was an extreme, most of the time I am only pulling about 15-20k, and it does a great job of that. The thing that amazes me is how well it pulls in OD. My 01 SO/47RE could barely pull itself on flatground in OD, but this HO/48re will pull most any hill on the big road in OD with 15-20k behind er. I had a guy in my office yesterday wanting to order a new 04' 6-speed and he wanted to know if they were going to raise the power on them any for 04'. I said no, and he was kinda bummed. But why in the hell do we need anymore power. I gotta a slop-o-matic, and I can go well over the speed limit with 20k+. This guy doesn't really pull anything at all, and he thinks he needs more power?

Well, I kinda got off track here, anyhow, I love my 48re. Drove one of our six speeds of the lot home the other weekend and I thought, man this sucks, I guess I am just getting lazy. But when I can have a truck with an auto taht can pull as good as this one I have now, I dont even want to consider a hand shaker.

 

Like Luke, I too am pleased as all get out with my 48RE. Just over 10k and not a hiccup. I put it through the paces too. I frequently pull over 20k in rough hilly country (oil and gas fields) and it's never been hot, stalled, slipped, ratcheted, wretched, puked, or pulled any of the other tricks one might expect of a lesser auto in these conditions. As a side note, I recently bought a 5th wheel RV and pulled it to the mountains. I couldn't quite grinning as I pulled 7 and 8 % grades for long distances at the speed I chose...oh and it was also 102 at the base of the mountain. There were plenty of rigs pulled over with their hoods up. Me...I was rolling up the grades,enjoying scenic Wyoming beauty with my family in perfect air conditioned comfort, listening to commercial free blue-grass on satellite radio, sipping an icy Mountain Dew with my right hand since there was no shifting and fretting involved. (Yes, I did have to set the Dew down for a moment to lock out OD at the 7%'s) That my friends, is the way to travel!