Attention: TDR Forum Junkies Well it has been a rough first six weeks since buying my 02 from a friend and co-worker! The transmission, lift pump and injection pump all took a dump! Got the lift pump and VP44 changed and was planning on building my own transmission, but I could not find a core for a decent price to build while I drove the truck, then the transmission started slipping really bad so driving was no longer an option.
I do not trust any of the local transmission shops in my area, the only shop i have had good service from closed about six years ago, so I did LOTS or reading and research on different transmission shops that specializes in the 47RE. The first impression on the prices seemed way too high for an old four speed auto, but the more I looked I started to realize that if you buy the good parts and a good triple disk TC then you will come out only about $500-$1000 less than buying a built transmission. After doing some more comparisons I narrowed the choice down to SunCoast and Garmon's. I ended up going with the Garmon's stage 2 because it was a better deal than the comparable SunCoast unit, and also because Garmon's uses a 100% new billet triple disk converter.
Two weeks ago I called Jeff Garmon and asked him some question about my options. Jeff tried to sell me the stage 1 unit since my truck is stock and will remain almost stock and not be raced or used to pull real heavy loads. I ended up opting for the stage 2 for the nominal price increase so that I could have a triple disk converter which is probably overkill for my intended use, but it can't hurt either! Three days later Jeff had the transmission built and checked on his in house transmission dyno.
Friday I drove to Garmon's Diesel Performance and had the new transmission installed. Jeff let me look around the shop and he let me hang out and watch his guys work. The shop was clean and orderly and had lots of cool special equipment and tooling for building transmissions, they even have a clean room for building engines and repairing and testing injectors. I got a chance to talk to all of the guys and observe them perform various tasks. I was really impressed with the attention to detail, cleanliness and thoroughness that the mechanics demonstrated while I was in the shop. It was obvious that Jeff has a great crew, I have been a mechanic my whole life and I know how hard it is to find mechanics that are true professionals that take pride in what they do for a living. I almost always do my own maintenance on all of my vehicles, but if I needed to have some work done on my truck, I would not hesitate to let the guys at GDP handle it for me.
Three hours after arriving my new transmission was installed and my truck was ready to go. The truck drives great now and shifts way better than it did with the crappy stock valve body set-up. The triple disk converter also made a huge difference in drivability, the stock converter was way too loose and it caused the engine to rev way too high when it was not locked. With the new converter the engine revs less when it is unlocked and puts more power to the wheels. It is too early to tell but I am sure I will se a mileage increase in city driving with the much tighter converter. So far I am loving the huge change in driveability the new transmission has made!
I do not trust any of the local transmission shops in my area, the only shop i have had good service from closed about six years ago, so I did LOTS or reading and research on different transmission shops that specializes in the 47RE. The first impression on the prices seemed way too high for an old four speed auto, but the more I looked I started to realize that if you buy the good parts and a good triple disk TC then you will come out only about $500-$1000 less than buying a built transmission. After doing some more comparisons I narrowed the choice down to SunCoast and Garmon's. I ended up going with the Garmon's stage 2 because it was a better deal than the comparable SunCoast unit, and also because Garmon's uses a 100% new billet triple disk converter.
Two weeks ago I called Jeff Garmon and asked him some question about my options. Jeff tried to sell me the stage 1 unit since my truck is stock and will remain almost stock and not be raced or used to pull real heavy loads. I ended up opting for the stage 2 for the nominal price increase so that I could have a triple disk converter which is probably overkill for my intended use, but it can't hurt either! Three days later Jeff had the transmission built and checked on his in house transmission dyno.
Friday I drove to Garmon's Diesel Performance and had the new transmission installed. Jeff let me look around the shop and he let me hang out and watch his guys work. The shop was clean and orderly and had lots of cool special equipment and tooling for building transmissions, they even have a clean room for building engines and repairing and testing injectors. I got a chance to talk to all of the guys and observe them perform various tasks. I was really impressed with the attention to detail, cleanliness and thoroughness that the mechanics demonstrated while I was in the shop. It was obvious that Jeff has a great crew, I have been a mechanic my whole life and I know how hard it is to find mechanics that are true professionals that take pride in what they do for a living. I almost always do my own maintenance on all of my vehicles, but if I needed to have some work done on my truck, I would not hesitate to let the guys at GDP handle it for me.
Three hours after arriving my new transmission was installed and my truck was ready to go. The truck drives great now and shifts way better than it did with the crappy stock valve body set-up. The triple disk converter also made a huge difference in drivability, the stock converter was way too loose and it caused the engine to rev way too high when it was not locked. With the new converter the engine revs less when it is unlocked and puts more power to the wheels. It is too early to tell but I am sure I will se a mileage increase in city driving with the much tighter converter. So far I am loving the huge change in driveability the new transmission has made!
