Need some fabulous input from our DTR gurus here. WHAT SHOULD I BE DOING?!

CASE: last week of November, had tranny leak. took to dealership, they fixed (unknown fix)it , we paid big bill.
Monday this week (12/10/2007) tranny pooling in driveway. take to dealership today (thursday) they say tranny case is cracked at the rear neck.
we did not tow anything or have a load in truck.

HISTORY: feb 04 build, off road with trailer package. has steel six foot box dump on it. (800 pounds). short box with single rear wheels for the tight spaces in marina. we have a 16 foot flatbed trailer ca rhauler, a 16 foot enclosed utility trailer and
every year we haul our cruiser boat (12,000 lbs) on a gooseneck tri axle magnum balanced trailer with brakes bled and up to inspection marine trailer tires.
cummins turbo diesel is the motor, with top of line brake controller, rear camera and video screen. never heated up, or had any tranny problem.
500 mile round trip per year. up in spring, back in winter.


vehicle has 84,000- not under warranty. i thought the dealer MIGHT have over torqued something to crack the case, but not possible at neck.

IS THERE ANY BULLETINS? is this a common occurance/ characteristic of the vehicle? am I really stupid? what??

2nd note: what would I add to make the situation better steering stabilizer?
(front wheels tend to wear faster)
all I want for Christmas is a lower bill...
Heidi in NY

 

the work on the tranny that they did in november should still be under warrenty, I would go that route and have them fix for free.

 

but they say no. truck is first type quad cab with doors too, forgot to mention.

so this should be a 48RE tranny? I was looking at diesel torque converters, should n't this already have one? looking at upgrade kits and on and on....how can I fix my problem and what upgrade will do it?

tranny some times bangs into gear or slips..

 

Heidi,
Think your truck has the 47RE. Check the sticker on the glove box door it might tell you. If not the dealer can tell you. Have the parts person run the VIN and give you the build sheet information on your truck. It should be a free-bee. Do you know of any reliable transmission shops that you could call?

Add in edit. You have a torque converter on the transmission. The VIN decode will tell you if it has the lock up feature. It should. Mine does. Pulling a trailer on hills with OD lock out, might have to tap the loud pedal and the converter would lock up for engine breaking. Not as good as a E-brake.

 

not for less than what the dealer wants to do, 1500 bucks for rebuilding my own tranny. trouble is best tranny man quit working for them in September.

I decided to cut my losses with this bad weather; having the dealer do a JB weld on crack and take my chances. otherwise I woudl shoot up there and get it , take to great aluminum welder near me or even my cousin.

weather is so bad, the highway trucks were suspended from travelling.
worst storm is to come at 5PM. yippee, that's when my truck will be ready....
where's my Siberians when I need them??!!!

guess I have to bite the bullet here...oh well. hoping for a tech bulletin or rebuild kit fix...

 

Heidi,
Here is a link to more than you prolly want to know about
Dodge automagic transmissions.
http://www.allpar.com/mopar/transmis...-tom-hand.html

 

If the case is cracked, it can't be rebuilt.

 

Link to geno's garage, has a lot of TSB's might help.
http://dodgeram.org/

 

epoxied it, told cracked from factory. 147 bucks labor. I don't off road or rough neck the truck, and will try a search for lessening the tow impact on it. thanks Davey for the tech sites, got some reading to do!!!

very happy with the performance of the truck (it IS a 48RE tranny 4:10 gears with 11.5 axle) thanks so much Davey- you must be santa's main helper....

 

Your welcome. Glad you were able to fix it for a reasonable price. I goofed didn't think the early 3 gen had the 48re. My brain is like a steel trap, rusted shut.