Your ATS Auto Experience

[BLee]

I kinda hesitate to bring this up. I'm thinking about trying out the ATS converter and valve body. I've read all the posts, and I'm really not looking for a lot of guidance on alternative products. I just want to hear about people's actual experience with the ATS product. My truck is stock, and probably like yours, well cared for. I have never had a problem of any kind with the truck; routine maintenance only. I might eventually put in an Edge EZ, but the truck runs pretty good right now. So I'm not looking to run a drag race or pull a tree down. I do tow a fifth wheel that weighs quite a bit. It's a triple slide with 2 A/C's. The trailer can be loaded to 13,700 lbs, but I never tow it with any fluids in it. That saves me over 1,000 lbs, so I'm usually around 12,500 lbs out back. Of the 20M miles on the truck since new, about 5M have been towing. All the towing is at 60mph in direct drive (2300 rpm), building a little speed downhill, bleeding a little speed uphill (no mountains yet).



Here are my questions. . . . What is your actual experience with the ATS T/C? How long have you had it and how many miles has it made to date? Is your power pretty close to stock? Do you have the valve body? If so, are you getting shifts with the T/C locked? Do you sense that you are hurting any other drive train parts with that system? Would you install ATS again if you had the chance to do it all over?



Please let me have the benefit of your experiences. I'm not trying to get you to say bad things about a man's product on a public forum. . If you need to use e-mail in order to be candid about your own experiences, I would apprteciate your e-mail. If your experiences are as positive as I hope mine to be, please let me know that also. I guess I just need a little reinforcement here.



Thanks, Bill

 

[rrausch]

BLee, I got the ATS complete re-build a few weeks ago, I've only driven about 2500 miles since then, but I am completely satisfied. I'd do it again in a minute. I wish I'd done it long ago.

My '95 2500 truck is pretty stock except for a TST #6 plate, a Pacbrake and a K&N. It is very well cared for, paint is still pretty flawless in spite of 109,000 miles, but I had some bodywork done on a door a few months ago and took that opportunity to have the peeling top re-painted. Looks new!



I had the complete re-build mostly because I didn't want to have to go into the trans again in 10,000 or 40,000 miles. (My TC was slipping and I didn't want to get stranded by the side of the road and only have access to a dealer or an ordinary trans shop!)



I could have just gotten the ATS TC & VB, but with all the miles I had, I figured it would be more cost effective to have them re-build it. With the re-build, I got the TripleLok Torque Converter, the ATS valve body, and the controller on the dash, which you can turn a knob and adjust it to lock up at any speed from about 20 to 55 or so. Thus, if you want, you can shift locked from about 20 mph on up through the gears. Or if you are at speed and need to slow down, you can also put your exhaust brake on and let it brake down to 20 mph or so, while the trans is down-shifting locked. I haven't done a lot of shifting locked, although the trans is absolutely fine with it when I do. I have a 5th wheel hitch in the bed, but haven't towed anything since I got the re-build. Also, the ATS Valve body is set to lube the trans in Park, unlike the stock one which won't.



I think if you were to get just the ATS TC & VB now, it would almost certainly prolong the life of your trans. Any good shop could put it in, or are you planning on installing it yourself?



If you are towing a triple-slider with the stock TC & VB it will eventually start to slip and slipping will cause the TC clutch to start to burn/peel or disintegrate. Those little pieces of TC clutch do cause problems when they circulate around in the trans!! When I was at ATS I inspected their TC clutches and they are made of strong stuff. They are a kevler/carbon/cellulose material, made by Raybestos, and won't burn--I tried with a butane lighter! They are tuff.



I was amazed at how much quicker my truck is now, with the same amount of throttle. It seems a thousand pounds lighter. I am getting a little better mileage around town also. I would do it again in a minute!

 

[Jim Fulmer]

and the controller on the dash, which you can turn a knob and adjust it to lock up at any speed from about 20 to 55 or so



One thing no one has talked about is how is it in fluid coupling if you are pulling a trailer or 5th and have it set to lockup at 55 MPH, obviously the locked portion works good from the testmonies(sp) but how is fluid coupling?



