When is new transmission being released?

[mwilson]

It's not who gets to the top of the hill first, it's how many times you can climb that hill without breakdowns.....

But I make a living in part from people who just have to the first one there......input shafts, clutches, turbos, cyl heads,

Just the sight of a 3406 Cat Turbo with a zip tie on the wastegate actuator means I get to sell them a turbo shortly for 2500.00 because the cold wheel will shear the shaft...but he climbed that hill one gear higher....

 

[mwilson]

Can we just skip all the transmission talk and go diesel electric already?

Belts and clutches like a snowmobile....one gear....

 

[RammerJam]

The 10 speed Ford (in house) and the 10 speed generic motors transmission (it is also in-house and it is NOT an allison) are going to kick the living daylights out of Ram if they don't get off their butts and do something about it.

If they are designed correctly and hold up, there is no reason not to have one.

The problem is, they're not easy to make reliable and they're hard to engineer.

 

[SnoKing]

And they stuff that same transmission behind the 6.7...

Plus that Allison will stand the grief for hundreds of thousands of miles even with that ISL set at 350 hp...

My point is that 6 speeds should be plenty...already is for people out making a living with these things...

But but but ---- Ford and GM have ..................

 

[endoscott]

"If they are designed correctly and hold up, there is no reason not to have one."

And there you go! I have zero confidence that whatever ZF, no dipstick, never change fluid trans will meet the above criteria! And when it fails how much is it gonna cost to fix?? I will take Japanese engineering all day-give me the Aisin 6 speed. I love mine. The Aisin in my old 97 4runner (daughter drives now) has 23 years and 280,000 miles and never a single thing wrong with it, just fluid changes. Not a leak, not a solenoid, not a valve body, nothing! And I towed a boat with it too. Is the ZF designed to last this long or just the 8 years of warranty....no idea really, just biased against German engineering in general due to past experience with German dental equipment. Overly complicated, yes, often elegant and pretty, but I want DURABLE, and RELIABLE over and above all. Willing to accept 1mpg less if that thing don't break.

 

[RammerJam]

"If they are designed correctly and hold up, there is no reason not to have one."

And there you go! I have zero confidence that whatever ZF, no dipstick, never change fluid trans will meet the above criteria! And when it fails how much is it gonna cost to fix?? I will take Japanese engineering all day-give me the Aisin 6 speed. I love mine. The Aisin in my old 97 4runner (daughter drives now) has 23 years and 280,000 miles and never a single thing wrong with it, just fluid changes. Not a leak, not a solenoid, not a valve body, nothing! And I towed a boat with it too. Is the ZF designed to last this long or just the 8 years of warranty....no idea really, just biased against German engineering in general due to past experience with German dental equipment. Overly complicated, yes, often elegant and pretty, but I want DURABLE, and RELIABLE over and above all. Willing to accept 1mpg less if that thing don't break.

You make a good point about German engineering. They do tend to over-engineer things sometimes. A lot of times.

LtngDriver has 570,000 miles on his 68RFE. Never been worked on AFAIK. And he pulls RVs for a living.

 

[Ltngdrvr]

LtngDriver has 570,000 miles on his 68RFE. Never been worked on AFAIK. And he pulls RVs for a living.

572,540 miles...


But, I bet it would be a lot nicer to drive with a modern designed 10 speed!

 

[RammerJam]

572,540 miles...


But, I bet it would be a lot nicer to drive with a modern designed 10 speed!

#ad

 

[Ltngdrvr]

#ad

I ain't hunting no wabbits!

 

[Cummins12V98]

I tow much heavier than "MOST" on here at 35-36k combined and West Coast. Honestly for the amount of time I am NOT in 6th gear overall is minimal. Would I pull a 6% grade a touch faster if I had a gear between 4th and 5th let's say??? For sure but it ain't by much. I would have to look but my RPM's only change about 200 rpm when dropping a gear.

The AISIN is basically bullet proof and that goes a long ways with me!

