Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Transmission Upgrade Recommendations Needed

[GregBarnes]

Can anyone tell me if there are upgrades available via a shift kit or valve body for my 1999 2500 diesel automatic transmission? Just hate the factory shift feel... want something more solid.

 

[Joe Mc]

Greg,



Transmission threads are very touchy and have stemmed a great deal of controversy on the TDR. I'm not sure if there are any "kits" such as B & M Transgo had for the old Ford C-4 & 6s or 350 & 400 GM autos. Most folks here bite the bullet and go full rebuild by a known name specifically for diesel trans outfit. These companies put the R & D into developing transmissions specific for our torquy diesels that will last, and based on your application. I. E. do you tow, is the motor stock, do you want a trans for "X" amount of HP, will you pull a sled. There are many variables. You can have a local trans shop do you a 1500 - 2k rebuild but, it probably will only last a month after the warranty period ends (MHO). Then you'll have to go the way of having it done right. What it boils down to is by the time you putz around spending $500 here a grand there for converters and valve bodies you are into the trans for a fair amount, and then the bands start to wear out or, the clutch packs start to wear, the black yuck starts to show up when you change the fluid and so forth. Then you have to start over - the motto is do it right, do it once and be done with it. Then bombs away.



In my case I purchased my truck from a dealer w/75k back in May 01, trans was fine till the yuck started to show in the drain fluid and pan bottom at about 139k, last summer. I had my trans done according to what bombs I "planned" on doing. No more than 500 HP. So, at 145k it is real sweet just breaking in. I actually had the out fit that did mine help me soften the 1-2 shift by swapping a few minor parts above the valve body until it was where I wanted it to be. Now that I've added some HP I'm thinking about swapping back :-laf but, I want ad a bit more HP and a limited slip rear diff before doing so.



Sorry for the long post - just wanted to provide some food for thought, share a bit of what I experienced and some of what I learned on the TDR. By the way welcome to the board. Hope you enjoy your 99 as much as I have mine.



Oh - you should really spend a few minutes and develop a signature for your truck - it allows folks to help with out asking a ton of "what, year, auto or std, 4X4 or 2 wheel - questions.



Joe Mc

 

[Jefff929]

On a truck that old getting a kit may include rebuild, some shops will not work without some assurance there parts will last. Your location would be good to know also. If you're near Denver just by location there is a local favorite. In the NW there are other options. I had a TC with a shift kit installed in mine. You might consider a billit input shaft.

 

[Cummins Thunder]

Both above posts have good info.



You are not going to get a firm feeling shift with the factory torque converter



This is not what you want to hear, but here it goes... Either have it fully built, or

leave it stock



BTW, where are you located?



CJ

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

For those on a budget I wonder if just upgrading the torque converter would be a good start. Wouldn't it solve the mushiness as well as the problem of the weak factory lockup? I know the weak link would move to some other component but combine a TC with a good service and do a proper band adjustment. Wouldn't that buy you some time and a little more HP? If you're going through the trouble to R&R a transmission might as well do a little something with it at the same time, but I have a 4x2 so a R&R wouldn't be that big of project.



Vaughn

 

[GregBarnes]

Greg,



Transmission threads are very touchy and have stemmed a great deal of controversy on the TDR. I'm not sure if there are any "kits" such as B & M Transgo had for the old Ford C-4 & 6s or 350 & 400 GM autos. Most folks here bite the bullet and go full rebuild by a known name specifically for diesel trans outfit. These companies put the R & D into developing transmissions specific for our torquy diesels that will last, and based on your application. I. E. do you tow, is the motor stock, do you want a trans for "X" amount of HP, will you pull a sled. There are many variables. You can have a local trans shop do you a 1500 - 2k rebuild but, it probably will only last a month after the warranty period ends (MHO). Then you'll have to go the way of having it done right. What it boils down to is by the time you putz around spending $500 here a grand there for converters and valve bodies you are into the trans for a fair amount, and then the bands start to wear out or, the clutch packs start to wear, the black yuck starts to show up when you change the fluid and so forth. Then you have to start over - the motto is do it right, do it once and be done with it. Then bombs away.



In my case I purchased my truck from a dealer w/75k back in May 01, trans was fine till the yuck started to show in the drain fluid and pan bottom at about 139k, last summer. I had my trans done according to what bombs I "planned" on doing. No more than 500 HP. So, at 145k it is real sweet just breaking in. I actually had the out fit that did mine help me soften the 1-2 shift by swapping a few minor parts above the valve body until it was where I wanted it to be. Now that I've added some HP I'm thinking about swapping back :-laf but, I want ad a bit more HP and a limited slip rear diff before doing so.



Sorry for the long post - just wanted to provide some food for thought, share a bit of what I experienced and some of what I learned on the TDR. By the way welcome to the board. Hope you enjoy your 99 as much as I have mine.



