What makes an Allison an Allison

[stevensmith2859]

Thanks for all of the input everyone!

[rmoore0852]

A little background will help clear the waters I think. For years the big 3 had tried to simply beef up their regular transmissions to be able to handle the torque of the turbo diesels. All 3 did this in different ways. Dodge and Ford had more powerful engines, but a horrible reputation for killing transmissions. GM limited the torque output of their engines, making them feel underpowered. Until recently, GM had significantly less torque than Dodge or Ford.

GM fixed this when they finally got smart. They went to Isuzu and got help designing an incredible engine, the duramax. The basics of this engine has been used for years in the Isuzu medium duty trucks. They then went to Allison who builds transmissions that hold thousands of horsepower in various heavy construction and military roles (M1 Abrams tank). They said "Hey, can you guys build us a transmission that will hold what the duramax puts out and be extremely reliable as long as its not abused??" Allison looked at the HP and torque ratings of the duramax and laughed. The duramax/Allison combo has been great. As the HP and torque of the duramax has increased, Allison has tweaked the transmission to hold it. I know of one guy who delivers heavy fifth wheels for a living. His truck has almost 700,000 miles and he has never had a transmission issue.

See, it took a change of thinking from trying to successfully upgrade a weak transmission to downgrading an overly strong transmission. Dodge has now followed suit with the offering of the Aisin transmission. Aisin, much like Allison, specializes in medium to heavy duty transmissions. The only gripe I have about the Dodge is that they charge $3500 to upgrade to the Aisin. With GM, no extra charge and the ONLY transmission you can get behind the diesel is the Allison.

[ktvaughan]

I mostly agree with this summary.
However, the Duramax package with the Allison and towing rear end is a $10k option, so we're not getting it for free....

[Cumminz]

3 months ago I visited SunCoast in Fort Walton Beach and they installed their towing version of the 68rfe. Now with 10k of heavy rv towing on it out west I will say it is great.

[rmoore0852]

Originally Posted by ktvaughan

I mostly agree with this summary.
However, the Duramax package with the Allison and towing rear end is a $10k option, so we're not getting it for free....

I agree, everything is paid for in the end. BUT, the price of a GM and Dodge diesel are comparable. My thinking is that GM did not want to take the chance of buyers cheaping out and getting the lower transmission, then giving GM a bad reputation for having weak transmissions when they fail.

My opinion FWIW, Dodge should only offer the Cummins with the Aisin transmission, just like GM does with the Allison. If you can't afford the right transmission to go with that big powerful engine, then you can't afford to buy the truck period. These trucks are almost $70k. The Aisin should be rolled into that cost.