Rockcrawler

Ok i think my tranny is about to give up the goust :'( and i dont have the money for a ATS tranny setup that i wanted. The truck is a 94 dodge 2500 4x4 with an auto. OK so heres what i was think about doing is going and getting the tranny rebuilt at a tranny shop (which brings up my next Q? is were is there a good shop that does a rebuild for a good price near San Jose CA. ?) and then put a new tranny cooler in and add a second one with a eletric fan and senseor to keep the tranny cool. Ive been told the #1 reason they break down is because of heat. do you guys think it will be reliable to do it this way. I want to pull my car trailer (5500) and get a camper for my truck (2000) and tow up to the rubicon often. I will also be putting in a guel plate which should take my power up to 245HP and 620 TQ. Its a little over what TST says a stock auto can take. Thanks any help will be great!

Mudcat

I was in your shoes not too long ago, about a month. I looked at all the local shops and their warranty was only for 12 months or 12,000 miles. If your truck was bombed no warranty. I hated to spend the $ for the regular rebuild then have to do it again in a year or less. The price difference was not all that bad, not for what you get.
If you must go that route, at least get a valve body and a good converter that will not slip. The downfall of these trannys is when the converter starts to slip it puts lots of debris in the rest of the tranny. Obviously it doesn't live long after that.
With that said, I love my new ATS stage 4 tranny. I should have done it before. It is nice to have piece of mind that if I want to up my power, pull what ever I hook it to I have the tranny to do it with. It is amazing how much more power the truck seems to have with just a tranny. All the power goes to the ground. I like my purple transmission. ;D
You could allways go with a cheaper brand of aftermarket tranny .
Good luck.

RCW

There, in my opinion, four things that kill the Dodge automatic transmissions. They are 1) lack of lubrication of the planetaries, 2) heat, 3) poor quality assurance in the original machine work which shows up as leaky valves and servo's that stick or have excessive oil bypass, and 4) marginal OEM clutch disk friction material and a weak torque converter clutch design.

The first problem can be cured by flushing the transmission and using universal hydraulic fluid (the stuff farm tractors use that handles both the planetary transmissions and hydraulic systems). The second problem can be solved by care in adjustments and using a good valve body (most of the aftermarket guys sell excellent valve bodies). The third issue is likely not a problem if your transmission has made it this far without any real problems. The last issue is easily corrected by a good rebuild, using first rate frictions and a quality torque converter (like those used by ATS, DTT, and most other performance rebuilders).

If you are mechanically inclined, have not trashed something and had it go through the transmission and cooler, and have a really good clean place to work; check out the valve bodies, frictions, and TC kits from the guys like DTT and so forth. The prices are very reasonable if you can do the work yourself. The tools you need are available from most rental shops for very little, and the automatic is actually easier to work on than a standard - dirt is the only real enemy of an automatic, it really has to be clean (outside case and all). The manual needed to do the assembly is inexpensive and available from many sources.

kd460

Excellent information. I like how you broke it down. Great explanation.

I do have to ask about the universal hydraulic fluid. I have seen this at stores like tractor supply or farm and fleet. Is this suitable for use in our auto trannys??? I assume your stating that the lubrication qualities are better than standard atf 3? Is the longevity the same? Any drawbacks to using it?? Thanks, Kevin