Since there are a lot of folks out there interested in upgrading their valve body I figured I'd post some of the tricks I used on my truck to help you along your way.

First, this can be done in your driveway in less than 2 hours.

This isn't intended to be a step-by-step "how to."

There are a number of "how to" videos on YouTube that show the process from start to finish.

This is just some lessons-learned that might help.

First, go to Home Depot, Lowes, or your favorite hardware store and get a cement mixing tub to make life easier.

I got a large tub, which is about 36"x28" for $12.

Since the OEM pan doesn't have a drain plug, draining the fluid and dropping the pan is a mess.

I removed all the bolts on the rear of the pan and along each side of the pan then loosened the three bolts on the front of the pan, but left them installed.

Then, slowly break the seal on the rear, starting at the corner of the pan, and drain as much fluid as you can by slowly working that corner loose.

Once the flow slows down, work your way along the back edge, breaking it loose slowly.

cement tub.jpg


Once the old valve body is out, I took the opportunity to clean around the solenoid pack port.

As you can see from this photo, that port leads straight into the transmission, so dirt and crud could easily find it's way into the transmission as you're fooling around with the valve body.

solenoid port.jpg


Assuming you're following everyone else's advice and doing this install with your truck in PARK. and make sure the TRS plate on your new valve body is slid all the way to the rear position.

Chances are, your builder shipped it with the TRS plate pushed all the way forward.

Make sure you slide it all the way back to the last notch, so the slot in the TRS plate matches up with the dowel pin on the shifter lever in the transmission.

As you're pushing the new valve body into place, take care to make sure the shift lever is settling into the TRS plate notch and not binding up somewhere.

Before you button up your transmission and refill it, hop in the truck and make sure you can move the gear selector through the P-R-N-D range normally.

shift lever.jpg


Lastly, you can fashion a spill-proof funnel for refilling the trans by using a long neck funnel and some 1/2" ID clear tubing.

I had the tubing leftover from doing an ATF exchange on our Volvo S40.

It slides into the 68RFE dip stick perfectly, so I could rest the funnel at an angle that allowed me to fill the trans with no drips or spills.

funnel setup 1.jpg


funnel setup.jpg


Now, in conjunction with the valve body swap, I installed a PPE deep transmission pan with an extra ~3-quart capacity.

With the valve body, 2 new filters, and a deep pan, I ended up needing 10 3/4 quarts of ATF to fill to the proper level.

If you're re-using the OEM pan, I'd recommend refilling with about 6 1/2 quarts, then starting the truck and topping off from there, so you don't overfill.

That's all I can think of for now.

If you have any tips/tricks of your own to add, drop them in this thread to make everyone's life easier.