StakeMan: It's interesting that Jetpilots flexplate may be broken- but I think that this might be the result of .. ehmm.. some torque he has <br><br>Please do not try to read any ATS bashing into the posts I wrote. I think that I stated very clearly that I will not comment on the ATS because I do not own one. Since all the tranny companies are involved in racing activities and there are trucks with each tranny running very fast times I do not think that any one of them is pure horse manure. But since I am no drag racer (2 events on the whole continent per year) I do not consider drag racing results as a factor for my decision.<br><br>An interesting point about no friction material. Was it a kind of dog clutch then or how did it work? I can not imagine that there was no friction material on the clutch plates and that this held any torque. Maybe I do have some misconception about how the triplelock works. Please clarify this for me. <br><br>Hoping that this will not become a typical tranny thread<br><br>AlpineRAM

 

We'll be watching this thread closely as it develops. <br><br>Just thought I'd let you all know that ahead of time.

 

Alpine,<br><br>I heard they tested one setup and it engaged very hard and did not slip. They cut it open to see that the clutch material had been left out. Interesting test, wouldn't you say?<br><br>Lets keep this tranny thread clean or I could loose my job.

 

Alpine ram when you done your trans did you install new clutchs in the overdrive? When I talked to the dtt installer he was not sure on my truck if Bill K. Would just want him to install a new overdrive module instead of rebuilding mine? This adds about five hundred more to the cost. Which according to to ats they rebuild/upgrade the overdrive. I like dtt price without haveing to replace the overdrive but if they replace it the price will be pretty close. How difficult was it to do your own trans is there anything special that you had to do?

 

The main reason I see for having a billet cover is to have a bigger clutch apply area. Like having a bigger clutch and flywheel.

 

Stakeman Are you useing a ats tranny?

 

cumminsgetsome:<br><br>The other members have already given you some good<br>advice. I am approaching 30,000 miles with my ATS<br>Stage IV TripleLok and have had no problems at all!!<br>The way my 96' Dodge is now set-up, I am near 500<br>H.P. and over 1200 ft.lbs. of torque on #2 diesel only.<br>I regularly tow an enclosed cargo racing trailer in the<br>mountains in addition to a flatbed trailer/farm tractor<br>locally which is over 10,000lbs.<br><br>As &quot;Jetpilot&quot; said, &quot;do the research, call the companies&quot;<br>and to MOST IMPORTANT,.......ride and drive other<br>members trucks with the various transmissions (ATS,<br>DTT, Suncoast, Goerend, BD etc.). Then, buy what<br>feels best TO YOU!! You are more than welcome to<br>drive mine anytime! <br><br>I have had three transmissions in my truck since it<br>was new, #1.)stock with a Trans-Go Shift Kit,<br>#2) Pro-Torque Converter, BD Valve Body, BD<br>Pressure Loc #3.) ATS TripleLok Stage IV. The<br>ATS is by far the best of the three under ALL<br>conditions. I disagree with a few of the other<br>members about the billet cover. Both of my prior<br>TC's had heat damage to them from the amount <br>of H.P./Torque I was running!! IMO, the billet<br>cover adds strength and durability to the whole<br>unit. FYI, the ATS TripleLok TC has 119 square<br>inches of lock-up clutch surface area v.s. 34 for<br>stock!!<br><br>Good luck on your decision!<br><br>--------<br>John_P

 

Thanks John I have called all of them but there enough differences that I am not sure which way to go. Ats is about $1000.00 more than dtt if they do not put a new overdrive unit in if they do it is $500.00 more which makes it closer ats upgrade/rebuilds the overdrive. I am not sure which type of converter to go with when I talked to stephan K. he explained that the billet cover adds to much weight to the converter creating to much wear on the bushings that support it? Matt

 

I would stay away from John P's truck as its power can be addictive <br><br>Doug

 

[quote author=cumminsgetsome link=board=7;threadid=12310;start=15#116789 date=1047865195]<br>Stakeman Are you useing a ats tranny?<br>[/quote]<br><br>Yes. ATS stage IV.<br><br>Started out with just a TC and VB. I kept adding HP until the stock clutches could no longer hold it.

 

<br>The weight of the TC is a non-issue how much do you think a stock fly wheel clutch disc and pressure plate weigh in some of the big rigs and they get 300k on them with no bearing damage. Secondly ever see the flywheel on an old JD tractor and they lasted forever. Do it right the first time get the complete transmission fixed the first time. A good bit of what you are paying for is the removal and installation. What happens in two years when the OD gives trouble and you have to get off the hip to get the OD fixed. I have the ATS TC and it is rock solid it will not slip. It also does not have to be unlocked during heavy acceleration like some of the other vendors recommend. I also have the ATS phase IV transmission. That is one incredible transmission it will put all the power to the ground<br>

 

Stakeman: Not wanting to accuse you of anything but I can not imagine that a clutch where you simply forget to put on the friction material will hold anything. Even if the pressure plates would go together close enough to apply it would just have the grip of oiled metal on oiled metal.
Sorry but my BS-alarm is ringing !

Cumminsgetsome:
I bought the &quot;Masterkit&quot; from DTT which basically consists of all the friction material and steel plates that are in the tranny and OD. I did not think that doing this work was too bad- but still I am a learned car mechanic from a race car company. The instructions were very good, and I had only very little problems installing all the stuff. ( mainly calculating from &quot; to mm and the like)
Since there were some problems with my stock OD module I had to tear it apart completely and I think that since this is a PIA if you haven't got the tools it would have been better to change it on mine. My tranny had eaten some gunk from the old TC, clutches etc, so I had to go the whole way.

Something else I would like to point out is that this is just an automatic transmission. This is no threat to your family, no religion...
So if it makes you wonder why people get this agitated over the tranny, please do not ask me. ???

Edward:
I would like to point out that the big rigs with the big clutches and the big flywheels may also have big input shaft bearings. I think your argument could be taken on to say: The Mack will run 4 million miles with a load of 45 tons, so lets put it on the Ram, this can not hurt it.

StakeMan, do you work for ATS ? (As for saying you could lose your job)

AlpineRAM

 

The ATS triplelok converter is awesome.<br>I suggest taking a ride in an ATS equipped truck.<br><br>I drive like mine like a madman on a regular basis.<br>It takes whatever I can throw at it!<br><br>I would check out www.atsdiesel.com, there is an explanation of how the triplelok works.<br><br>--Justin