48RE or 47RE - which is it?

[willie]

One dealer tells me the 2003 "California" truck comes with a 48RE auto. trans. Another dealer tells me that only the HO comes with a 48RE, and I'm stuck with the 47RE if I'm in California, (which I am).



What's the real story? I need an answer fast. Thanks.

 

[Jeff Clark]

I thought for 2003 the 48RE was the only auto available.

 

[Bug Out]

saw a few today 08/7/03

Went truck shopping with a friend. Saw a few 47RE's on the lot, but most 48RE. Of course the salesman had no clue what I was talking about.



Seems like a lot of 3500 dulies have them. Saw one at carson city, NV dodge and a couple at Manteca,ca dodge.



None of the 2500's we saw had them. I think its all 48RE now. If it has a 47 in it, its probably been on the lot a while.

 

[raychem]

Willie,



As of January 2003, all truck come with a 48RE, the 47RE was discontinued and is no longer used in our truck. The differnces that you will see in the 48RE is wether you have an SO or HO. The 48RE that isused in the HO has extra clutches in certain sections of the trans to hold power better among other things which I can not remember right now and I don't want to give you false information. If you do a serch on the 48RE, you should be able to find some good information on it since this trans has been discussed before.



Richard

 

[willie]

47RE or 48RE Transmission

Thank you one and all for your helpful replies. I called Dodge's information number and got someone who knew absolutely nothing about Dodges. Amazing! After putting me on hold several times to ask someone else my question, the answer was finally this: Four speed automatics put in Dodges made since early in 2003 are all the 48RE. 2003 Dodges made prior to that date had the 47RE in them.



Anyone out there have anything different to say about this? Thanks again.

 

[GLolas]

Early 2003 trucks built prior to January 2003 have the 47RE. That is why you couldn't get an HO with an A/T until later in the year. They did not put the 47RE behind the HO.

 

[DBVZ]

GLolas has it right. I had to wait to order until December when the 48re was available, to get the HO/automatic. Some thought the 47re would still be used with the SO, but once they had production of the 48re going they stopped the 47re production. They used up the stock of 47re transmissions in SO trucks but that did not last long. If you see a 47re on the lot, it has to be an SO and was on the lot about 6 months now.



I would not accept a 2003 with a 47re now at less than a $3000 discount from the 48re price, and then take it for a rebuild/upgrade right out of the box if you plan to do any pulling. In fact, at this point I would order a 2004 if I did not already have a truck, because the '04 has an improved 48re that should be ok with an e-brake.