So let's say my trans is smoked and I want a X brand tranny (Goerend, ATA, DTT, whatever...). I live in New Orleans, LA and no one around here that I know of does this type of build ups on transmisssions. I call them up, then what happens? Do I order a new tranny, get it shipped to me and I put it in? Do I ship them my smoked tranny, they build it, then ship it back to me?

I'm having tranny problems right now, and based on the diagnosis and the cost of the resolution I get tomorrow, I'm seriously considering upgrading. I just don't get how it works.

 

My choise is the Goerand trans. but if you call any of them you perty much get the same opptions , buy theres outrite [ with core charges $400 -700 I think , and thats refundible if you send yours back ] send yours in have rebuilt or exchange [ then no core charged if yours is rebuildible ] they can send to you or to an installer .
You may get a better chance of a little better price if you send yours in and they see what parts you need , but don'nt forget there are several levels of rebuild , from a good to toy hauler to a puller trans , $3,000 - 8,000

 

I'd research it and whatever brand you go with,ask manufacturer of a certified installer in your area. The upgraded tranny is only as good as the installer. Good luck.

 

I thought it would be ready to go, just need to bolt in, hook back up and add fluid. Am I wrong?

 

Generaly if you do have an issue , than it may be easyer & quicker warrentee if you have the certifide installer , like above .
If you do want to do the r&r yourself than the builder may have suspissions .
But I have read many posts about good results with builders working with the end user installer [ mostly Goerand ]
Just think about it as if you were the builder , did this guy flush the trany cooler lines ect. when the call comes that theres a problum .
Now with all that said , I plan on putting in my choise my self .

 

If you decide to rebuild yours, and you want someone else to do it, call the vendor you like and have them recommend a rebuilder THEY like. An installer is an installer, if you buy a "new" tranny from vendor X a qualified tranny shop should be able to install it, no problem, for around 550.00.
You can save some money by rebuilding yours, in some case, depending on how bad it was smoked. The rebuild kit will come with the steels and clutches that are burnt and probably blue now. You will definitely want to get a new torque convertor and valve body though. Do not skimp on these items, you'll be sorry if you do.

Chris

 

goerend's will freight you a trans. DTT might, not sure. But DTT might be a little hard to get the trans warrantied later if its installed elsewhere. Goerend's will be a bit more forgiving Id guess. Theyre both top notch stuff. Just call them and say what youre going to use the truck for and what power level youre aiming for. They wont try to sell you on stuff you dont need.

 

I swear I'm not ignorant, but I'm sure you guys are thinking what a .

So what you all are saying is that if I buy a tranny, I'm not buying the entire tranny, but the components to upgrade it? I didn't know by the term "installer" that you were talking about "installing" the internals, but I thought you all were refering to bolting the trans back in the truck.

What I was thinking is that if I buy a tranny, I take mine out, and either ditch it or send it back as a core or something, and I get a whole new one.

 

Yup. You buy a complete tranny from them, you install it, and ship your old tranny back. You can do it that way. Or you can have them send you the parts and you rebuild your stock tranny. Or you drive your truck up to them and they rebuild your stock tranny with new parts.

 

Easyest way is to call georends and tell them you want a trans. Hell ask you bunch of questions so he knows what to build it for. Little over a week youll have it arrive at your house. After you install it send him your old broken one back. All You gotta do and you ll be happy with one sweet trans.

 

What I did was decide what transmission I wanted, give them a few days to build it, took it to their shop, and I had it back that day.
The other option was bring my truck to them, give them my truck for a few days while they took mine out, rebuilt it, and out it back in. I didn't want to be without my truck for a few days, so I opted for the 1 day down option.

 

Thanks for all the help guys. Like I said, I live in an area where all the diesels are either stock and worked to death or owned by highschool kids with 12" lifts and everything else just for show. I'm thinking I'm going to give one of the big 3 a call and just order one and bolt it in myself.

 

When you call them, they can tell you if they have installers near your location.

 

I emailed Goerends back when I thought I'd be having enough $$ to go for it.
He didn't have a specific installer in my area so he went for the online yellow pages and called a bunch of them then narrowed it down to 3 that he felt he trusted enough to deal with his transmissions.

Needless to say, I ended up not having any $$ to play with, so still waiting.


phox

 

More good info. It looks like it broke the second gear band. Rebuild is going to be what I need. I have a call in to Goerend's to see what he thinks. Although I trust the guy that is working on it, I'm thinking it might be better for me for Goerend to ship me one of theirs and have the local guy put it in.

We'll see...

Thanks again!