Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Truck shudders when towing

[bison1]

I've just developed a problem that I'm looking for help on. On a recent trip to SE Utah pulling my 5,500# travel trailer, my truck started to shudder while pulling steep grades under heavy power. I was forced to gear down the AT to prevent the shudder. On some very steep high elevation passes I had to drop down to 2nd gear where it still shuddered, where normally I am able to easily pull these grades in 3rd.



When I take the trailer off and run through the gears under full power I don't feel the shudder at all, or very very little in OD, it's hard to tell. The truck has plenty of power and starts and idles perfectly.



I replaced the VP44 about 20K ago, and had the transmission completely rebuilt 10K ago. There are no codes present.



Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[cerberusiam]

Is it the motor having issues or is it the TC clutch slipping? Is the TC locked when this happens?



From your description is sounds like your just slipping the TC clutch under heavy load.



Bad fuel and\or partially plugged air\fuel filters will also cause somewhat like sysmptoms.



Couple of things to check out.

 

[JLandry]

Boy it sure sounds like you're describing a slipping torque convertor clutch.



Was the torque convertor replaced during the transmission rebuild? If so, what brand and type (OEM, triple-disk, etc. )? Who did the work?



John L.

 

[champspa]

there's an additive that transmission shops put in the transmission to stop or lessen the shudder that will work great until you can get you a torque converter. it worked for mine for about 60k miles.

 

[bison1]

My first thought was a bad torque converter, but I know there are other things that can possibly cause a shudder. The trans was rebuilt by a shop in Missoula MT. I had a single disc billet converter installed. It is still under warranty so it's in the shop now for diagnostics. The strange thing to me is that it only does it under towing conditions, and not under full power when unloaded.

What would be a good TC for this application?

Thanks for the input and I'll post how it turns out.

 

[SnoKing]

Do you have a two piece rear drive line. Maybe the carrier bearing?



Bill at DTT uses the Lubegard Red bottle additive. Red Bottle



Snoking

 

[painekiller]

mine did the same thing, it only had the shudder when i was pulling a 10k lb trailer. i took it to the dealer without the trailer and they said it was the valve body and i told them it was the tc they argued with me and replaced the vb under warranty. i picked the truck up on a friday and monday after work i pulled back into the dealer with the trailer attached and told the "diesel mechanic" to jump in and go for a ride, soon as it shuddered he said the tc is shot i said duuhh thats what i said before the vb was replaced, so they installed a new trans & tc with no charge to me. thanks to this website i was able to go in there somewhat knowledgable and get it straightened out. that trans is now sitting on my garage floor, it only has 33k miles on it and is still good but i wanted to install bigger injectors and up the power some so i found a core and had it rebuilt with a dunrite vb and tc, what a difference that made.

 

[bison1]

Thanks painkiller and the rest for your information and advice. I'll check all the possibilities and post the outcome when I get it fixed. Thanks again.

 

[JLandry]

Hopefully the shop will quickly figure out the problem, but I can't help but wonder if for some reason the line pressure is too low and the torque converter clutch can't hold under high torque loads. Or I wonder if they mistakenly used a 48RE torque converter in your 47RE transmission, which from what I've read, also leads to clutch slippage under high torque loads.



John L.