Welcome — The 68RFE Failure Patterns Every Heavy-Duty Shop Needs to Know

The Ram 2500 and 3500 are workhorses, and the transmissions behind them reflect that — they're built for load, but they have specific failure patterns that show up predictably once mileage climbs or the truck gets used hard. Over the next several weeks I'm going to walk you through everything that matters on the 68RFE behind the 6.7L Cummins and the HEMI variants. 68RFE (2007.5–present, 6.7L Cummins and HEMI): The 68RFE is a six-speed unit and it is fundamentally under-built for the torque output of the 6.7L Cummins — especially in any truck that has been tuned. Stock Cummins torque is 660–800 lb-ft depending on year. The 68RFE's weak points at that torque level are the overdrive clutch pack (6th gear), which burns up under sustained towing, and the overdrive planetary, which fractures under high-torque downshifts from 6th to 4th or 3rd. These two failures account for the majority of 68RFE R&R work in shops that service diesel trucks.

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