OT-OF-Here

This thread is dedicated to AWARENESS. You really don't have to make all the mistakes yourself,...learn by others,...in this case mine. I have my truck pretty well prepared, or so I thought for some major power upgrades. I've got a new set of twins and water/meth yet to be installed, which is probably a conservative 100 more hp! Think about that when reading the rest of this thread.

Here's what happened.

Well I validated the power of the TST. I'll rewind to the 1st time I ran the TST Twins version. I put it on 5/5 and headed on the highway. I got it up to 55 and smashed it down (it's key to note the TST is stacked with the CLDL on the 90hp setting). I was thrown back in my seat and looked in my mirror and literally 4 lanes of highway disappeared in black smoke. Needless to say I was hauling A..! When it shifted into OD the truck literally twisted and then was off to a nono-second 100+mph run. I gently pulled out of it and looked for the 1st exit. I pulled off and immediately set the TST on 3/3. It ran in spectacular fashion as a few unfortunates could attest.

Then came the events of yesterday. I decided to make a few runs and try a little stouter but yet more moderate run than my initial one of 5/5. Also it should be noted I still have the stock turbo on the truck. I turned the power back up to 5 and let the torq stay on 3. I really wasn't wanting to relive the experience of the entire truck twisiting again. I took it out on an all but deserted 4-lane. I again ran her up to 55 and nailed it. It pulled like an absolute freight train pulling as hard at 100+ as it had when I hit it at 55. When it shifted into OD it was such a slam-hard shift it was like a 1st to 2nd shift, and kept pulling hard to around 105 and I felt two quick retards,...it was like I had slammed on the brake twice in quick succession, but it was more rapid than is physically possible. I let off of it and gradually slowed down to keep from blowing the turbo. I stopped and turned the TST down to 3/3 where I had experienced safe runs with major power previously. I took off again and got it up to the 55 and hammered it. It took off like a bat and as I hit somewhere around 90 and while I was studying my egts, as I had failed to do so on my previous run, as just hanging on was in itself enough to mentally monitor while making the run. As I hit somewhere in the 90 region then all hell broke loose,....literally!!! All kinds of busted up metal-to-metal grinding and clanking was going on. I still had the truck in gear and let my momentum take me up the exit ramp and off the side of the road. I then tried putting it into a gear,...nothing,...nothing in any gear, including reverse. I shut it down and waited a few long minutes and decided to start it again and see if I could get it in a gear to get more off of the road,.....forget it! The engine didn't sound like it was cranking but more like a gasser with no plugs turning over with a woooshing type of sound and no start.

I had it towed to my diesel shop and after thinking all this through I decided it was my flex plate or my torq converter. It appears to be the flex plate after a preliminary dropping of the inspection cover. Hopefully nothing else has been damaged when we get the tranny out.

All this and not even any power torqing of the brake or boosted takeoffs. I heard this little voice on my shoulder when I did the tranny upgrade to also upgrade the flex plate but I didn't listen,...rats!! This is a testament to two things,...the shear power of the TST Twins with it's affect on your drive train and also my stupidity for not doing what I knew was right and replacing the stock flex plate with a billet version. Hope this helps someone.

Dodgezilla

Ouch!!!

Sounds like it was fun beforehand though.....

qmcdt

Send (Post) pictures.

OT-OF-Here

Yes, it was definitely fun before it went KABOOM! It's one of those things to read stories of guys who run this thing and then to do it and even more to feel it. It is truely awesome. When you can feel the power actually want to turn your truck into a pretzel,...that will get your attention. My thread should in NO WAY be construed as a slap at TST Twins. It was meant to make people aware of what they're getting into and the potential for problems if you don't have ALL your bases covered. Once I beef up the turbo situation and add the water/meth for cooler competition runs along with this billet flex plate then frankly I don't know what else I can do to bullet proof the truck to handle everything that will be on it. I take that back. .......I'll be watching for the best mods for the CP3 and then I think I'll be ready to really use all it's got.