Thanks, Jim

 

[phoekema]

ATS experience

I too have the ATS converter and couldn't be happier with the results. Because I had only about 22,000 miles on the truck, I opted for just the converter and valve body, which I had installed at a local trans shop. Prior to the upgrade I was stock other than the RV injectors from TST products. The added torque at lower speeds (and of course less throttle) had my stock converter slipping between 45 and 65 unless I really babied it. You just can't imagine how solid the lockup is with the ATS converter! And when it is not locked up, it is much quicker and more efficient than stock too. There has been a lot of discussion on the lockup features of this converter, but the unlocked performance is extreemely good too. I used to be manually locking the converter all the time with the stock setup. Now since the ATS converter is so much more efficent in non-lockup mode, I usually leave the manual lockup switch alone. ATS is certainly not cheap, but quality seldom is.

 

[Jay]

I'll let you know at the end of the week!

 

[StakeMan]

BLee,

I have 12,000 miles in 2 months on my ATS TC & VB. My truck is used for deliveries in town. It gets used and abused. I am very pleased with the ATS setup. It accellerates well off the line, Lock -up will not slip, shifts are crisp but not harsh. The TC isn't so tight that it is a dog off the line, and tight enough to accellerate hard. My stock TC would take 2100 rpm to move with traffic, now its 1600 rpm. IMHO it is just right.

 

[JConley]

I will let you know next week

 

[BillGotthelf]

Hey guys some excellant points. For the lockup at lower rpm's and the trans using less rpm to get moving how are your egt's. From my experience the lower the rpm and the more fuel the hotter the exhaust. Thanks.

 

[Archive]

Had The ATS Stage IV trans installed last week. Best investment I have made in the truck. I agree with what the Stakeman said. The service at ATS was great and the transmission is awsome.

 

[StakeMan]

JFulmer,

Everybody talks about the lock to lock shifts because they can do it. I was the same way. The only time I force lock up is for engine breaking with a load now. I don't tow anything heavy. Usually its a ton or more in the bed in stop & go traffic. The factory TC sucked in traffic. With a load in the bed it was 2100-2200 rpm just to get the truck moving. Now even with a load in the bed, 1600 rpm keeps up with traffic.

 

[BLee]

Thanks to all for the replies. Good info. For the record - I did not receive any e-mails, positive or negative. Must be good news. I'll let ya know how it turns out.



Bill

 

[JohnS]

I've been using the PEEZ for ~ a year now and I'll say in Jan my TC started to slip... it was just a matter of time. I had the entire trans rebuilt with the extra clutching, valve body and TC by ATS. Please understand that pretty much all the respectable transmission builders assoc with this site do very similar and high quality builds, some subtle differences. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out who's transmission stuff I was going to use and after lots of coin tosses, I finally figured out that what ever was chosen would be tons better than stock. I chose ATS primarily because the fundamental crew is local for me. I really liked the attitude... they're proud of their stuff, and were very confident that I wouldn't hurt the new TC, particularly with the trans and valve body stuff.

My shifts are firm and to the point. Starting from a stop is a pleasure and I've actually started noticing some exhaust smoke where I never did in the past... then again the engine was at 2300RPM at the start! To answer the question about exhaust temps... you bet they're higher at take-off, as would be the same for any fairly efficient TC. To be expected also would be a bit of lag, but not to the point where it's annoying, what little is gained in lag is more than made up for with the transfer of power to the wheels, you move right now. Once I get my exhaust brake installed (sittin' in the garage for the last 6mos), I'll be doing the lock-up controller but until then I'll settle for doing my best at swallowing the transmission upgrade cost. Bottom line, and from what I've learned watching this site in the past 4-5yrs and as it's been said many times in the past, this (a transmission upgrade from any of these respectable transmission experts you see in TDR) is the best upgrade in performance you can spend hard earned money on. Now if I could just figure out how to change my signiture.

 

[Jim Fulmer]

StakeMan



Thanks that is what I was looking for, it said that the aftermarket has to envent something cause the factory stuff sucks so bad:{



Jim

 

[rrausch]

My accelleration in non-lockup is just amazing! That's what I meant when I said my truck felt a thousand pounds lighter. I saw the stator before they installed it and my thought at the time was that this thing was a doosey. And it is. When I press the pedal in non-lockup the truck gets up & goes. It doesn't just roar, and lumber along like it did in the old days before I got ATS'd.

 

[Cummins Corvette]

I don't have an ATS transmission (yet), but I can tell you that Clint, Renee and the rest of the crew there are awesome. Them's GOOD, honest people.