518 upgrades

[SeanM]

I'm looking for upgrades my 518 trans. all I can find are TCs. any help is appreciated

 

[DBF]

What we tell you sorta depends on what you want to do with the truck. Please give us some idea of what you want to do. Also, please fill in the "signature" part of your user control panel with details on your truck, such as you'll see below. That lets us not have to ask these kinds of questions.



I'll describe what I did, possibly the most expensive way but possibly better in the long run. I bought one of the last Chrysler A518's in their parts system. I conversed with Bill Kondolay at DTT and told him what I had for power in the truck and what I wanted to do (towing my 5-th wheel). He recommended I order and install his "89%" torque converter and send him the brand new valve body to set up to handle my power, that torque converter and towing. He sent it back, we installed it locally. Then I towed for 50,000 or so miles and ran light for another 60,000. Transmission is still doing fine, but will need adjustments soon.



Standing by to help. DBF



PS: You can do some reading in his site at this link:

http://www.dieseltrans.com/dodge/transmission_components.htm

 

[cerberusiam]

Lessee-



Tighter TC

Lockup TC

Steel Planetaries

Billet shafts

Billet Drums

Billet pistons

Clutches

Bands

Apply levers

Internal tweaks

Heavier case



Where do you wanna go and how fast do you wanna get there?

 

[SeanM]

sorry I got a 92 D250 2wd with a 4 inch exaust and a 16 cm turbo housing and thats about it for now. I use the truck as a everyday driver. I am looking for more towing capacity than I am speed. I appreciate your help.

 

[DBF]

sorry I got a 92 D250 2wd with a 4 inch exaust and a 16 cm turbo housing and thats about it for now. I use the truck as a everyday driver. I am looking for more towing capacity than I am speed. I appreciate your help.

How many miles on it? Where are you located?



Do you know a local transmission shop that you have dealt with and absolutely trust to give you good information without trying to sell you something? The reason I ask is that (if you have a bunch of miles on it) you might want to have it really gone over to see if there are internal leaks or other problems that must be addressed first.



The best thing you can do for your beast (IMHO) is to ensure the transmission is in good shape, then buy a good torque converter and send the valve body out for upgrading and setting according to your desires.



When you get that done, you'll notice a tremendous increase in response, seeing that you already have a good housing and exhaust. It will accelerate rapidly when light and quite well when towing.



You'll also be in prime position to bump the pump and have a really nice performing truck, dynoing about 200rwhp and maybe 500 ft/# torque.



DBF

 

[SeanM]

I'm a mechanic in the Navy and don't trust any auto shop. the truck has a 190,000 miles on it the transmission only has 10,000 on a rebuild.

 

[SeanM]

I am originally from upstate new york on a small dairy farm. I am now stationed in gulfport (gulfpit or so we like to call it) mississippi.

 

[DBF]

You ought to be all set for the torque converter and valve body work, then. The closest major TC manufacturer to you is Suncoast Converters in Fort Walton Beach, FL. That's 155 miles from you. Their web site is:

http://www.suncoastconverters.com/



Suncoast is having a "Dyno Day" on 11 Feb 06, where a bunch of people will run their trucks on the dynomometer to see how much HP and Torque they're putting to the road. I highly recommend you get over there that day so you can talk with folks about what they've done and how they like it. I plan on being there as well and will dyno if I get my second trans cooler back in.



I favor DTT myself, but they're located near Vancouver, BC, Canada, and there's no shop near you (or me) that they sanction to work on their stuff. Website was in a prior message.



Goerend Brothers (Iowa) is also favored by a bunch of people. Web site:

http://www.gbtransmissions.com/



Perhaps some of the others here will chime in with their recommendations.....



I'm also sending you a PM (Private Message) that others don't need to be bothered with.



Regards, DBF

 

[csnider]

Sean,

there are a few "free" things you can do that really work to tighten up your trans and get it to shift better. . I'll paste a thread by HDM48 about how to do it. . I did this with my stock converter and it did help quite a bit after I turned up the pump pressure and adjusted the bands a bit as described by HDM48. . I also went to a local transmission parts house and got the aluminum accumulator piston ($7) . . These mods do make a noticable difference if your transmission isstill functioning proper in the first place. . You can search threads by HDM48 to find a more detailed explanation but here it is in short... Hop e this helps... .



Somewhere in here you should be able to find a couple of posts related to trans adjustments. I know, I replied to them. And in these replies I made some detailed instructions on how to adjust everything you can without pulling the unit out.

But just for fun, here are some highlites.

Line pressure: 1. 125" from valvebody to spring retainer

KD band: 5/16" spacer between srevo piston and rocker arm. Take the adjuster to zero, don't crush it in.

Rear band: per factory spec

Now the goodie: find an aluminum accumulator piston, pull the valve body and replace the plastic one with it. And when you put it back together, leave out the accumulator spring. This REALLY helps your 2-3 shift.

And to protect your unit when it gets hot, replace 2-3 quarts of transmission fluid with 30wt engine oil. DO NOT use shift improver fluids!

The engine oil will not effect cold weather performance, but it will help at temp.

And make darn sure your KD cable is adjusted.

And when first started in the morning, let it idle in "neutral" for about 30 seconds before going anywhere. This will fill the TQ and lube everything.



Hows that?

Oh, and I forgot to mention, too much line pressure will eat it alive in short order. Stay away from shift kits.

And have a transmission shop clean the cooler. They can do it on the truck and it is a good thing to do.

And by the way, I use dexron 3 and Castrol gtx 30wt