New Revmax VB

[juniorsamples]

I have a 2017 Ram with 115,000 miles on it just wondering if putting a new Revmax valve body in with this amount of miles on it or should i not waste my money and wait for the inevitable to happen ? I have not had any real issues with the trans just get the P0868 code when pulling sometimes, not every trip. Temps dont get above 170ish ever. No slippage. Oil level is always good. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Grumpy8811]

no response except to say my 68RFE shows the low line pressure code any time I pull up codes for any reason. It has been like that for some years now and has 160k miles on it. I've never noticed any issue with the truck, so I chalk it up to being a mystery code that I will deal with if it ever shows as a drivability symptom..

 

[Ozymandias]

A VB is always a good idea to expand the lifetime of a transmission as you trade in smooth shifts for a longer life of the unit.
Especially the 68 is well known for VB problems that affect the Trans performance.

So from my POV a clear yes for the upgraded VB.

 

[cerberusiam]

Revmax Zero Flex VB and a PPE deep pan with bigger spin on filter is the single best investment in your transmission you can make. The next best thing would be a Transgo Tuneless kit. The later units are better and you don't have that many miles yet, anything you can do to help to extend an $8k rebuild is a good thing.

 

[reveldark]

Hey there! Better to do it now than wait for problems.

 

[Grumpy8811]

I have a tendency to think if something is not broken there is no sense in fixing it..

friend of mine hauls cars with his.. 68rfe lasted 375k.. mine is at 160k with nothing but trans oil changes at 50k intervals..

 

[Cummins12V98]

I have 175k on my OE trans in my 2nd gen. I think maintenance and driving habits play a big part in longevity.

 

[cerberusiam]

I have a tendency to think if something is not broken there is no sense in fixing it..

friend of mine hauls cars with his.. 68rfe lasted 375k.. mine is at 160k with nothing but trans oil changes at 50k intervals..

A stock 68RFE is broken on build more often than not. Your friends was an anomaly, yours is nearing the average failure mileage. Considering the cost to rebuild a 68RFE is in the $6-8k range fixing it before it costs a pile of money just makes sense.

 

[Grumpy8811]

A stock 68RFE is broken on build more often than not. Your friends was an anomaly, yours is nearing the average failure mileage. Considering the cost to rebuild a 68RFE is in the $6-8k range fixing it before it costs a pile of money just makes sense.

I don't know about that anomaly claim simply because it is going to be hard for you ( or me) came up with enough numbers from a large enough cross section of 68RFE owners to derive a accurate average or median.

I do know one thing about the internet is that it is very good at magnifying one statistical thing and making it seem like "they all do that".

 

[Diesel85]

As a driver of many (well over 5+) 68RFE trucks that have or had high mileage, I've seen complete failures range between 100k to 500k+ in our fleet since the 68RFE has been used. Doesn't include underlying issues.

My observation as it's life expectancy depends on what is hitched up on the truck and how the driver treats the truck driving. Lead footing isn't good.

Unfortunately, my statistic I list above was only from me driving the truck a certain X number of miles prior to me driving it for a long period of time. Like for instance, the work truck I drive (not mine!), is a 2020 Cummins SO 3500 Tradesmen that just hit 200k miles, and it regularly tows anywhere between 6-10k. Either flatbeds or enclosed trailers. Gets it's service completely from one of the local dealers in the area. It was assigned to me when it had about 35k on it, and wasn't driven by one of my other coworkers that doesn't have a "lead foot". Still chugging along. We got 4x of these trucks, along with other brands. Oldest is a 2018 with 350k on it. Still trucking along, but has rust problems starting due to salt.

Is the 68RFE as bad as they make it out to be? Depends on what you are doing with it... like with anything, beat on it, expect a shortened life. It ain't a half bad transmission. It certainly seems to be working out well for the company I work for.

Only complaint I personally have, is I wish it had an extra gear or two (not any more than that!) for unloaded highway use.

 

[Ozymandias]

I don't know about that anomaly claim simply because it is going to be hard for you ( or me) came up with enough numbers from a large enough cross section of 68RFE owners to derive a accurate average or median.

I do know one thing about the internet is that it is very good at magnifying one statistical thing and making it seem like "they all do that".

You shouldn't question Cerb, he is THE capacity here if it comes to transmissions and such.

 

[BigPapa]

I don't know about that anomaly claim simply because it is going to be hard for you ( or me) came up with enough numbers from a large enough cross section of 68RFE owners to derive a accurate average or median.

