I got a little bonus in my paycheck today so I slid my wife some cash to keep her quiet and then I ordered me a nice DTT Valve body and Torque converter!! Now I just have to figure out if I want to do the install myself or pay someone else.. Soon I won't be worried about putting my foot into this truck like I have been since day one since I have the infamous 47RE. I may even get me a couple of guages...Hmmm..........

 

What was the aprox cost? And if you have someone else do the install, how about that cost? I am thinking of making the same leap on of these days...

 

The VB and TC cost about $1500.00 together plus $400.00 core charge which I will get back. I would estimate that the install would cost around $500.00 since the trans has to come all the way out for the converter. Of course I'm gonna shop around for the best price. I think ATS probably makes the best converter but it costs a whole lot more and I'm pushing it with the wife with what I've already got. She doesn't know that it may cost a few hundred more for the install. Shhhhh...........
It's amazing how much these parts cost for newer vehicles. The converter I put in my 95 Trans Am a few years ago cost $800.00 and I thought that was crazy. I coughed up about $350.00 for a custom built high stall converter for my 68 Road Runner 15 years ago and that too was crazy!
Of course I will give an update as soon as it's done. I also was about to buy a shop manual for $100.00 but thanks to someone here I went to e-bay and got the CD Rom for $9.95 with free shipping.

 

Read this. Took many...many months to gather this much information. https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...threadid=39585

 

Very nice AKRam.

I have a question though. I'm not going to be drag racing although I do drive like a nut sometimes. When they were asking me all the questions about my truck and how I use it, I told them that I may be pulling a trailer a lot in the future. I also told them that I may pull up to 14,000 lbs. Now all this towing is a MAYBE and I may end up only towing occasionally which is what I do now. Will the TC/VB combo that they build for me still work well even when I'm not towing? I noticed a bit of slippage off the line last time I pulled heavy so I definitely need better than what I have. (Edge set on level 4)
I just don't want any driveability issues after I spend all this $$$

Thanks for all the replies...

 

I also was about to buy a shop manual for $100.00 but thanks to someone here I went to e-bay and got the CD Rom for $9.95 with free shipping.

Ah, the joys of an illegal copy! Shoot, if someone here was going to do you a favor, they should have just copied the CD and sent it to you.

 

Sure, it will work fine. They know what they are doing. Hard to say exactly what they will change based on answers to their questions, but guaranteed it will be tweaks to the valve body. Maybe a little more pressure to ensure the lock-up clutch doesn't slip under heavy load. Maybe a softer shift to keep from snapping shafts if you pull heavy. I ran a performance valve body for a while and it shifted very hard. Lots of fun, but you wouldn't want to pull heavy with shifts like that.

 

I called today to make sure I didn't order something too much geared towards towing. They told me that since I am not beefing up the trans itself that they were going to tune the VB and TC so I wouldn't kill the trans. They also told me that I will be fine with just the EZ box but if I get injectors or a more powerful fueling box that I will probably grenade the trans. I'm not too happy about that since I was thinking about a Banks Six Gun or comparable for the future and thats why I got the TC and VB.
I think that if I do get a stronger box and tow heavy that I will be fine if I just turn the power down. Heck, they were telling me that if I pull 14,000lb that the trans won't hold up when I know there are lots of people here towing more than that stock or with only a TC upgrade.
Anyways, I also ordered a dual EGT and Boost guage with the SRT-10 pillar post.. Shhh.. Don't let my wife know...

 

Listen to what Bill & the crew from DTT tell you, for they know their stuff. I have the full DTT upgrade since last Dec. & love it. I tow 12,000lbs & at first I was just going to do a tc & vb but I knew I wasn't goint to stay at the hp I was at. Fact is we put some ddII's in the week I got my tranny done. There isn't a pass here in Oregon that I've found yet that I can't pull my 5vr over at 60mph. Now if I just had a bigger turbo I could go tackle the Rockies at that speed.

 

Gee. I would wonder. I know several who make a living pulling weights well over 10K everyday, with a 47RE to boot, and never a problem on a stock truck. I run the TST hard, with never a problem. From what I'm told, the remaining parts in the tranny, after replacing the TQ and VB, can reliably handle 800 ft lbs of torque for the 47RE and just over 850 for the 48RE. That's a lot of torque. The problem at that point will mainly be bands and overdrive clutches if you pull heavy at/above that power level.

One thing I don't like about DTT is their design is based around the presumption that under high torque conditions, every transmission is going to fail at some point. They build transmissions that will ensure the failure is fluid related instead of hard parts. The idea is that a fluid coupling failure will not leave you stranded since nothing really breaks inside, but snap a shaft or spin those overdrive clutches and your vacation is ruined. I don't like that. I think that goes against the very reason we upgrade to start with. However, if you get their update kit to go with their TC and VB, you don't have to worry about that. DTT makes an awesome tranny, just not an awesome half-a-tranny. You need to do the whole thing if going with DTT in my opinion.

Here is what I think they mean by "tune". They are going to configure the TC for less fluid coupling to take some of the stress away from the other internal parts. This will allow the fluid coupling to give a little during high torque conditions. They will turn the pressure down on the VB so it doesn't blow all the internal seals. They do this because you didn't purchase their update kit (best guess). I'm not sure I would want them to do that since they already have the lowest amount of clutch surface area. They rely on the high pressure to keep it from slipping. I would definitely recommend to anyone that you get their update kit if going with DTT parts. Curious as to how it turns out for you. Keep us posted.

 

That's exactly what they told me AK- Exactly!(Except for the drawbacks of DTT part.) But, since I only have 26,000 miles on the truck I believe that I have many more miles to go before those parts start to fail so I will risk it. It's still going to be better than stock. I just don't think a converter is worth $1400.00 (ATS) no matter how good it is. That's just robbery!

Of course I will let you all know my results once installed....