Oh - you should really spend a few minutes and develop a signature for your truck - it allows folks to help with out asking a ton of "what, year, auto or std, 4X4 or 2 wheel - questions.



Joe Mc

Thanks Joe... That's what I was looking for. It's graet to se what type of experience is out there and how willing everyone is to help. I guess it's one big family. Great to be back to TDR and yes... I've modified my truck signature... still getting use to the forum site and abilities. Thanks again!!

 

[GregBarnes]

On a truck that old getting a kit may include rebuild, some shops will not work without some assurance there parts will last. Your location would be good to know also. If you're near Denver just by location there is a local favorite. In the NW there are other options. I had a TC with a shift kit installed in mine. You might consider a billit input shaft.

Thanks. The transmission I have has about 65K on it... but from what I'm hearing form others... it would probably be better to invest in a quality transmission and tq. I like what i'm hearing from many other... put the money toward something that will last. Thanks!

 

[GregBarnes]

Both above posts have good info.



You are not going to get a firm feeling shift with the factory torque converter



This is not what you want to hear, but here it goes... Either have it fully built, or

leave it stock



BTW, where are you located?



CJ

Yes... that's what I'm hearing. Sorry for the lack of a signature... still getting use to the forum structure here. I did modify my signature page as well. I'm located in Round Rock, Texas... just outside of Austin. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Cummins Thunder]

Yes... that's what I'm hearing. Sorry for the lack of a signature... still getting use to the forum structure here. I did modify my signature page as well. I'm located in Round Rock, Texas... just outside of Austin. Thanks for the feedback!

You should call Michael at Hot Rod Diesels (see sig)

He builds his transmissions in house to suit your needs.

Plus he is just a couple hours drive from you



CJ

 

[zstroken]

If you go with just a convertor, you may start to develop band/clutch slippage. You need a VB to support the convertor. I would feel more comfortable just doing a VB, before just doing a TC. You should really do the whole thing if you can. Putting a TC/VB in a used transmission is sometimes asking for trouble.

 

[SnoKing]

Do it once and do it completely. It is 500 bucks each time you R&R it. Do some seaches on here and call each major player. Ask them about the hard parts that they put in their custom trannys and why. Some will tell you their is more than one clear winner and others will tell you their is only one clear winner (which varies). I made my choice and am very happy with it. To me and many others it is the clear winner. SNOKING

 

[Jefff929]

Do it once and do it completely. It is 500 bucks each time you R&R it. ***SNOKING

that about sums it up.

 

[McLaughlin]

I pretty much agree with the recommendation of doing it once and completely. However, since your transmission doesn't have a lot of miles on it and IF it isn't showing any shift/lock up problems you MAY be able to get a few more years out of it IF you aren't doing heavy towing or HP mods by just going the torque converter and valve body route. While you would have to spend the R&R cost twice (if you don't do the work yourself) it would give you more time to determine what upgrades you want to make and to accumulate some additional cash. As mentioned before transmission upgrades have been somewhat sensitive but common agreement seems to be that DTT, Suncoast, Goerends, or ATS seem to provide the best replacement trannys. Suggest you give the companies a call and find out their prospective. I've dealt with DTT and always felt they were providing unbiased advice. Also, everything I've read about Goerends is that they will provide similar advice with exceptional customer service.

 

[GregBarnes]

thanks for the information and advice. I may give him a call.

 

[GregBarnes]

yep... that's what I'm going to do. I'm very appreciative of all the advice out here.

 

[RichB59]

transmission upgrade

I had my trans upgraded 45k ago and just had rev. fail. My advice is to make sure you have support for the upgraded parts. I got left holding the bag closest support to LasVegas 5hrs away I'm out the price of the upgrade and had to rebuild the entire transmission because of contamination. Just consider carefully what can happen in the future and how to handle it.



Rich Barnes

 

[Stefan Kondolay]

4 years ago as with Rich's truck Diesel Dynamics did a partial upgrade of TC, VB, smart controller, the thing with partial upgrades is that the entire unit is not addressed and it could or could not last a long time we have no way of knowing if the entire unit is not looked at .



Yesterday Bill had a 2004. 5 in the shop one of his old customers bought a new truck awile back with very low mileage on it . Bottom line he refused to do the partial on it he wanted to look at the entire unit, while the guy watched Bill went through it , the customer was pretty amazed to see the low and reverse drum was already damaged with the little mileage he had on it and none of it would have been noticed if he did not look at the transmission. Its a little like playing roulette and sometimes you win and sometimes you dont. Unfortunately if you do not guess right the labor is repetitive, and no one wins.

 

[Jefff929]

Stefan,



You are so right, the guy who did my VB/TC upgrade insisted that he also look at the other parts. This allowed him to offer a some guarantee and gave me big peace of mind. If he had been unwilling to do the job my next play was to call DTT, and make an appointment.