Moobesor

I visited a transmission shop yesterday in Albany NY. He has been in the business for 30 years. I inquired about having him rebuild another 48re I have to suit the needs of high horsepower applications. I mentioned I have an aftermarket transmission in my truck now and he just shook his head and laughed.

He said it's a gimmick, these aftermarket transmissions. That the clutch packs, gear trains, et cetera are all the same as what is used in the stock transmission. The valve body is stock, just installed using a shift kit. That ups the line pressure. That's all one really needs to do. He said I paid thousands of dollars for upgrades that cost under $500.00.

Of course, I left thinking I wouldn't have him rebuild my second 48re. But it did raise my curiosity about what is really done with these aftermarket transmissions.

Any comments?

Hey -- I am not saying this is true, and no transmission company is being pointed out as the culprit. I'm just repeating what this transmission guy said.

patracy

He's right about the clutch packs and valve body being "stock". But what he didn't say was that the aftermarket valvebodies have their own brand specific tricks and mods.

Oh yeah, and there's no billet parts from the factory...

mulisha

that guy no nothing. i would never go back there. either contact goerend or HTS tranny's, there the best. period.

Minwy

True aftermarket clutch packs are machined to accept more clutches, also made of a better clutch material, if you actually go out and look there are as many diffent clutches for autos as there are for a stick shift. A quality builder no matter who it is will eliminate as many of the factory short cuts as possible to make the tranny reliable and operate as desired. The old gm 700R4's come to mind when the aftermarket builders started eliminating the problem with poor lube to some of the bearings, it may have only been a $500 upgrade but saved you thousands over a stocker that would fail because of poor lube.

53 willys

hahaha
there is lots of billet and beef in a REAL trans.
yeah the local trans shops that rebuild dodge caravan tranny's all day will tell you they can build the same trans as a $7000 race tanny for $1500.
THEY CANT!!

j-fox

I will post my opinion on this subject.
The weakest thing with most stock diesel trans is pressure is too low and converters to loose/soft.
The factory does this to preserve parts.
But, a soft shift is done with low pressure to allow controlled slippage. This can be changed with better clutch material and better pressure.
The fluid coupling with stock converters is a problem with any added power.
A real performance trans has several other area's addressed to give you reliability. This comes from experience.
some trans shops go for the ability to sell what appears to be the problem.
One area ( again in my opinion) is the multi clutch converters!!! If the real problems in the factory produced trans get addressed, a stock single disc clutch works great. To need to add weight to the converter.
Some trucks do NEED the extra clutches ( in the converter), but these are few and far apart.
Locked shifts are impressive to some ( me included at first), until you realize this breaks parts. ( usually shafts).
Anyone who says shift kit is all a built trans is, doesn't know very much. He may be able to put a shift kit in a stock trand and impress those who never have been in a built trans ( and knows what to look for).
Find someone else to do your trans.

mcolectd

I had a small tranny shop tell me the same thing awhile back when I was lookin at a tranny for my 05. I just kinda laughed at him, got in my truck and left, then called Goerend and ordered my trans the next day

davelinde

Timely... I stopped in a small local shop yesterday to ask if they would do my tranny mods now that I'm towing heavier and seeing higher temps.

First thing they said was that the stock parts were fine and that I did not need any aftermarket parts to make the tranny work... For my heat issues they suggested removing the check-valve and routing around the radiator. Two guys also suggested a bigger cooler and I walked both of them to the truck and said "where do you put it..." they both looked at the stock cooler and said "oh that should be big enough".

I was looking for someone to drill out my checkvalve and install a valve body to start, and see how my temps do. This shop had some big trucks they were working on but only had one approach... "let us drive it, drop the pan and inspect and we'll rebuild with stock parts".

Still looking for a local (NJ) shop that is on the same page as I am here...

zuki_dan

Most of the aftermarket tranny builders build to a lot closer tolerances and clearances that the factory specs also. An aftermarket trans is definatley more than just a shift kit!

Seelow

I like to do things local when I can but your way better off to stick with the big guys when your dealing with your trans. I put a call in to a NJ shop I won't mention the name and he was saying the same things I don't need shafts blah blah blah and oh yea and its going to cost me 8k lol. Stick to HTS, Gorend, dtt ect. and you will be much better off. Where in upstate are you I'm in amsterdam travel to albany a lot send me a pm.