ruth-gehrig

Sorry if this is a dumb question but..."What is a triple disc billet converter?".

I'm looking at a 2006 Ram 2500 diesel with 170,000 highway towing miles on it and the owner put one on 10,000 miles ago.

What does this improve? Mpg, towing power? Should it have been done many many miles ago??

Any input is greatly appreciated!!

cdennyb

triple disk refers to the number of friction disks inside the lock up converter. One school of thought is that the extra disks provide extra surface friction area to maintain lock up under a sizeable load being applied through them like a chipped engine making tons of torque.... truth is, that's a fact IF you can maintain pressure sufficient enough to squeeze them together with the steels.
I have 187K miles, don't have a triple disk (I'm running a fresh OEM style) and I have a six gun tuner box with the speed loader add on so I have a "stacked chip" set up making a bunch of power but I also did some trans work to handle the extra HP & T. (I rebuilt the trans forward and front drum clutches with red disks and kolene steels allowing me to put in an extra couple of disks in each drum of the trans.) I pull a BIG 42' 3- axle enclosed car trailer and fully loaded for a NHRA event over the weekend we gross in at 16K roughly.
Honestly, if you're towing, you aint looking for mpg. and if you ARE towing, make sure that trans can handle the HP & T of your engine and the converter has to handle it as well so it needs good clean, cool trans fluid to do it. That means a cooler is in order as is a good filter system on the trans. Add the necessary gauges and you're ready to rock.

J-man

He's talking about the torque converter of the automatic transmision. The billet, tripple disk converter can hold a lot more torque and is built a lot heavier than the light stock one.

ruth-gehrig

So does this significantly prolong the life of the transmission if you're pulling heavy loads?

Since the truck has 170k and the converter was just added 10k ago he has likely been pulling heavier loads??

Thanks again

rufushusky

If properly installed a billet converter with a lower stall will help the trans a lot. But you should check to see if he had a valve body installed or at least a good shift kit to give the TC higher line pressures.

no_6_oh_no

The real truth is you don't need extra pressure with a triple disk to raise the holding force. Holding force is presure times area, increase the area or pressure and the holding force is increased. Where you need the extra pressure is powered up and high performance applications but its more for the main clutches than the TC's.

Dave Goerend made his name building triples for snowbirds towing big 5'ers withe 47RE's. Other a few tweaks the pressures remained pretty close to stock in a lot of the units because the owners did not want a hard shifting truck.

It will prolong the life of the converter for sure and to a point the trans because the TC does not puke clutch material into the rest of the trans and kill it. A lot of triples get sold as overkill while all thats really needed is a billet cover single disk when towing. The stiffer billet cover will do more to save a TC and trans with stock power than more disks. With a triple you get a billet cover so its a bonus.

You have to know what your getting for a TC, just adding clutches and a billet cover to a stock TC leaves some weak OE parts in the rest of it. Its better by nature but not neccessarily as good as everybody thinks. If the other parts fail you just have a heavier paper weight.

The other thing that needs to be understood is with the TH on the 05+ trucks and aggressive 3-4 shift lock programs. These are HELL on drive train parts with a triple disk and turned up pressures.

If the VB is not setup correctly to slow down the lockup apply and speed up the release a triple disk will NOT unlock from drive to OD under heavy throttle with TH engaged. It WILL knock the dust off the headliner, snap your neck and eventually break the input shaft.

Drive the truck and make sure you test the shifting with TH engaged under heavy throttle then imagine a load behind you. IOf you get a really harsh shift for drive to OD under these conditions with a load it will be amplified.

Towing heavy benefits greatly from a triple as will upping the line pressures but there is a point it all goes backwards. A triple disk billet cover TC is a good thing IF the trans is setup for it.

BigDogJeepin

The next question is why the previous owner put it in. Did he need it to handle a programmer and beat on it? Or just for nicer towing?

ruth-gehrig

Well he says the truck is entirely stock with the converter exception. He said he doesn't believe in any of those programs or modifications. I'll have to ask him for sure(been pretty honest). I just wonder why he just put it on 10k ago on a truck with 170K.

I'm not planning on pulling any loads with the truck so I'm not sure how that would affect me.

Raspy

ruth,

Your question about why someone would put a triple disk in an older tranny with stock power that had never had a programmer is a very good one.

A stock converter and lockup clutch will hold stock power. But any increase in power will make them slip. Especially when towing at lower RPM and when hot. By slip, I mean the lockup clutch will begin to slip under heavy torque. This is like a manual clutch, in that it "locks up" the torque converter and makes it drive like a manual with no fluid coupling. This means less slipping in the torque converter and less heat generated.

Either the prevoius owner had a programmer of some sort or he bought a new converter for some reason, thinking it would improve something.

A triple disk will not make the rest of the tranny last longer. But if the converter fails, the tranny does have come out.

hoot

From experience, most will have learned just how easy it is to "shudder" a stock convertor when higher power adders are used. From experience most will have seen and felt the destruction that occurs to that stock glued-on little fiber disc with higher power levels.

Triple disc is a no brainer.

It can make the trans last longer. When that fiber disintegrates it sends crap through your trans. So now you are not only replacing the convertor, you are rebuilding the trans.

no_6_oh_no

No reason to suspect extra power just because of a triple disk. Many valid reasons for addding the TC alone. He is right in thinking it will improve something, the crappy stock TC clutch. Quite likely with the miles on it the TC just gave up. The 06's had a crappier than usual TC anyway.


Yes it will, tried and proven many times. The TC is the weak point when towing. The clutchs will eventually slip because the cover warps due to the heat and use. The triple won't suffer this fate so it significantly improves trans life.

BigDogJeepin

Not arguing. Just brainstorming ideas. Sounds like a good guy who appreciates a good TC.

WhiteMule

I was advised to buy a triple by two of the top 48RE people simply due to the weight I was towing and where I was towing it.

No 6 OH No was right when he said:
If the VB is not setup correctly to slow down the lockup apply and speed up the release a triple disk will NOT unlock from drive to OD under heavy throttle with TH engaged. It WILL knock the dust off the headliner, snap your neck and eventually break the input shaft.
Trust me, it will put your dentures on the dash.

John_P

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ruth-gehrig:

I like your User Name Sir! I want to also let you know that what you are asking about the triple disc billet converter is NOT a dumb question. In fact, I think it is a very good question.

You already have some good replies from the Members. Let me add that I have been running triple and multiple disc converters since the triple disc came out in about 1999 in all the Dodge CTD Pickups I have had since then.
You can look at my signature on my trucks to see where I am at on power and torque. I was runnning the triple disc when alot of tranny vendors said they would not work and would not hold up! Well, that "myth" has been blown to you know where!

IMHO,.....they are FAR above what a single disc converter offers, especially if you are towing heavy or like to occasionally drag race. With a single disc Dodge CTD Torque Converter you have roughly 34 square inches of lock-up clutch surface area. With the triple disc, you have about 115-120 square inches of lockup clutch surface area! I also believe that triple disc converters WILL make the rest of the tranny last longer because of what the Members have already told you, IN ADDITION to the fact that you don't have as much heat returning to the rest of transmission because the triple disc converters do not get as hot. IMO,....it is heat that really kills our Dodge CTD trannies.

With all that being said, I DO agree with what a few of the Members have already told you on the converters being properly "tuned" with the valve body and the rest of the transmission. But if that is done, you have a transmission that will last ALOT longer than a stock unit.

Hope that helps you some. Good luck with your truck Sir!

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John_P