I have sat back on this thread and observed. It has been an interesting couple of weeks of reading for me. I have taken numerous phone calls as to why my silence.
What really bugged me was Chris Strickland. Here was a kid with an engineering degree with a basic understanding of the automatic transmission and he also understands the basic concepts of the tc. I have given Chris a hand in the last year and a half, nothing serious mostly technical support and he was on his way to visit us and to stay with my family for a week.
On his way here Chris thought to stop off at ATS to check them out and see what they had to offer for his truck. I guess he was intrigued by their post and also by my silence to their claims.
The kid also had the nerve to tell me that his lock up clutch was slipping and felt theirs would be better than mine as their multi disc system would have a higher holding capacity.
Talk about guts, to come into my home and tell me that.
I found it amusing and somewhat disturbing that he would think such a way considering his background. If Chris was thinking this way based on the post and the wording what was the average consumer thinking .
Are tc’s and their function really that much of a mystery to the average consumer.
I knew there was really only one way to prove to Chris the truth about lockup systems and how they work, their strengths and their weaknesses. I would let him do the diagnostic work himself and form his own conclusions.
I had him hook up a mystery switch to prove to me that his lock up clutch was truly slipping.
With the switch engaged I had him beat on his truck, we did this for about ½ hour, I took a cell phone with us . One on one Chris looked me right in the eye and said look at the tach Bill, I can prove the lockup clutch was slipping.
The tach was coming up and the vehicle speed was slow in reacting. Something sure was slipping, he was still willing to bet it was his lockup clutch.
He took the transmission out , and we went and had the tc cut open , I wish I could describe the look on Chris’s face when he discovered the lockup clutch looked brand new.
He opened up his transmission next, found third gear smoked out of it, and 4th gear on its way out.
I think Chris finally saw my point, the lockup clutch on any transmission is weak at the low rpms, I don’t care who’s system you use. Any claims otherwise, just consider it good marketing with no factual basis.
Now if ATS had compared their product to factory or to some of the other competitors rather than DTT this would be a non – issue for me.
However, since we seem to be the company they have chosen to compare their product to, I just wish they wouldn’t have done it with lies and innuendos rather than actual facts.
Lets see, the steel stator weighs 8 lbs, hmm, they didn’t say it was DTT’s that weighs 8 lbs, just that a steel stator weighs that much and could damage the pump stator.
Interesting, if that is the true weight of their steel stator I can certainly understand why they had so many problems and had to switch to aluminum.
Lets see , the other point , you had to increase line pressures to improve shift feel for some people. That is kind of funny if you are a transmission technician. A first year trans tech can tell you increasing line pressure is not necessary to get a firmer shift.
Once again, that simple comment speaks volumes to me.
It is apparent they do not understand, but they were at least smart enough to follow my advice and have Kevin Goode’s pressure set at 96psi at an idle, almost double factory.
With those kind of pressures even a factory lock up tc can handle the kind of power Kevin’s truck is making with relative ease.
If they really wanted to prove a point they should have set Kevin’s pressures at factory levels to prove how good their lock up clutch is.
Then they also tried to teach me that the Ford’s lockup pressures are regulated from the factory, well gee, everything from the factory is regulated that is why aftermarket companies design and build their own systems, once again their words spoke volumes. If getting around factory regulated systems was an issue for them, I am not going to educate them , believe it or not guys I make my living getting around factory regulated systems everyday.
The best thing of them all is that they want to compare their lockup to our fluid coupling.
This is the same thing that Suncoast, BD, Dunrite, Protorque, and the rest of our competitors are trying to do.
I find it fascinating that all of them now including ATS want to compare their lockup to our fluid coupling. Why is that ? Look at their ad’s , they all say they have a better fluid coupling, some claim to have 96%, some even 98% , impressive isn’t it?
You would think with those numbers all the above mentioned companies would want to compare apples to apples, ie) fluid coupling to fluid coupling or lock up to lock up.
Why my silence you guys asked, while I will always try to assist the tdr members with their questions and problems, however I am not here to educate my competitors.
The majority of our customers are towing heavy and just looking for reliability, durability and drivability but that does not mean we aren’t competitive in the high hp games.
Don, Clint, no offence meant here, if you guys want to compare to us then bring it on.
May Madness or Muncie or both, we will be there, fluid coupling to fluid coupling, lock up to lock up. Pick a hp # , 500hp, 600hp, 700hp , and don’t be surprised to even see 800 hp, we don’t care just let us know which one you want to go at.
See I have noticed lately comments or questions asked by DTT customers or myself is considered to be flaming the competition. Yet throughout this entire thread ATS seems to want to compare their products to DTT’s, and comments from me or my customers are flaming. Interesting how easy it was to confuse & mis-lead without challenge. Maybe now some of you guys can see how easy it was for Dr. Performance to get the level he got to, no one challenged his claims so what he said must have been be true right?
Don & Clint if you want to have free advertising without comment from us then might I suggest you don’t use us as a comparison.
Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
