Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Who I am and WHY I am here will not change. What is in question is IF I will remain here. First, let’s look at who I am because it might help you to understand why I say and do the things I say and do.
My name is Chris Anderson and I am a 24-year-old single college student who has two hobbies: trail riding my yz, and trying to make my truck as fast as a Corvette. I work at a surgical supply company in the warehouse and delivering products to the University of Utah Hospital. I spend between two and three hours every day reading this forum, and I really enjoy learning here. The one thing that I value more than anything else (except my family) is having friends. I have not had many when I was younger because my family was always moving around as my dad went where his job dictated. It took until I was 17 to get any of the lasting friends that I have today. They are some of the kindest people you will ever meet, and I have learned a lot from them.
My parents always say that I have much of my Grandma in me because I am always trying to find the best deals because it makes me feel good. I am just plain cheap most of the time. My friends are the only people who I am willing to give without expecting anything in return other than a “thank you”. Making my friends happy means a great deal to me. I don’t go the “extreme” of cutting out coupons or anything, but when I get a good deal on something it makes my happy. This does not only apply to me and my personal finances. If I can get someone else (particularly a friend) a good deal on something it gives me that same feeling. On the other hand, when I get gypped, or when I see someone else getting taken advantage of, it makes me SICK; it gives me a terrible feeling that I hate very bad.
That leads me to why I am here. I don’t make very much money at my job. And I know that many of the people here don’t have much money to spend on bombing their truck. I know I certainly don’t. So when I buy a transmission, some injectors, a plate, or a full-blown racing pump, I want to make sure I really need it first, then I make sure I really am getting what I am paying for, and finally try my best to make sure whatever I am buying is the best one and that it will be the last one.
All businesses are out to make money. They want to make the most money for the least cost possible. What I want to do is to weed out the ones who are worth the money spent and will give you the best value, and to expose the ones who are just in it for the money and not to help anyone but themselves. The latter are the ones who make me sick, very sick. I always have, and always will try to separate the good from the bad and let everyone know what I think. I will always be looking for businesses that really give everyone what they say they will. That was the motivation behind the plate thread. I took my pump apart to see what I could do to get more power and learn what I could while I was in there. My main focus was what I could do to get more power, but while I was in there I thought about the purpose for the plate. All I care about at this point is raw horsepower, not tailoring my power band to minimize egt at a certain rpm. I couldn’t see for the life of me why the plate even needed to be in there, so I carefully looked at everything that would happen if I took it out. I looked, looked, and looked again and couldn’t find anything that would break. I spent hours looking for the mysterious fragile little pin that would surely break if I ran without the plate. I couldn’t find it anywhere. These pumps are almost as simple as Legos. Just put ‘em together and they work. When I thought about the 575 dollars I have spent on those two plates, in came the sick feeling of getting gypped. I thought I might as well tell everyone what I found, so I did, and I got *****-slapped by the plate vendors. What do I have to gain by telling you that power seekers don’t need a plate? The feeling that I get when I hold the door open for an older person, that is what I get. No money, just the gratifications of helping someone save a little money. I would feel TERRIBLE if someone’s pump blew up because of my advice, and would do what I could to help that person get a new pump on their truck. So why would I not believe any plate-vending people who say the pump would break without their plate? Let’s look at the motivation as I see it. What effect would the knowledge about not needing a plate have on the vendors? They loose some of their market; they loose money, which is the whole reason for their being. Why on god’s green earth would someone who sells plates ever tell us that we don’t need them? They are not going to. They will fight to the bitter end and try to make fools out of their opposition (me). Joe Donnelley may not sell plates directly, but he is a bosom buddy with Diesel Dynamics, and they do sell plates; those kinds of mods are their bread and butter. They stand to loose a lot of money if I prove the plate is not necessary. Did anyone absolutely prove anything would break if you run without the plate? No. If they did, then I would accept that I was wrong, get on with my life, and we would all have learned something from it. What did we learn instead? To hate the guy who is thinking for himself, and will not let anyone else tell him what to think. I am after the truth: proof positive and nothing short of that.
Now let’s look at my motivation. It is very simple. I get a thank you from someone; that is all. You have no idea of the satisfaction that gives me. It may be hard to believe, but I can do something for someone without financial motivation. If I can save someone a dollar, then I sleep better at night; that is the honest truth. I want to make my truck as fast as a Corvette for the least cost possible. I am willing (unlike any business) to share the knowledge that will get me there for nothing other than your gratitude.
As for the whole transmission fiasco, when I left DTT I thought I had a full DTT transmission. I now know that I drove over 1000 miles to get something I could have gotten in my back yard: a plain old transmission rebuild. Am I bitter over that? You bet I am. All of you are right that I cannot do an unbiased test now. If you still want the best comparison I can give you between my common rebuild with a DTT torque converter and valve body, and an ATS transmission (provided they will still put one in my truck) I will give my truck to a third party who has nothing to do with me, DTT, or ATS to do all of the testing both before and after the swap. I will not even be with them or tell them what to do other than what tests you all want done.
When someone like Bob Wagner says I am FOS it cuts deep. I take great pride in giving you all the truth and not taking something for it. All I want is another friend or two. If you all will let me, and try to see past my emotion that I display sometimes, I will stay and continue to learn for you, with you, and from you. I will try to help you all learn which products are worth the money spent. If you still think I am full of ****, then this will be my final post. The responses to this thread will determine if I stay here and continue to post.