OT-OF-Here

Sorry,..don't understand what you want to see. Besides, frankly I don't know how to post pictures here which is why I don't have any in my members gallery. Were you wanting to see what it did to the flex plate?

abc4yew

OT, I guess you missed my post in August about shredding my flex plate while towing my empty 38' enclosed trailer. It pulled out 3 of the flexplate studs and pushed two forward enough to take out the starter, The tranny pump was busted, the torque converter screwed, The bell housing (adapter plate) had a perfect circle cut out by the studs right through it, and a $600 tow to the nearest shop that would look at it. The stock clutches and friction plates were heat burnished and warped. I had everything replaced that could be replaced up to stage IV. The only shaft that is stock is the output shaft. My diesel power shop now replaces everyones auto or manual flexplate using my story. He has had 5 trucks or so beyond mine shred the stock flexplate which is thinner and lighter than any SFI 350 gasser flexplate I have ever seen. My guess is that this is DC's design to limit us from upping the power and torque too far, The driveline shear bolt kind of protection. Anywho, after having everything upgraded fixed towed replaced and back to bombproof I have $10,000 less cdn $ in my pocket. Good Luck. KS

OT-OF-Here

I sure hope I didn't do all that damage but I wouldn't be surprised since I was under power hard and hitting 90 or so at the time. Yuk!!

abc4yew

Ot, Whatever you do have the tranny pump flow tested. If there is any play in it replace it otherwise you will have a Stage 0 tranny. When you open the observation panel on the bell housing did studs, flexplate bits and lots of Aluminum come out or just steel. The best case is the whole center part of the stud plate of the flex plate just rips out and bangs around so that the tranny is completely dead. I was going up a long grade at 70 mph or so when I just died. I tried to make the exit 100 yards ahead and that is when I did all the damage. If I turned it off when it started clanging I would have just needed a new flexplate. I had to back in the complete darkness down the grade to get off the middle of the highway. I hope all you need is the flexplate. I would advise anyone going over 100 hp towing to get the flexplate done before the TC and valve body. Its gonna go and it can ruin all the good mods you have done. ks

metal_miner

Wow - just amazing!

When you say "twisted" - do you mean:

1) back end of truck sliding out sideways?
2) frame twisting like you see some heavily loaded semis do when taking off from a stop?
3) all of the above?

Thanks for sharing - I'm still too scared to go above 50% on the Ramifier + TST twins on 4x4 with 100 HP injectors and my other support equipment. I had to check my shorts after I tried it as things were just happening quicker than I could comprehend!

Tom488

Hey OT - you mean to tell me you bought a brand-new, loaded-to-the-gills stage V tranny, and installed it onto that whimpy stock flexplate?

Me too...

Fortunately, I had to pull my tranny back out and fix a front band problem. I don't look at it as a band failure... I see it as getting a second chance not to make the same mistake... so on went the billet flexplate.

I sitll have my undamaged stock flexplate... was going to maybe make a clock out of it and hang it in the shop. I'd give it to my lab as a frisbee, but he'd probably trash it in short order.

And stock turbo.... shame on you.

1dslram

I broke the imput shaft first, but didn't know about the flexplate problem at the time. Six months later the flexplate broke and I replaced it with the SFI approved version heavy duty flexplate. This wasn't the end as the flexplate had damaged the torque convertor, pump, front drum, and hardened imput that all had to be replaced about 3 months later. I now advise all the replace the trans to also replace the flexplate, but few listen and take my advise.
Bruce

OT-OF-Here

Yes, you got it right. Like I said,..I didn't listen to the little voice. On the turbo,..yes again,..stocker. From everything I read you can get by with the stocker up to lvl 5 and then your in trouble. My twins should be in this next week so I did do the planning for that. I can't wait to Tuesday to see if it was just the flex plate or if I really screwed up.

AK RAM

So what were they?

OT-OF-Here

EGTs when it went out was 1325.

OT-OF-Here

I've spent a good part of today looking at flex plates,...imagine that. BD, ATS, DTT all offer billet flex plates. Suncoast has a laminated steel. An e-mail from them said it was better than billet. Does anyone have any info on that and if it is better, then what makes it so? Pls advise.