CNeubauer

I've got a friend with a full billet Goerend transmission in his '98.5 3500 pulling truck and after two years with it this year he went from a set of twins to a silver bullet and Dave built him a new torque converter for the single turbo in exchange for his old converter at no charge. Dave knows that truck is setup for sled pulling and that it probably hooks 30 times a year yet he never gave a second thought about taking back a two year old converter in exchange for a new one which is pretty impressive to me. My friend is now selling and installing Dave's products in his own shop and that is where I am planning to go if I ever kill the stock auto I have now.

lotero

go with goerend! there is no doubt about it, i dont think we are overselling the guy we are just all extremely happy customers. i absolutely love my transmission and the whole experience from the first phone call to recieving the tranny and installation was a breeze, i have no regrets and am loving every time i scare somebody when my 7000 pound truck goes sideways hitting second gear . i have had the tranny for a little over 6 months now and every drive still puts a smile on my face

Sunir

Wow that is impressive, never heard of that sorta thing from ANY vendor! I called Dave and left a message, hea called me back a few days later but at a bad time, so we have yet to talk thus far. However I am considering his products. I am looking for a TC & VB not a fully built up monster tranny or anything...going for efficiency, well built, tough, longevity etc...durable and dependable for daily driving...maybe a triple disk incase I want to mod more down the road, for now my modding will be to a mild level...

any comparison of Goerends to Dunrite or Sun Coast? I posted about this recently...wonder if there are any more thoughts. Each seems to be an excellent provider with a quality product...how do you compare them, it terms of which one to buy when it comes to TC & VB?

BigTXDually

Ok, time for the ATS thing. I was actually looking at buying a tranny from them but due to how they treated friends and other people around the same time i just couldnt bring myself to do it. Plus their tranny was going to run me nearly $2,000 more than the Goerend tranny. As far as the treatment it goes like this. Fully built tranny goes in for some work we were told was going to be a warranty job and then turns out to cost around $3,500 to fix but then we get the warranty right. Ok right at a year later ship it back for more issues and it turns out to be the EXACT SAME PROBLEM. Again the jod that was going to be a warranty job was going to end up costing money when there was no way that it should have. When talking to them they were a little scetchy on what was going on and later on contradicted themselves from an earlier statement. So that trans was sent from there to BTS (yeah it was a Ford tranny) and Brian runs his business pretty much the same that Dave runs his. So now the only trannys the shop sells is Goerend for the Dodge folks and BTS trannys for the Fords. Thats why I say STAY AWAY FROM ATS, and by the way last time I checked even Mad Dog got rid of his ATS so thats got to mean that there is something going on there. When the BADDEST truck ever to run an ATS tranny gets POed at them and changes al I can wonder is WHY?? Im sorry if I stepped on too many toes with this but after all I was asked WHY i said what I did and there it is.

powermad

wow thanks! i gave dave a call today and told him what i want and he did everything to get me exactly what i want awsome guy and good prices. im going with the standard trans and a billet input shaft and a three disk clutch with shipping there and back its only going to be 4400 with warranty and everything. thanks

pokapotato

No offense taken. I would however be intereted to know if in fact Madsen has done what you said, distancing himself from ATS.

Sounds like "Dave" is the man!!!! Does Goerend offer lockup controllers? I may have to try their product down the road.

ATS was convenient for me as I live close to them and a couple of their dealers. Let me make it clear though that I have been treated very well by ATS and in fact when I was at their facility and the trans was done, Clint went out in the truck with me for a test run, exlpaining different aspects of the trans and TC. I had a good experience with ATS and would recommend them again. So hey guys there is at least one positive ATS experience here!

bama

when i was having issues with a tranny in another truck i had,dave shipped me a couple of different vb`s,and a couple of convertors.the last problem i was having which i thought was convertor shudder,when talking to dave he told me he had opened up my previous con`s and they were fine.he asked me,what do YOU want to do?he sent me another convertor,like the previous ones,on his dime.he offered after that to let me ship him my complete tranny and he would tear it down,find out what was going on,and just charge me for whatever parts it needed,if any.and this was NOT a tranny he had even built.......i know people with all the big company trannys out there,and they all will give some problems sooner or later,especially under high horse,high abuse situations.......id say dave went above and beyond what he needed to do,or was obligated to do.........bama

westexhunt

I had two cases where a tranny that Dave had not sold any parts for or touched any part of ever, had odd problems. No one locally could fix them and I dont know who built them. Dave had the guys ship the trannys to him, he tore them down fixed them and charged them for parts only. No B.S. He gained nothing monetarily from these two transmissions at any time.

junkyard

you lads know more than i do, but it seems to come down to this - tell me if i'm wrong: a full-bore built tranny from goerend or any of the big name shops, consists of a three-disc tc, a new valve body, billet input and output shafts, and a few more minor parts, and perhaps a new flex-plate. am i close here? you can buy the parts and do your own wrenching, or have a shop do it - one of dave's subsidiary outfits or just about anybody, and then send whatever cores you have left over back to dave for a refund on your core charge. is this about it, so far? my thought is this: how about i take a trip to dave's hometown and have his guys yank out my stock tranny and install his? as you see from my sig, i've just done the typical air-in/air-out mods, plus a smarty and gauges. the truck and tranny have 45,000 miles and no frightening sounds, smells or tricks from the tranny. would it be smart to do it this way, and roughly what would it cost?
customary thanks in advance,
smith

dodgeman01

My 96 needs a new tranny and I 2 would rather just drive my truck up there and get the tranny done. I have a engine break so It requires some mods to the VB from what dave says that and I want everything to be ok before I leave the shop. I would stink to get the tranny in at my house and then have a problem.
DM01

John_P

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Very good points "pokapotato" and I agree with you 100%!