My name is Chris Anderson and I am a 24-year-old single college student who has two hobbies: trail riding my yz, and trying to make my truck as fast as a Corvette. I work at a surgical supply company in the warehouse and delivering products to the University of Utah Hospital. I spend between two and three hours every day reading this forum, and I really enjoy learning here. The one thing that I value more than anything else (except my family) is having friends. I have not had many when I was younger because my family was always moving around as my dad went where his job dictated. It took until I was 17 to get any of the lasting friends that I have today. They are some of the kindest people you will ever meet, and I have learned a lot from them.
My parents always say that I have much of my Grandma in me because I am always trying to find the best deals because it makes me feel good. I am just plain cheap most of the time. My friends are the only people who I am willing to give without expecting anything in return other than a “thank you”. Making my friends happy means a great deal to me. I don’t go the “extreme” of cutting out coupons or anything, but when I get a good deal on something it makes my happy. This does not only apply to me and my personal finances. If I can get someone else (particularly a friend) a good deal on something it gives me that same feeling. On the other hand, when I get gypped, or when I see someone else getting taken advantage of, it makes me SICK; it gives me a terrible feeling that I hate very bad.
That leads me to why I am here. I don’t make very much money at my job. And I know that many of the people here don’t have much money to spend on bombing their truck. I know I certainly don’t. So when I buy a transmission, some injectors, a plate, or a full-blown racing pump, I want to make sure I really need it first, then I make sure I really am getting what I am paying for, and finally try my best to make sure whatever I am buying is the best one and that it will be the last one.
All businesses are out to make money. They want to make the most money for the least cost possible. What I want to do is to weed out the ones who are worth the money spent and will give you the best value, and to expose the ones who are just in it for the money and not to help anyone but themselves. The latter are the ones who make me sick, very sick. I always have, and always will try to separate the good from the bad and let everyone know what I think. I will always be looking for businesses that really give everyone what they say they will. That was the motivation behind the plate thread. I took my pump apart to see what I could do to get more power and learn what I could while I was in there. My main focus was what I could do to get more power, but while I was in there I thought about the purpose for the plate. All I care about at this point is raw horsepower, not tailoring my power band to minimize egt at a certain rpm. I couldn’t see for the life of me why the plate even needed to be in there, so I carefully looked at everything that would happen if I took it out. I looked, looked, and looked again and couldn’t find anything that would break. I spent hours looking for the mysterious fragile little pin that would surely break if I ran without the plate. I couldn’t find it anywhere. These pumps are almost as simple as Legos. Just put ‘em together and they work. When I thought about the 575 dollars I have spent on those two plates, in came the sick feeling of getting gypped. I thought I might as well tell everyone what I found, so I did, and I got *****-slapped by the plate vendors. What do I have to gain by telling you that power seekers don’t need a plate? The feeling that I get when I hold the door open for an older person, that is what I get. No money, just the gratifications of helping someone save a little money. I would feel TERRIBLE if someone’s pump blew up because of my advice, and would do what I could to help that person get a new pump on their truck. So why would I not believe any plate-vending people who say the pump would break without their plate? Let’s look at the motivation as I see it. What effect would the knowledge about not needing a plate have on the vendors? They loose some of their market; they loose money, which is the whole reason for their being. Why on god’s green earth would someone who sells plates ever tell us that we don’t need them? They are not going to. They will fight to the bitter end and try to make fools out of their opposition (me). Joe Donnelley may not sell plates directly, but he is a bosom buddy with Diesel Dynamics, and they do sell plates; those kinds of mods are their bread and butter. They stand to loose a lot of money if I prove the plate is not necessary. Did anyone absolutely prove anything would break if you run without the plate? No. If they did, then I would accept that I was wrong, get on with my life, and we would all have learned something from it. What did we learn instead? To hate the guy who is thinking for himself, and will not let anyone else tell him what to think. I am after the truth: proof positive and nothing short of that.
Now let’s look at my motivation. It is very simple. I get a thank you from someone; that is all. You have no idea of the satisfaction that gives me. It may be hard to believe, but I can do something for someone without financial motivation. If I can save someone a dollar, then I sleep better at night; that is the honest truth. I want to make my truck as fast as a Corvette for the least cost possible. I am willing (unlike any business) to share the knowledge that will get me there for nothing other than your gratitude.
As for the whole transmission fiasco, when I left DTT I thought I had a full DTT transmission. I now know that I drove over 1000 miles to get something I could have gotten in my back yard: a plain old transmission rebuild. Am I bitter over that? You bet I am. All of you are right that I cannot do an unbiased test now. If you still want the best comparison I can give you between my common rebuild with a DTT torque converter and valve body, and an ATS transmission (provided they will still put one in my truck) I will give my truck to a third party who has nothing to do with me, DTT, or ATS to do all of the testing both before and after the swap. I will not even be with them or tell them what to do other than what tests you all want done.
When someone like Bob Wagner says I am FOS it cuts deep. I take great pride in giving you all the truth and not taking something for it. All I want is another friend or two. If you all will let me, and try to see past my emotion that I display sometimes, I will stay and continue to learn for you, with you, and from you. I will try to help you all learn which products are worth the money spent. If you still think I am full of ****, then this will be my final post. The responses to this thread will determine if I stay here and continue to post.
We can't all agree on everything that's why I'm here, I want to hear both sides of the story not just one guys opinion. I've only been on this site for about 2 years now but I have gotten lots of info from it and have saved myself some $$$$ in the process. 
I have made a few friends along the way to and look forward to making a few more in Muncie. On the other hand I think some people are a little over board on the stuff they do. They might not aggree with me but just becasue they don't doen't mean I'm going to leave. (can't get rid of me that easy)
Just ignore them and go on doing what you think is best. There are way too many nice guys in this thing to just pack up your bags and leave. Remember you paid the same $$$$ they did to be here so you have every right to stay. 