I do know one thing about the internet is that it is very good at magnifying one statistical thing and making it seem like "they all do that".

Since you're relatively new, let me tell you that @cerberusiam knows what he's talking about when he posts something. Sadly, he doesn't post as much now as he has in the past. He's had LOTS of experience with LOTS of different trucks through his work. Not trying to poopoo what you said, just trying to let you know who you're replying to.

 

[Grumpy8811]

Since you're relatively new, let me tell you that @cerberusiam knows what he's talking about when he posts something. Sadly, he doesn't post as much now as he has in the past. He's had LOTS of experience with LOTS of different trucks through his work. Not trying to poopoo what you said, just trying to let you know who you're replying to.

like me, I have alot of experience with heavy equipment, 2 years of Trade School, and 2 years of Auto Science at the CC level to go with the 40+ years of work experience...not too mention 29 ASE now expired certification's under my belt and large variety of OEM course attendence over the years, but my butt is retired now .

not trying to say anything about anybody else's experience is invalid, just pointing out the internet is great for claiming " they all do that".

realistically it is difficult to put a time line on life to failure unless you have a large enough cross sample of vehicles and the record keeping possible to make
a reasonable assumption as to component life..

 

[Grumpy8811]

You shouldn't question Cerb, he is THE capacity here if it comes to transmissions and such.

one should never run afoul of the admins on any forum.. I'm not questioning him so much as wondering where he derived the numbers?
Like Cummins itself publishes a B50 life on our engines, and they have a pretty good idea of life to failure
but it is a more difficult for those of us with a smaller viewpoint who only see a small cross section of vehicles or components to have
enough accurate information to make a valid claims.
the internet is terrible place when it comes to accurate information

 

[BigPapa]

I definitely respect your experience, Grumpy. I wasn’t saying you were wrong, either. You’re right, the internet is terrible about folks making claims about things they don’t know about. Cerb isn’t one of those people. He knows what he’s talking about and honestly, I don’t know of one instance that he’s been proven wrong. I welcome your experience and knowledge. No offense was intended in my post.

 

[cerberusiam]

Is a 6 truck fleet from 2011 thru 2017 hauling too much weight driven by a bunch of monkeys that don't know where the downshift button is ENOUGH of a cross section to draw some valid conclusions from? One went over 300k hauling more weight than it should, one just short of 300k, 3 of them in the 180k range, and one did make 80k. Based on the previous and what we see on the forums; if you get a good one 300k is normal, more if you treat it right. A bad one from the factory won't make 100k. The bulk of them will be in that 180-200k range. That tracks what I have seen for mileage from the forums. Someone with a blown 68RFE doesn't have a lot of incentive to lie about miles on the truck. Fuel mileage possibly, not total miles and hours.

The only truck with no trans issues in the 5500 with an AISIN, still going strong with a diet and 60 HP tune. The engine not so much, dropped 2 valve seats and sucked both intake valves on number 3 cylinder. Tried to run away when they shut it down from the bad noises. Looks like it cracked the fuel return passage and dumped all the fuel into cylinders 1 and 2 and washed them down quite well.

After rebuilding a trans twice, trying 3 different VB's and 2 channel plates the first thing my son does is install a Revmax Zero Flex VB and billet channel plate plus a PPE deep pan with larger spin on filter on every new truck they get in, even the 66 in the gasser truck got the same treatment. At $6-8k build prices $1200 is cheap insurance EVEN if it isn't broke.

 

[Grumpy8811]

6 trucks. Where I worked we had somewhere between 700 and 1000 vehicles as over the years fleet size grew and then shrunk back to manageable.. but 6 trucks would give you some idea of life expectancy regarding your fleets usage pattern and who you have working and what to expect. That would be the extent of it.

But you hit on it too, if a person who has changed the trans oil and filters 4 times in 160k, and doesn't pull long grades in 6th when pulling a RV and generally shows some mercy to the drivetrain transmission life shouldn't be a problem

I do know one guy who blew his Aisin up, did a delete when truck was new.. and at the 40k mark he ended up paying the dealer alot of money as it wasn't a warrantable failure..

recently we had thread on a FB diesel forum about at what point should some components fail and some of the comments from the guys

I'm going quote a couple.

Charlotte N Kolby Speer
My 2017 2500 transmission last 225,000 miles and my head gasket last 500,000 and my cp3 and injector are still good.

Gary Hopkins
When I sold my 2016 3500 with 68re with 710,000 miles on it last year. Only routine maintenance was done. No injectors or transmission changed.