Who makes the best auto transmission upgrades

[SummitRoofs]

i have a 2005 4WD quad and want to upgrade the transmission at the same time as the motor. who makes the best or builds the best auto 48re for the money?

 

[Sled Dog]

Check with Dave Goerand. JMHO

 

[Moose Truck]

i have a 2005 4WD quad and want to upgrade the transmission at the same time as the motor. who makes the best or builds the best auto 48re for the money?

Do you want to start a (transmission ) War? :-laf There as many answers to this question as there are TDR members. DTT is probably the number 1 pick here, But ATS, Hawk, Goerends, Protorque and a lot of Smaller transmission shops rate. In my case I had my transmission done at a fellow TDR Member's shop. He uses DTT's stuff, with a Protouqe Converter, and his own Valve Body calibration. It rocks!! So ask around your parts of the world. If you are in the CT area, feel free to PM and I can hook you up with Mike ( TDR name TNLRacing ). Moose

 

[RobertP]

HTS, NADP, and suncoast all make great trannies

 

[Moose Truck]

HTS, NADP, and suncoast all make great trannies

Like I said, there are lots of choices!

 

[SummitRoofs]

thanks for the inputs. No, i was not looking for a transmission war. That sounds like something i would not want to see!



Anyway the input helps. i have looked at the ATS website and frankly the prices of the complete stage 5 and stage 6 trans, scare me. i am sure they are very good.



Is $2,000 reasonable to beef up the 48re in order to work behind 450 rwhp?

 

[mattymac]

without doing any hard 4x4 launches under boost I would think that a clutch upgrade, TC&VB, and if you have some extra $$$ left a laminated flexplate would be suffecient.

 

[Rams-n-Hogs]

thanks for the inputs. No, i was not looking for a transmission war. That sounds like something i would not want to see!



Anyway the input helps. i have looked at the ATS website and frankly the prices of the complete stage 5 and stage 6 trans, scare me. i am sure they are very good.



Is $2,000 reasonable to beef up the 48re in order to work behind 450 rwhp?

My Goerends TC, and VB have performed flawlessly for me, for about 30000 miles. $2000 is reasonable.

 

['strokeThis_'07]

I dont think Ive heard anything good about ATS transmissions; cost too much and break alot is what Ive read. Im gonna go either Goerend(1st choice) or Suncoast or NADP(tie for 2nd) when I go the full billet route

 

[CPittman]

Your choice and dollars to spend have as much to do with how much finger pointing you want to do afterwards. Do your research, make the calls to the vendors, ask them the hard questions, talk to their customers, talk to their installers... then call DTT or Dave... and be prepared to spend the bucks. If you wanna play, you gotta pay, and $2K ain't gonna go far with the big boys. How much fun can you afford? (that's what she said... )

 

[jgillott]

... and be prepared to spend the bucks. If you wanna play, you gotta pay, and $2K ain't gonna go far with the big boys. How much fun can you afford?

I agree. It has always been my opinion that it is worth spending a little extra in the trans from the beginning, than to build it to a point now and then out grow it later..... even if that means waiting a little while to do it.

 

[SummitRoofs]

everything said makes sense to me. i like to do things right the first time. i enjoy working on my truck a little the first time. Repairing broken things is just not fun to me.



that being said, i gather i will need to upgrade the torque converter, flex plate, valve body, and the clutch pack. i plan on leaving the rebuild to the professionals, however beyond the above 4 items what else needs attention???



i would like to be a little educated on what these trucks need when i talk to my shops in this area. That way i will be better able to know which shop is the most knowledgeable when it comes to these dodge trannies.

 

[CPittman]

During my build we did the single-plate torque converter (plenty stout to handle anything I could throw at it - and a lot less BS, and less bucks), custom modded valve body (let your installer make the VB mods to YOUR VB to match what YOU want to do w/ your truck), you probably don't need an up-rated flex plate unless you're making mondo HP (450 and up - IMO) so save that money for your billet input shaft. We did the billet input on my truck, billet servos, upgraded the clutch packs and did latest TSB upgrades for thrust washers and the like. Switched to the old-style transmission filter, installed gallons of Amsoil ATF and a bottle of red Lube-Gard. The icing on the cake was the double-deep Mag Hy-tec transmission pan.



Again, call the transmission vendors and talk to them to get your schoolin', then call their installers. Your decision should become pretty easy at that point. When I did this, one installer never answered the phone (and never returned a message - not a good way to start), one answered the phone but I could tell that building or installing a "Brand X" transmission wasn't something he was too thrilled about, Dave was great - just too far for me, and the "Brand Y" installer didn't want to spend any time with me on the phone.



When I finally talked with my DTT builder / installer it was clear that this guy was a pro and he wanted to build my trans just for me and how I drive my truck. He knew his stuff inside and out. He worked on other brand trucks, but he drove a CTD. We talked on the phone several times and then I went to his shop to meet him and have a look around at how he kept his place. He was a custom, professional builder from front to back. We went for a drive in his truck and I couldn't stop grinnin'. I handed him a "lets get started" check. Once my DTT parts came in, my truck was in / out / checked / and double checked in three days. I now have 44,000 miles on my DTT trans and the shifts still feel like you're riding a howitzer. Solid shifts and solid TC lockup all day, every day.

 

[HAnderson]

I have over 10000 miles and many hard runs on the strip and not one prolem yet. befor you bad mouth them try them H Anderson

 

[Snoxracer]

I'd call Dave Goerend, he'll tell you what is needed to take care of your needs. He's been great to deal with, plus his shop is only 35 miles from me so that works out great!

 

[Triton]

I have over 10000 miles and many hard runs on the strip and not one prolem yet. befor you bad mouth them try them H Anderson

agreed. Not all shops are going to put you on a pedestal. I also don't agree a flex plate isn't needed. That's one of the first things to burn up in the transmission since it's take so much heat. A single disc converter isn't much better than the stock converter also so I wouldn't even bother with that.



Since he has a 4X4 the input shaft is nice but, the intermediate shaft is even more important. If the stock the intermediate shaft goes... . it's gonna take out the rest of the transmission... it's the weak link in the 4x4 transmission.



To answer your question IMO, Suncoast, Goerend, DDT, ATS, HTS... they're all good trannies. You just have to make your own decision in which you want to go with and how much money you want to spend.

 

[SummitRoofs]

thanks guys for your input. i started this thread before i read the sticky post at the beginning of this forum about transmission thread guidelines. i did not know that transmissions where a hot button sometimes.



thank you all for keeping this on the up and up. i know a fair amount more and should be able to tell if my local shops know there stuff. i am also going to call many of the companies mentioned.



thanks

 

[JimB1]

Nice to see this forum has regained transmission objectivity. DTT's website is very educational and well worth the read. CPittman's detailed results match what DTT calls out for their equipment and professional service. I'm in the pipeline with DTT Abbortsford, BC and my intial contacts/planning are just as positive as their long term customers claim.

 

[BigDsCummins]

I am going to go with Goerend Brothers myself. I have already talked to Dave and he told me exactly what I needed, he is very nice and informative. Plus they have the lifetime warrantied converter. JMO

 

[firemansdiesel]

I have BD Performance VB, TC & Double Deep Pan and has worked flawlessly.