 

[JR]

Up until recently I split 8-10 chords a year with a maul and a splitting axe....that don't mean it's the most efficient way to get it done though

 

[JR]

Can we just skip all the transmission talk and go diesel electric already?

Motor in each wheel....to heck with them slush boxes!

 

[DHayden]

This is like watching a neighborhood of old men yelling " GET OFF MY LAWN!!".

No one would go back to the Cummins in their 89, no one would go back to a four speed (if you would, you obviously dont need the truck you have today). Technology changes, things get better. You are towing more and safer now than ever before. There is no doubt that more gears mechanically relieves stress and puts you closer to the ratio that is best for the speed.
I'm glad you all like your 6 speed Aisin, I do too. I am ready to move on though. If you still enjoy rolling up your windows mechanically because "that darn new technology is so unreliable and I dont need no dang comfort!" You deserve to be as miserable as you wish, but were moving on!

 

[Ltngdrvr]

No one would go back to the Cummins in their 89,

Boy howdy though, we all thought that 5.9 mechanical Cummins was great, didn't we???

My truck back then was a D350 C&C with a steel flatbed, I was running hot shot with it, and it would max out at about 72 MPH without any OD in that 727 automatic.
Engine in that truck was rock solid and easy to work on, the rest of the truck was a piece of junk! Ate ball joints like they were free, springs crapped out on it, brakes were crap.

Yeah, I like my current truck a lot more than that one!

 

[gsbrockman]

The AISIN is basically bullet proof and that goes a long ways with me!

My AS69RC in my 2014 3500 was great through 362k miles, and my current AS69RC in my 2018 4500 has been flawless through 286k miles as of tonight, and has had GCW up to 42,000 lbs as well. I’m wondering how the Ford 10 speed and in house GM transmission do at 42,000 lbs......

 

[Cummins12V98]

GS you tow heavier than I do. Do you think two more gears will make a hill of beans different for what you do?

 

[NIsaacs]

My AS69RC in my 2014 3500 was great through 362k miles, and my current AS69RC in my 2018 4500 has been flawless through 286k miles as of tonight, and has had GCW up to 42,000 lbs as well. I’m wondering how the Ford 10 speed and in house GM transmission do at 42,000 lbs......

Remember EB, 485k miles at this report.

https://www.turbodieselregister.com...aintain-what-to-look-for.243001/#post-2357310

 

[DHayden]

I'm about tired of reading how Ram will be putting the 10 allison in the new HDs. How these auto journalists make a paycheck on their knowledge these days is beyond me.
I was reading the ZF page today and saw that they are building a new factory in the United States that will only service North America. The page states "Although it hasn't yet named the OEMs, ZF said in the announcement that “multiple” North American customers have signed multiyear contracts for the new transmission. The PowerLine automated transmission is designed for medium-duty commercial trucks, buses, and heavy-duty pickup trucks". We know Ram completed a lot of R&D on these transmissions back in 2018. I dont know why they would mention Pickup trucks if that wasnt one of the OEMs they are speaking of and we all know they arent talking about Ford or Chevy. Maybe wishful thinking, but I would love to see this trans in the new HD's.
First gear lock up, skip shift, neutral when stopped to take load off of engine (helps saves fuel) hill start assist. I would take one, just hope it doesnt have a dial selector on the dash (but I could live with it if it does).

 

[JR]

ZF transmissions have been fully electronic for years now, including most in the HD truck segment. The unit they tested in the HD truck 3 years ago was fully electronic too, notice the rotary dial in the beginning.

 

[Wiredawg]

I'm not sure going faster at max GCWR is the objective of more gears... IMHO it's about reducing RPM spread between gears. If the trans is robust, I would be fine with 8 or 10 speed trans.

With everything that has been said, still happy with the Aisin in my 17 Ram 5500 and wouldn't trade just to get 2 or 4 more speeds.

Interesting to see what Ram does WRT trans in HD trucks.