It seems to me that every time someone ask the question about a torque and valve body up grade on one of or trucks ,a large percentabe of people say that you have to install a billit imput shaft, then more clutchs and then output shafts and change bands and this and that and blah blah blah blah blah, because you can't add any power to these things without them breaking.
I would like to know the REAL story on these things!
Before I get blasted we all know that some things are junk when they leave the factory and some are bullit proof.
And on the other hand some people could break a anvil with a feather!
I, like most people use my truck for what was intended to be used for, work.
A tighter torque converter and a better valve body to raise pressure and shift better is what I'm looking for with a Jr. set no more than tow.
Do I/we need to re-invent the wheel for this?

 

Got 200,000 miles out of mine in stock configuration, then I had it rebuilt with all the goodies. It had 91,000 heavy towing miles on it when I bought it. I put some heavy construction towing on it with no problem. All I ever did to it in the first 200,000 miles was put a new Gov. pressure solenoid and sensor into it. I was told the tranny was shot when I rebuilt it.

 

A good TC, a shift kit, a billet band strut, and a billet front servo cover is all you need to make the trans TOUGH. Bullet proof is expensive and if you have enough power it will still break.

If you are not doing boosted launches, locked to locked shifts, sled pulling, etc, these things will take a LOT to break them with some simple upgrades.


You do not have to spend a mint to have a solid 48RE.

 

not to steal your thread or anything but. Since we are talking about upgrading certain parts of the stocker. is it cheaper or more efficient to go with say a stage 2 from ats versus upgrading certain parts in the stocker? got a quote from a local shop said stage 2 installed otd was 5460$ with bilit imput shaft. i know it depends on how much power but well just say a smarty and the stock turbo. whatever it can put out and be reliable on . obviously the fuel to go with it.

 

5400 will buy a hellova tranny with Goerend or HTS.... or you could pay for expensive purple paint.

 

WOW Somone is trying to rip you off, you can get the ats base tranny for 2800 wich includes upgraded valve body, then the input shaft for another 850 bucks, installed the same time tranny is built for no extra cost. Who gave you that price, just out of curiosity?

 

Could you tell me more about your truck? How does it act , how muck lower is the stall ,how does it shift, was it a pain to install the shift kit, who's TC did you use and so on? Thanks

 

I am in the same boat as you. If we could stay on topic and forget the "buy this tranny not that tranny" that these topics tend to turn into.

It would be interesting to hear what people are doing are doing to thier 48RE that does not include installing billet anything,and still using thier truck as a truck.

The highest I have run my senior on is 3 (aftermarket turbo program) I have the gov solenoid TSB done and I am waiting for it to warm up so I can install my TS shift master.

 

Ditto. This time around I wanna do the trans mods before the power mods, so I'm not paranoid.

Shawn

 

Scott ....
I have one of those complete transmissions from Goerend and I love it. It changes the entire behavior of the truck. That said, the stock transmission is great if you use it as designed and do not abuse it. Better torque convertor helps fuel mileage (reduced slipping) and a upgraded valve body helps with the firmer shifts. And those two can be had for around $1,700.00.
I would like to suggest two other parts that you might look at replacing just because they are marginal in design at best.
1. I believe that it is the second gear shift arm. Goerend's had many broken ones laying around, they just are not strong enough. (If you PM me I can get you the exact part and P/N)
2. The flex plate, take a look at one and you will fall over with the absense of metal. These break on stock trucks who tow. Look at it next to a billet one... there is no comparison and since the trans is apart anyway,...
Not all 48re's will break these parts, not all will hold up to heavy towing for 200,000 miles. It is a good trans. but updates make them better. How much better depends what you are willing to spend. Given, not all need a race transmission, but these trucks are not cheap and so I will be keeping mine a long time and I looked at it as an investment. Good Luck

 

Sounds like the price was from a transmission shop. $2800 plus $850 equals $3650. Any real shop marks up parts because they have to warranty them if something goes wrong. Figure 25% mark up, that brings you to over $4500, plus tax, plus fluids, plus labor. $5460 sound right on the money to me.

You can save a lot by doing it yourself, but not everyone is capable or has the time. I put that same trans with a billet input into mine and it cost me $4600 to do it myself. That includes ATS trans, Banks billet TC, BD billet flexplate, synthetic fluids (including T-case), new cooler line with temp fitting, etc. I paid for no labor and no tax was charged on any parts.


I got a quote for a trans from goerend for quite a bit more, and that didn't include the flexplate or fluids.

 

I have $2500 into a rebuild and am told it is good up to 600 HP if I don't drive like a total idiot.

We used a billet band strut, a billet front servo cover, and a Transgo shift kit for the internal parts. Everything else was perfect with +100k on the clock when I toasted the direct clutches due to stock line pressures and too much Smarty SW.

I did add a Opie billet input cuz of the lockup switch and wanting to occasionally race. Had to replace the input anyway as ruined the stocker by spinning the steels on it.

I used a single disk billet cover TC with a 1700 rpm flash stall and a 2100 full break stall. Could have used a tighter TC but was leary of the codes for rpm drop that are an issue on a tight TC. Turned out probably should have went with the 1400 stall as the way they set the stator is loose enough it would have been fine. The TC is built by a company in Pocatello ID and is what all the local guys are using there. Idaho Transmission Warehouse in Boise is the distibutor.

The trans works great. The shifts are firm and positive without being obnoxious even at WOT. They are positive enough to bark the turbo hard if you are not careful on the throttle. It is definitely noticeable in stop-n-go driving the TC stalls a lot lower and pulls harder. Remove some of the TQ management and it take slittle throttle to keep things rolling. I get as good or better mpg on SW6 as I did on SW3 stock.

If you address the sloppy TC and low line pressure issues on the stocker and add just a few parts you have a solid trans without spending big $$. Don't expect to thrash it hard it will last quite well. I spent what I needed to do what I wanted so am happy with the unit. Some may want more power or leeway so to each his own.

 

I paid $3700Cdn to have my tranny rebuilt.
New torque converter,
New clutch pack after market ones that were slightly thicker material.
New Bands which were lots thicker,
new valve body
Also replaced the over drive clutch pack.

The truck launches awesome with the rebuilt tranny. Holds good and steady from all power settings on my Edge

when it shifts it hits nice and firm,

This tranny build up is for the person like me who needed a new tranny and torque convertor. Has a Edge chip and wants play around once in a while and have the confidence in doing so. I tow some times, carry a truck camper a few times a year, and this tranny build was just the right thing.
Hope that answers your question .

 

A VB,TC, and upgraded flexplate is all most people need. IF you tow and are over 17,000 lbs truck and trailer a billet input shaft is good insurance. Naturally when you start modding things the weak link moves to the next weekest link. It's worth it though.

 

The real causes of the 47 +48 trans is the pressures are to low. A correct VB is most of the cure. If one doesn't adress the other factory production issues they are not doing it right. A torque converter needs to match the motors power.
The Cummins with enough fuel will break anyones auto.
A VB with raised pressures needs to be recalibrated, so just a readjustment isn't enough.
If a company knows how to do the VB 99% of the time a controller isn't needed.