OK, will keep the truck and upgrade transmission, add compound turbo

[brillmtb]

Would like options on which transmission company to go with and compound turbo setup for TOWING not racing. I see advertisements of ore than 100hp increases with 200-300 degree drops in EGT as well as mileage improvements. Now the question is which of the few companies to go with. Have read a lot about ATS. Other opinions?

 

[Regcabguy]

State your area. Find an authorized or reputable builder near you.

 

[brillmtb]

State your area. Find an authorized or reputable builder near you.

I live in Reno, NV

 

[p-Bar]

I would call Goerend transmissions and ask if there is a builder near you http://www.goerend.com/ . Very good parts . I think you can find a great single turbo that will work . Compounds are double the trouble. Wait some others to chime in that have done it.

 

[bigceltic]

I am very interested in this thread as I, too, am planning on trans upgrades and my main purpose is towing. I don't want to hijack the thread, but I think my question is also applicable to the OP - is it better to upgrade components of the orig trans (eg, TC, VB, etc) or to look at a complete/turnkey trans from someone like Firepunk? Looking at Goerend parts in my existing trans, it is not that much diff in price to go with complete trans (when figuring in the labor costs).

 

[rrowdy]

When I did mine a few years back, I decided since you never know the history of an exchange transmission, it was better to purchase the parts and upgrade the original transmission.
I called Dave goerend and told him what I was doing with the truck, what kind of towing etc and he set me up with all the hard parts
such as VB, TC, billet shaft, bands, clutches etc and if IRCC, it was around $4300 which included the core charges for the TC and VB.
I've never regretted that decision and it's been a great transmission.

Good luck!

 

[brillmtb]

I really don't want to dis a particular aftermarket transmission company but just had a call out to a friend who is a certified dodge mechanic. He recommended industrial injections I think the name was. He didn't have good experiences with ATS. He thought suncoast had a good product. He was wondering if I needed to go to compounds and look to creating the power in a different fashion. I told him my concern is EGT and I latched on to the compound approach due to decreased EGT. I am not aware of how to increase power AND decrease EGT by another cheaper way but would be willing to hear all alternatives.

Either way I need to upgrade the transmission as you all know. So the transmission upgrade is needed. How I get the increased power without hitting 1300 EGT is another question.

 

[p-Bar]

I think a good single turbo with a Smarty is the hot set up . 1300 is not that hot for short burst. Are you pre or post turbo?

 

[JR]

Find someone local with a good reputation for rebuilding diesel transmissions. Having a guy you can go to in the event of a problem is priceless. Someone with some skin in the game vs a company that's half way across the country.

 

[bigceltic]

I think a good single turbo with a Smarty is the hot set up . 1300 is not that hot for short burst. Are you pre or post turbo?

I second Smarty with UDC. I have been working with John (AH64ID) on some custom tunes and have seen a marked improvement in power with lower EGTs. I have been keeping torque down to protect my trans.

 

[Mobius1]

I have had a goerend transmission for almost 5 years now and its been one of the best mods I have done to my truck. No matter how hard I beat the snot out of it, it just laughs and still runs like the day I bought it. As far as turbo's go, Once you go twins, you will never go back to a single. Just warning you now! You can get an s475 for about $750-800 and run with a 62 on top. That should be pretty good starting off

Hope this helps!

 

[SSage]

I'm thinking 48RE rebuild soon, from what I've seen and heard Goerend parts and a local builder are probably the best.

Although I do have a DTT crate trans in my 95 truck, I would go the rebuild route this time. With my old truck, a crate trans was just quicker when I was on the road working in NC. I was a full timer living in a 5th wheel. Crunching the numbers I think a rebuild would have been cheaper, no shipping the trans across the US helps the bottom line. At the time I couldn't find a shop that was not backed up two months, so I ordered a DTT billet crate trans from Canada, it actually came from a shop in the NW and took over a week to get it anyway, about two week later I was hammering down the highway though, the trans has been perfect with zero performance issues.

A towing transmission means you don't need all billet shafts usually. But, all the other internal parts upgrades you want. I would say a billet torque converter and billet input shaft are must haves for me. I did put a really tight single disc in my old truck when the dual disc where just getting popular and it will idle my 15,000 pound loads around the gravel yard. Research the TC options thoroughly for your needs, Goerend uses DTT TC's last time I looked. My 48RE is still going okay pulling light loads, its getting close to a rebuild though. My old 47RH only lasted 65K, but I was always towing 12 to 18K with it. My 48RE is well over 100K now and still hauls loads, but I didn't bomb the truck much at all.