What can i do to help from smoking my automatic. I bought a 97 2500 and of course didn't find out about the tranny issues till afterwards is there anything i can do to the torque converter or the shift plates to strengthen it up.

 

If your planning on doing any HP mods to amount to anything I would take it out right now and have it built, as soon as you start putting more power to it its going to go anyway. That auto will be great if its built right but like it is its the weakest part of the truck.

 

Is your tranny already slipping? If it is I would take it out like plow said and get it fixed right. If your tranny is still good and your just worried about it then you could get a good tc and a valve body for now. Then later if you plan on putting alot of power to it you could get a fully built one.

 

That might be unwarranted if the trans is in good condition and you are not an abusive driver. There is a reason some guys melt a tranny and others get over 200,000 miles out of them same horsepower. As a matter of fact there are several members who have some pretty good bombs with a stock auto behind them.

It comes down to your habits. and how you want to spend your money. A VB is a good investment, Goerends will credit you its cost if and when the trans you put it in fails. A great policy.

Anyway, there is always going to be the myth that stock autos can't serve well. No they are not great units, but Fuddle though the facts and decide for yourself how you drive. If you are like me a stock auto will last quite awhile, and I am not grandma going to the grocery store. I'd love a built trans, but I'll get one when my stock fails and that may not be for quite some time.

A lot of failure is from poor fluid that has been in too long, overheated etc. Fluid has a big enough job behind a CTD clean let alone half cooked. TC failure will come sooner then.

Big Jimmy

 

If it is already starting to go, then you are probably not going to be able to nurse it along much more. I would start to look at the major builders, Goerend, ATS, DTT..... Call each of them and talk to them. They will tell you what you need and will help you through the process. They offer different build levels for different usage and each has a much different price tag attached. I would not recommend putting a stock trans. back in its place if you are going to the effort to replace it, do it right.

I chose Goerends, but there is a variety of options out there that you will have to look into. Good luck and enjoy.

 

If your transmission is still in good shape give Stefan at DTT a call. He is a really nice guy and he knows his stuff. My grandpa has their Hot Rod valve body in his truck and it really helped the transmission.