Ok, after doing some upgrades about 2 years ago I feel its time to do some more. I have an '02 that has the AFE Stage 2 Intake, a 4" Magnaflow exhaust, and an Edge COMP. I also have gauges for turbo boost, exhaust temp and trans temp. I want to add more power, but also get more power to the ground from what I have now, which means trans upgrade time. My question is this, what should be the next step, either more power to the engine, or trans upgrades? And which ever I go with what would your recommendations be so I don't hurt the truck, but add some more power (more fun). I do use it for a daily driver, but every now and then it will pull a heavy load on a trailer. I also have the 4.10 gear ratio for the rear diff.

 

Upgrade the trans. at least that way your not without a working truck when rip your fact. one to shreds. & I would get a fuel press. guage. Let the bombing begin. Good Luck

 

ya i say trans too. i just put a turbo and injectors on my truck and i feel that the trans is going to go next. i feel slipping from a dead stop. i don't know if it is clucthes or tourqe conv.

 

if your going to upgrade your tranny the first things i would do is upgrade your valve body. You have two options if your inclined about mechanics you can do it yourself and save a lot of money but if not you can get one online prebuilt. Dont use a shift kit on your stock valve body. There are parts on it that become worn out and if you put shift kit on a worn valve body it just causes problems. WIT has stock remanufactured valve bodys for $47.80 bak when i bought mine. Then order a upgraded 2nd gear shift lever, kevlar frictions, WIT bypass filter and seal rebuilt kit. Then you can get a triple disk converter from SUN for around 550.00 but i not tryed them yet i seen them for sale in there catalog one time. If you purchase all that above it should set you back about 800-900 dollars and this will basicly replace or upgrade the parts that fail the most on our trannys. Also if you want to help save your tranny on the valve body you can adjust the preassure spring to shift slightly later which helps the drum pump have a slight more time to build preassure. if you take the core of the tranny apart it is fairly simple just lay everything out in stages exactly how you took it out. Also make sure you pay attention to the bearings on reassemble just use some gear grease to keep them from falling. it is really simple. The only hard part is in the over drive section which requires the aid of a press to take an ring out. But you probably dont need to rebuild this sections tell it gives you problems. just taking care of the core parts and the shift lever along with the valve body should help put more power down without the slipping when you start increasing the torque in the future. DOnt get scared to work on your tranny they are really easy and inexpensive to work on if you do the work.

 

I have been talking with a local Diesel performance shop, (I've been going to him since he has opened), and he said he can do a trans for me that will handle up to 650HP and 1400ftlb's of torque for about 6k (including labor and parts, torque conver). He wouldn't just pull my trans and put another one in, he rebuilds the trans out of that truck. Do you think that is too much to pay or is that about right for what he is doing?

After the trans I want to get a larger turbo, some injectors w/ fuel pump and system upgrade, and maybe stack another box on the engine to control the trans and add some more HP. I'm at about 370HP (at the engine) now, I want to get to about 420-450...

 

Nothing against your local shop, but unless he has lots of experience with CTD's I would go with those that know! For 6K you can take your pick and get what ever you want. For 6K you should get a FULL rebuild with billet shafts!

Definately do the tranny first... your truck will thank you for it. AND it's not like you won't get more power. 'Big Blue' just had his rebuilt by DTT and picked up 13% hp to the ground.... and he already had their valve body. You should see a bigger increase...%-wise.

RJ

 

I was going to take it here for the trans work...
http://coloradotransmissionanddiesel.com/

 

i dont know 6k is a lot of money.. i have spent less then 4k on my tranny and i have rebuilt it myself about 10 times between breaking input shafts and welding clutchs together on boosted launchs... but 6k is really steep.. i dont know if it was me i would attend a class to learn from a professional to rebuild it yourself and still have money left after you did the build up yourself.. that what i did...but i didnt pay someone i self teached myself from a book or two.

 

They appear perfessional... and knowing them, trusting them, and being local is worth a lot. I would price compare... just to be prudent. At least compare what all you would get for 6k elsewhere.
http://www.dieseltrans.com/

And I would get bigger tires to stretch those 4.10 rear gears a bit! JMO.

RJ