So tonight I am in need of some opinions. Maybe that is the wrong word as everybody has one but here goes. I am going to purchase a new transmission and pretty well have narrowed it down to two. One is ATS which has a dealer about three hours away from here [ Im in Ontario Canada] and the other is DTT which is in British Columbia. Ats gave me a price installed and Dtt comes out to about the same price shipped to here, but not installed...only its another $250.00 bucks to ship the old trans back.Have searched the forum and lots of good things on DTT but nothing on ATS that I can find, so am leaning toward DTT even for the extra money.Am I foolish or what?

 

DTT hands down! My brother got...DIESEL? went through 3 ATS trannies in a 6 month period. PM him he'll tell you his story. He ended up doin a nv4500 conversion. His boss went with a DTT so they sent my bro's ATS to DTT as a core. Bill Kondalay said that his ATS core was one of the WORST rebuilds that he had ever seen, aside from the fact that is was suppose to be a "hp" tranny that would take the abuse he could throw at it.

 

My vote goes for DTT.
Its always nice when you can spend your money in Canada and get a first class product. Chalk one up for us Canucks eh.

 

No problems with my ATS. I love it, perfect for my needs. Be sure to tell your vendor what your usage will be so you get the right one. You will hear of the occasional problem with any re-engineered transmission, some are abused without admitting it. You are doing the right thing to buy a completely re-engineered and dyno tested transmission. Those who replace parts piecemeal have many more problems.

 

On the PSD forum, where I used to be, there is quite a thread/saga in the '97 psd forum about ATS. Now ATS knew exactly what service this trans was being used for ahead of time. A psd can be bombed pretty good, but they have trannys that can handle that and NEVER fail.
And this truck was not that "bombed" and the guy just wanted to pull his 5th wheel that summer with the wife and kids.
ATS is a hit or miss proposition. I don't know why, but its obviously an internal "management" problem that spills down to the floor and how they control quality.
For what any of these guys get for their units they should be rock solid bomb proof.
Anyway, I have heard more negatives about ATS than any other builder making "built" units.

Enough so I'd spend my $ elsewhere.

And there are some builders who just don't seem to have these issues.

I'd pick one of them.

Big Jimmy

 

When my bros 3rd ATS tranny was disassembled and upon inspection it was noticed that there was a couple of extra clutches and some holes drilled in the drum, and ALL compenents were STOCK with exception to some high temp seals here and there and a shift kit. Basically the tranny looked as if it were an over the weekend joe blow DIY'er job that could be performed by most on this forum. NOT WORTH THE $4$$$.$$ he spent on it. He could have gotten a QUALITY trans for a little less that COMES with a convertor and a bonus MAG-HYTEC pan built to more than exacting specifications, no I mean hand built per application to fit the use of the truck!!! Form your own opinions on ATS, I've seen the inside of one and am not impressed with the components used or it's performance, not trying to start a brand war or bash anyone who owns and is satisfied with an ATS tranny. For those who own and are satisfied with an ATS tranny more power to ya and I'm REAL glad you got a good one! Now that I have driven a DTT truck I can easily tell the difference between a cookie cutter tranny and a truly re-engineered transmission that performs! Mind you the ATS trannies my bro was getting were from their headquaters in Denver.

These are JMHO

 

Check out Goerend Brothers....comparable to a DTT for less $$:

http://www.gbtransmissions.com/

They are in IOWA.

I have heard/read more than a few problems about the ATS products and their customer service.

 

Thanks fellows, My mind was seventy five percent made up and now am going to mail a bank draft tomorrow to DTT and wait .Seems like a lot of cash but what the hay, you only live once.....Regards...B.M.

 

Buy a stock Allison out of the crate and you know you are getting a bargain from DTT. PK