I'm lookin at buying a '97 Dodge 2500 5.9 Cummins 4x4 auto with 110k on it. Guy says it pulled a light bush hog for around 20k when it was new but hasn't done much towing otherwise. I don't know a lot about this trans other than as a group they pretty much sucked. Think there's any life left in the current trans? Its stock as far I know and I can't see myself trying to get more than 300hp and 700 lb-ft torque sometime in the future. Taking that its gonna lay down soon, what's a good auto trans and converter out there built to handle the torque?

 

there are alot of good companies out there, Suncoast, Goerend, BD Power, ATS, Dunrite, and a few others i can't remember their names. if you do a search here there are alot of threads about those manufactures and will give you some insite on what to buy..... that truck is 180/410 stock power wise (at the crank). that stock tranny will kill over at 250/625 at the wheels..... ask me how i know

 

i gotcha. i did some searching before posting here and came across some of those places, but ended up more confused than when i started out. i would like to get a quality trans and converter thats gonna last a couple hundred miles without needing a rebuild. but at the same time i dont want to get ripped-off. it seems like a lot of these remans have the same upgrades just some guys want $1400 and some want $3k+...

 

with a diesel automatic you get what you pay for. a friend of mine has a 97 12valve. his tranny went out. i told him about Goerend Bros. and at the time their base tranny with a few needed upgrades was ~$2800 or so. now it is $3550 or so.... This transmission comes with a limited 3 year/100,000 mile warranty. The torque converter has a limited lifetime warranty. he told me i was crazy at that ammount and that he had a friend that could build him a stock rebuild that wouldn't have any problems for $1300 with a 12 month 12K mile warranty. 2 years later he is back in the same boat he was in in the begining, his truck is stock except exhaust, so now if he gets a second tranny done he will be at almost the same ammount that he could have paid for a GOOD tranny and still be riding. i paid a little over $5200 for mine and have yet to have it hesitate or even think about slipping, shuttering, or any of them odd things that stock tranny's do. the reason i spent $5200 on mine is i wanted to do it right and only once. i even took out a loan at the bank to make sure i would have all the money to do it at one time. a transmission isn't something you want to do every year or so......