68rfe vs Aisin

[BarryG]

I did that well not all the way across the country but about 1200 miles to my house from Dave Smith. It was awesome flew up in the afternoon, they picked me up at the airport drove me to the dealership signed paperwork and was out there by 6pm. Drove to Missoula that night which wasn't great as it took me a solid 3 hours to go the 100 miles due to snow/road conditions. Drove the next two days home in a freakin blizzard the whole way. Was in 4x4 more than not dang near got stranded in Twin Falls ID but made it ok and was able to find out how well she did in serious winter driving conditions and she performed quite well.

[bigreddog]

Originally Posted by 45Auto

I believe Dave Smith uploads all their trucks, in my case, I bought one with close to $4K more in options than what the dealer had on a truck I looked at, at $1300. less than what the dealer was going to give me! Pretty much all Dave Smith trucks are loaded! My friends Duracrap was loaded!
Yes, flying up and driving home.

When you get it stop by and show me your new truck.

[cetanefreek]

Good friend of mine is a salesman at Dave Smith, I know if you talk to Clyde, he'll do everything he can to find exactly what you want.

As far as transmissions go, a lot of the 68rfe issues were sorted out later on, my 2012 has 340,000 miles towing heavy on the original engine and trans. My case cracked last week due to driveline vibration, but it still drives and shifts fine save for a little fluid loss.

[lupusludwick]

Circumstances forced me into a purchase of a 3500 this weekend @ Clown. I got the AISIN and 3.42 gearing. My 04 bought new did not cost near what this one did... I'm still in shock. So far it drives real nice... can't wait to put a real load on it and drive across the country. So far I'm happy, but the post about oil cost... ouch. I'm still going to love this truck anyhow. I only have a 12,000 trailer I tow. If I get a chance to hook it up soon, I'll report here. I expect it to tow better than the 04 did... but slower. the 04 had performance mods that were alot of fun and much a faster truck. The new one is stock.

May my old truck rest in piece.

[ccmckee]

I would imagine the life of the tranny fluid is quite extended compared to ATF, i know the stuff we use in our allisons on our freightliner M2's has a longlife.

[lupusludwick]

Did some reading in the owners manual. the AS69RC requires an oil change every 30k and an oil + filter change every 60k

[45Auto]

Wow, been awhile since this thread and a lot has happened since! But an update is in order! The Mega Cab I picked out, I forced myself to bail on.. Was doing a lot of research on Trailers, and since this would be our first 5er, we wanted something that resembled quality and value. Well, we've learned through hours and hours of research, the two don't equate! I was going to sell the 04 5.9 with only 70K miles for the Mega Cab, only to learn that the RV industry is worse than the auto industry, Boat industry etc. etc. All trailers have issues and I'd be ****ed to have gotten rid of a perfectly good 3rd Gen and get stuck with a problem trailer. So ****ed, I'd sell the trailer and still have a $70K truck with nothing to pull. So, the decision was made to nix the Mega Cab and use the 3rd Gen.. This way, if the trailer was ****
I still have the 3rd Gen! I was pumped about the MC...Any way, now we have the trailer and using the 3rd Gen, Yes, wish I had the MC for all the right reasons, ie, Jake Brake, integrated brake controller, hitch Pucks and the list goes on, like the Aisin Trans!!!!!!! My 48Re handles the GCW of 18360 lbs, but slow go on the grades and now the trans will hit 228* for a bit. The truck pulls it fine but feels the weight.. Now looking for a good piggyback or new Trans cooler. Any suggestions?? It kills me to relay why I don't have my MC, but can't lie to you guys either! I was so looking forward to that thing! Dave Smith kept my $500.00 hold money and lost the two ticket air fare $$! But, Dave Smith said, If I should ever come back, they will give it backto me toward a new truck.. Wife says, buy it or the get away house in Idaho, but not both!!! I know what you guys would say! LOL

[45Auto]

Oh, I forgot, looking possibly to another Trans option for my 3rd Gen. Anybody know if the 46RFE will bolt up and work with the 5.9?

[BigCranks]

Thanks for all the replies. Can't justify the trip cross country to Dave Smith's yet, local dealers are close to him. Found a '16 with the options I like in South Alabama. Still 7 hrs away. Planning on discussing with them tomorrow. Truck has the hitch I need and 2500 miles. What would the major differences be between the '16 and new?

[BarryG]

The only way to get different than 342 gearing is to get a dually. Don't think it requires a specific trans just the DRW.

I got my truck from Dave Smith a couple years ago. They beat the pants off any one local by a solid $4k. It was certainly worth the $200 plane ticket, two $75 night hotels and about $200 in fuel. They picked me up at the airport drove me to the shop and was out of there within an hour and on my way to Missoula for the night. Drive from Spokane to Kellog was good. Drive from Kellogg to Missoula got nasty as it started snowing hard. Next day I got to test out the 4wd most of the day it had snowed all the previous night and was still snowing throughout the day. Almost had to bail just south of Twin Falls as the road was getting really bad. However pressed on and by the time i got to Salt lake it was just raining. Still headed south going over Soldier Summit snow was back with a vengeance. Seriously was at least 20 big rigs spun out on the road, off the road, across the road tow trucks everywhere, finally made it to Price Utah for the night. Was in 4wd the better part of that day. Next day got to follow the snow more all the way back to Denver. Truck did awesome. Dave Smith least when I was looking had a pretty wide variety of trucks though each trim package group was pretty similar. They can certainly be beat but at least at that time for me nobody else even came close.