Well, you can follow my weekend fiasco from here

Turns out I caught a "lucky" break. My goof up resulted in me turning the truck over to a transmission shop. Said shop dropped the pan and valve body only to find that the front band and drum had been destroyed. After giving them my approval, they dropped the transmission only to find out that the torque converter had heat discoloration all over, the clutches had no material left, the front drum was all damaged, bearings were shot, yada yada yada.

Anyways, here is a list of what they are doing:
Sonnax shift kit (has a whole slew of revised parts to make the transmission work better)
-High energy steel clutches and bands
-New higher strength front drum?
-New transtar torque converter. Triple disc, billet, designed for 900hp or so they claim
-Anything else included in a full rebuild

The sonnax kit comes with a lot of stuff, including the better 4 ring accumulator, apply band anchor, etc...

Do you guys have any recommendations of what else they should add? I did some extensive discussing with "no 6 oh no", about what he thought I should do when I was planning on a shift kit only at first. Obviously, that planned has changed a bit...

I've got the builders email address and will be including him in on this, as well as any links I can send him to parts in case there are some things he hasn't heard of. I trust him with this, and I know a lot of you will say Dave, HTS, DTT, etc...I would have loved to go with them, but shipping back and forth as well as any warranty issues down the road with an online out of state company just wasn't an option for me. Although, he offers a 5yr 100k mile warranty and lifetime on the converter with no issues and no questions asked about performance products.

Thanks for the input guys,
Shawn

 

billet flexplate

 

Why the billet flex plate? I'm waiting to hear back from my builder, but he said my flexplate appeared fine. Some keep them stock as the "weak" link? No billet shafts at this point either, just can't afford it right now.

 

The Smarty and 33's claim another victim.

Looks good on the rebuild list. If you can afford it do the billet servos front and rear. Superior kits are top of the line and as long as the shop does a good rebuild job you will be happy.

Did they specify what clutches they were going to use in the OD, single sided or double sided? Mine had the single side and we went back to the double sided as thats what the later trucks are using again.

FYI, don't scrimp on the TC. If your not racing/sled pulling or towing really heavy, spend the $$ on a really good TC like Dave Goerend custom builds. Too many don't do the custom stators and rely on the lockup clutch to do the work. If I had it do over I would spend the $900 on a custom single from Goerends. A good TC will really make a difference all around.

 

I'm actually not sure on any of that? I'd assume double sided, if that's what came out? I know everything going back in is "high-energy". Much better material and the machining process makes them hold a lot more power so I'm told. The torque converter I was going with is $900. It's a trans star, lower stall, triple disc billet, rated for 1000 lb ft of torque and/or 900 hp so my builder tells me. I don't think he ordered anything yet, but I'd love a Goerend converter. Unfortunately, I've NEVER been able to get through on the phone to them except for when I left my number and said I wanted to buy a valve body?

Is a single disc from him REALLY going to be that much better than this trans star one? I'm not against the "big" guys, but my truck is down and I'm borrowing a vehicle so I unfortunately don't have the time to wait for something custom to get shipped.

Either way, I'll ask about the clutches in the morning and see what he has to say.

Thanks,
Shawn

 

Here's one that oughta depress anyone...

 

Its really hard to make definite call on that, but, the chances are good it will be. IIRC, the good 15 blade left cut in a single from Goerends is right at $900. Shipping may cost a bit more but I think it might be worth it. I did the same thing just to try a local shop and see what it was like. Definitely better but it lacks the fluid coupling that would really make a difference in mpg and acceleration.

A triple disk is just that much more mass to accelerate and if you don't need it why waste the power. Not sure about the TransStar but the cost suggests it doesn't have the custom engineering to get the low stall and tight fluid coupling that makes a difference.

Your call. Sometimes immediate needs override what we really want to do.

 

Ditto on the deperessing pictures. Here is what my direct clutch pack looked like when we pulled it apart. Got the input shaft also so now we have OPIE.

 

this statement right here says stop them dead in their tracks, they do not know what they are talking about/ dealing with
"It's a trans star, lower stall, triple disc billet, rated for 1000 lb ft of torque and/or 900 hp so my builder tells me"
1000 ft lbs is only about 460/475 hp max, yet they say it could handle 900 hp.... which is close to 2000 ft lbs ? where is this shop, and are they in anyway affiliated with level ten transmissions, Vernon NJ?????? if they are not used to dealing with diesels, they will NOT be able to properly build you a transmission.

 

Yea, I know I thought that too. He's not a diesel specialist, but he has done quite a few around here. I think I may have had him flustered at the moment, because I was driving and he was spouting numbers off from a book. It's DEFINITELY rated for 1000tq, but from everything I've found I've seen nothing for HP numbers.

I'm sure it isn't a specifically engineered TC like I'll get from Goerend, I'm just trying to make the right decision for a reasonable price. If making my guy order a single from Dave is the best then I'll find a way to make the vehicle situation work in the mean time. I just need to find out the specifics of warranty in that case, since he'd be using someone else's parts.

Alan, as far as clutches go I may have you beat. He showed me all of the clutches, and the ones in the front drum were by far the worst. My over drive unit was like new he said, but hot spots galore on the front pack and almost no clutch material left. The front band was really bad as well. Chunks of material were missing. Finally, one of the aluminum accumulators was practically frozen into the transmission.

I hate making expensive decisions without having months to research and plan....

Thanks so far though guys, I need all the help I can get!!!

Shawn

 

Billet isnt needed for the flex plate.. just get one of suncoasts laminated ones.. you should upgrade that plate cuz if it does go its most likely gonna take the converter and input shaft with it. Im running around 600 hp and I am good with my laminate plate..

 

Yeah, you had a few more issues there than I did. I knew when mine had a problem and didn't drive it much. BTW, the clutches I posted had 10k on them like that with just a shift kit. That helped keep the damage to a minimum I am sure.

I would just hate to see you be disappointed in a cut rate TC. The Cummins eats transmissions for lunch anyway. I have killed a few over the years.

If you add the laminated or billet plate the input shaft is the next weak link and will probably break if you beat on it. Running a stock plate on a billet converter is fine for most applications as long as the bolts are kept tight. When you tear up a stock plate it usually doesn't hurt the trans.

 

also there is a billett 2nd gear shift arm that has been a lot of grief you should look into...Go with an upgraded flex plate

 

I'll chime in on the side of keeping the stock plate. Like others have said, unless your upgrading the inputs, keep that weak link in place. You dont sound like someone who is looking to pump 500+ hp out in smokey burnouts, so that stuff is likely overkill.

I wanted to ask about the thoughts on Kevlar bands instead of metal ones. My builder uses them exclusively, and claims to have never gotten one back because of the bands.

 

That's kind of what I was thinking when it came to the flexplate as well, but I seem to be getting mixed reviews on that. I added the bands to my list of questions this morning when my builder calls me back. I hope I get to him about the TC from Dave before it's too late to discuss it though, you guys have me worried now...

I really just hope I'm making the right decision on parts and things. This is taking a good chunk of money away from what I wanted to put towards buying a house, so the girlfriend isn't too thrilled with my "newer" truck that was supposed to cost less in maintenance then the 99.

Shawn