It’s no secret that the 68RFE transmission has had durability and reliability problems that should be upgraded — even when in stock form. One of the leading issues that plague the transmission is the valve body. The stock 68RFE valve body is cheaply made and Chrysler has not made any proactive moves to fix the issues that have plagued it since day one — such as cross leaks. This is why so many Ram truck owners contemplate a 68RFE valve body swap.
Thankfully, companies like Randy’s Transmissions are doing everything they can to help truck owners have reliable transmissions. In fact, I just heard about a new 68RFE valve body swap from Randy’s that is perfect for 2019 and newer trucks that do not utilize aftermarket tuning.
According to Randy’s, “the BabyMaker 2000 Plan B is a simple bolt-in unit (a transmission re-learn that must be done with any new 68RFE valve body install). That means that all the customer must do is drain the transmission fluid/drop their transmission pan, remove the OEM valve body, swap over the TCC solenoid to the new valve body, and install the new Plan B valve body. reinstall the pan, add fluid do a relearn, and drive”
Meet the Plan B. The latest Babymaker 68RFE valve body upgrade from Randy’s Transmissions.
We all know that truck manufacturers are making it harder to add any tuning to the ECM/TCM of trucks, so, to help truck owners, Randy’s has improved their already successful Babymaker 2000 valve body by working with a newly developed kit from Transgo. After extensive real-world testing, Randy’s has deemed this new Plan B valve body to be perfect for 2019 and newer 68RFE transmissions. The collaboration between Randy’s and Transgo has created a new valve body with some special features so you can have the benefits of a proper valve body upgrade and not need to include any custom tuning.
Randy’s informed me, “this 68RFE valve body is internally modified, which means the customer doesn’t have to worry about finding someone to write a transmission tune to support the new valve body and command more pressure. This is all done manually within the valve body itself.”
I asked how that was possible and was surprised by what I was told, “This valve body has some ‘trickery’ it is doing behind the scenes. If you were to install your Plan B valve body and then use your scan tool or Edge monitor to watch line pressure, you would see no difference in line pressure. To see the increased line pressure, you would actually have to tap into the valve body itself”.
How it works is, the valve body is fooling the electronics of the truck. Basically, the truck’s computer will always read that levels are within OEM spec, but rest assured, you will have added line pressure for better clutch application force. This valve body swap is not for everyone. This is a tuneless kit. It should not be coupled with any transmission tuning. Doing so will jeopardize your transmission, resulting in blown seals throughout the unit.
Although your scan tool or aftermarket monitor will show OE-spec transmission pressures, the Babymaker Plan B will be supplying higher pressures.
When making Babymaker valve bodies for a 68RFE valve body swap, whether they’re for 2007.5 through 2018 or 2019 and newer, the main OEM valve body chassis is flat sand to make the mating surface between it, the separator plate, and finally, the channel plate is as true as possible.
Next is the addition of a billet channel plate. The rigidity of billet aluminum and the precise cuts via CNC enable Randy’s to deliver the fluid exactly where it needs to go. The OEM channel plate is often criticized for its lack of strength since it is built from inexpensive metals (affectionately known as pot metal). The OE plate is prone to warping, which allows fluid to seep from one channel into another where it doesn’t belong (hence the term cross leaks). This triggers pressure, ratio, and rationality trouble codes.
The Plan B incorporates a Transgo Valve Body Kit which gives the ability to increase line pressure without the need for tuning by using a special calibrated separator plate and calibrated accumulator pistons and springs. According to Randy’s Transmissions, “this gives us the ability to stop underdrive clutch failure when the underdrive pulse test is taking place. Which is a very well-known and common failure point.”
The underdrive pulse test was implemented in 2019 by Ram to monitor the underdrive clutches more closely by turning on and off the clutch pack in certain driving scenarios in while in fifth and sixth gear. Unfortunately, if you increase line pressure or add extra clutches, it causes the clutches to pre-maturely fail by slightly engaging them when they shouldn’t be.
Unfortunately, for those of you with 2007.5 through 2018 trucks with a 68RFE, a Plan B will not work for two reasons. First, it is designed only for 2019 and newer trucks. Only the Babymaker 1000 is available for those earlier models. Also, in order for a 2007.5 through 2018 truck to have a tuneless valve body, the transmission must be removed, and the pump modified. And again, transmission tuning MUST BE STOCK to run a tuneless valve body.
With the addition of the Plan B 68RFE valve body swap, Randy’s Transmissions now has owners of 68RFE transmission covered. If you are utilizing aftermarket tuning, get the original Babymaker. If not utilizing transmission tuning, Plan B is what you need.
If you are planning to install a complete Randy’s Stage 1 through 4 transmission and don’t want to worry about transmission tuning, you can opt to have a Plan B added to your build.