Like you, I also would like to hear why BigTXDually doesn't like ATS? So many times on this website too many of the Members like to say "Don't go with Brand X" but never give a reason. If it is price or the service/information you received, fine, but at least give a legitimate reason!

To let all the Members that have posted negatively here towards ATS, I have been running their transmissions in my trucks since 2001, right about the time they released their "TripleLok Converter." Anyone that knows me here, knows how HARD I run my trucks and for those Members that don't know me, you can look at my signatures on my trucks. I have had very good service from my ATS Transmissions and the two minor problems I had were taken care of under warranty. Clint and Ranee Cannon and their entire staff are great people and are constantly looking for ways to better their product, i.e. the new ATS Five Star Converter. My 96' Dodge CTD 12 valve puts down over 800H.P./1400 TQ. and runs the quarter mile the mid-11's! ATS also builds the trannies for the Bentz Rail Dragster along with Jimmy and Dale Smith's Pro-Street Truck which is the fastest 4WD drive Pro-Street Truck in the U.S. at this time, running 9.97 at Indianapolis this summer. So,... lets keep our facts straight here fellas!

Dave Goerend also builds a great transmission and I hear alot of good things about his products and service and in some cases he may very well be somewhat cheaper than what ATS is. If that is an issue for a Member, fine,...but don't slam ATS for that reason!

One last thing,......lets try to keep this thread civil, so all the Members can learn something from it.

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John_P

John_P

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BigTXDually:

You want to bring up the fact that Richard Madsen (MADDOG) no longer runs an ATS Transmission? You may not know this, but to MY knowledge Richard was SPONSORED by ATS and now is not. Also, in the time Richard had the ATS transmission in his "FUMMINS" Diesel Pickup, he ran some pretty high dyno runs with that ATS Tranny and also made many drag race runs with it all across the U.S., most of those in the high 10's or low 11's!! I was at the Beech Bend, Ky. event last year with my Son and watched him lay down over 900 H.P. on David Dunbars' Dynojet with that truck WHILE HE HAD AN ATS TRANNY!! So, I doubt it has anything to do with how well the ATS unit held up, but maybe more from a "business standpoint" which is really none of our business!

I guess I am also confused at your post above as you say "you couldn't get yourself to do it" (buy an ATS Tranny) because of "how ATS treated some of your friends!" So did you buy an ATS tranny or is that story about another company?????

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John_P

John_P

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Merrick:

You and I have "sparred" on this issue before, so let me keep this brief!

ATS built me a converter "exactly as I wanted" for my 96' Dodge CTD 12 valve much the same way that Dave did for you! And you and I both know that ATS NEVER told you, "If you want something else too bad!"
I have been associated with ATS for over five (5) years now, have been in their facility in Colorado, have worked with them at many of the diesel rallies and events across the U.S. and have NEVER heard anyone of their employees EVER say anything like that, either in public or on the phone with a customer,......so,.....lets not exaggerate here Merrick!

Also, one last point,......believe me when I tell you that either of my two (2) trucks (the 96' or my 06') can do EXACTLY what you have shown in your little picture there! Heck Merrick, a brand new 07' Dodge CTD CR with the 6.7Cummins can spin the tires right off the showroom floor!

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John_P

13FOX

IMO there are three top companies.
DTT
GB
SunCoast(Just ask Jeff Garmon)

Then there is everybody else IMO. I ran a DTT in my last 98.5 w/o 1 problem (except I tried to go cheap with a Mojave Green TC and it was junk). Added DTT 89% after that an no issues. Also just ordered a fully built DTT for my 98' 12v. Dad has an 01' with GB tranny (stock hp) and tows with it daily w/o one single problem. My best friend Dave Mason has Ford PS with a SunCoast tranny and that thinig will friggin fly!!! I made my decision to pruchase DTT based on rep and costumer service. Orderd my dad a GB tranny because it was not quite as expensive and costumer service was awesome and had a great rep! I choose to stay away from ATS because a lot of my firends have had not to good of luck. That's is why I stay away. BUT however, everyone is intitled to there opinion and I understand that. Not saying they are bad folks. I just choose not to deal with them.


Just so everyone knows not trying to start a war here. Just stating my opinion only.

AlpineRAM

I didn't even talk to Mr Goerend so take it for what it's worth.

I think that you should take into consideration talking to DTT too. They were always very helpful to me and to my friends, and even before I had spent a single cent at them they did help me with tranny issues to give me time to consider my options for an aftermarket tranny. A lot of the stories about how good Dave Goerend treats his customers do sound exactly the same as DTT has treated me and my friends. My DTT tranny is holding up extremely well to an abuse with much higher power than what I intended to do when I ordered the parts.
The main reason I did not go with ATS when the time was up for my stock tranny was that they could not give me precise details on shipping to me and they would only ship a complete trans and have mine shipped back etc which would have killed me on freight charges and taxes/customs duties. With DTT the transaction went extremely smooth, I got what I needed in short time and for a very nice price. I know that my situation is quite different due to my location, but I just wanted to share my experience.

AlpineRAM