my truck is a plow truck, my tranny needs some love

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Re: my truck is a plow truck, my tranny needs some love

Postby DodgeFreak » Thu Jan 16, 2014 2:27 pm

^^x2
92 D350 Cab and Chassis. Auto stock, wiring gremlins. 330k miles
92 W250 Ext cab rotted completely out. Auto, pump maxed, 215 ppump nozzles, Denny T2 pin.
85 D350 single wheel, converted to cummins, getrag, turned up 2 turns and afc screw flush.
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Re: my truck is a plow truck, my tranny needs some love

Postby Sutter1stgen » Sat Jan 18, 2014 9:47 pm

[quote="Tacoclaw"]If by handy you mean suicidal, then yeah. :lol: My old man's truck can lockup in first and if you hit that switch you better be ready to move. It gets pretty old locking and unlocking it in even medium traffic, I couldn't imagine doing it plowing a parking lot.
Lol!!!
All I imagined when you said this was a Taurus wagon flying through the air with Chevy chase behind the wheel.
Eric

91'w250 with a new pump. This one doesn't chase itself around in a circle.
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Re: my truck is a plow truck, my tranny needs some love

Postby sloppy2nds000 » Sun Jan 19, 2014 7:29 am

well for right now the trannys going back to stock trim. this is the 4th time the trannys been rebuilt and tc has been replaced. i'm sure it is ballooned again by now. i'm sure i don't want the tc to lock up in first should i decide to put in a 47/48. im pretty sure its locking on me right now and its not a lockup tc. there are times that i put it in gear and the engine bogs way down and the brakes can hardly hold it back. then it tries to stall out when i push the snow up the pile. so i have to quick slip it up to neutral so it doesn't die.
i plan to load the truck with gauges this summer as well so i can see what in the world is actually going on with the drive train.
back in colorado snow was easy to push cause it was so cold and therefore light and fluffy while deep. here in the flat land its still cold but not nearly as cold so the snow get real heavy. so for the last 4 years the truck has worked for its money.
i'm gonna go with the advice of noting the rpms and setting the stall according to when the turbo starts to spool.
so ill have to get a boost gauge in this thing sooner than later.

as far as building a hd tranny is concerned is suppose ill just build up another 518 if i can get steel innards and extra disc drums and what not. i could really care less about lock up. i just want the billet/welded piston and billet cover setup found in the lockup tc.
as far a heat i concerned i'm fairly certain i change my tranny fluid too often for it to burn as of yet. but an extra cooler is going to be installed this summer as well. the momentary flare ups of heat when pushing are likely not to be avoided even with a cooler because the trans rarely feels that hot to the touch. its generally too cold outside for the engine and trans to really heat up/overheat. when stuff does heat up its usually the exhaust and when i not it got hot, i lift the hood and let it cool for a few. i generally crawl around and touch the engine and trans to see if any of it feels really hot at these times. never really feel anything alarming.

its because i never really feel excessive heat that i really want to beef up the internals to resist the occasional high temps from a hard push.

thanks for the input guys. i really appreciate it. please continue to offer up whatever comes to mind. i really like to have a bunch of opinions and theories to work with.
91 w250 a518 regular cab plow truck, bone stock, just over 100k, 1 ton front springs and air bags in the rear
94.5 f350 crew cab long bed powerstroke, 100hp beans injectors, solid state chip with 6 pos switch, adrenaline HPOP, about to turn 300k, summer work truck.
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Re: my truck is a plow truck, my tranny needs some love

Postby Sutter1stgen » Sun Jan 19, 2014 8:43 am

If you keep trashing stock converters, quit buying and installing them. I found out they dont like much more than 200-220 hp going through them when towing/working hard. You should have no problems with a build similar to mine and the vast majority of firstgens. That would include a more efficient, actual name brand converter, and a shift kit. That right there will make your stock clutch count hold better( I run one extra clutch in both packs). And I've never heard of any name brand converter ballooning, or turning I to a semi-lockup unit. But I have done this with a stock converter, as well as my boss. Both times working the a snot out of our trucks.

Quit replacing stock parts with more stock parts, the work your doing is obviously too extreme for them to handle. You will be rebuilding again before you know it. More money spent........
Eric

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Re: my truck is a plow truck, my tranny needs some love

Postby Remps » Sun Jan 19, 2014 10:30 am

I guess you don't have 3.07's lol. If mine had a plow and i had to push heavy snow for a mile or more, I would be using lock up to keep temps down. Obviously not in a parking lot lol. Just my opinion! :mrgreen: as mentioned above, a good converter and valve body will make a big difference. Good time to get a good flex plate as well.
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'90 W250 R/C,47rh,K@N,HX35,1/8" bump,2nd gen IC,boost,egt,trans temp.3.07's.
'96 2500 S/C L/B,2wd,NV5600,3.54 L/S,cai,egt,pacbrake,mbrp exhaust,10 plate.
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Re: my truck is a plow truck, my tranny needs some love

Postby sloppy2nds000 » Sun Jan 19, 2014 1:55 pm

this is the first time i've had to mess with the truck, i've owned it 8 years. i bought it with 91k it now has 104k on it. but i called the guy i bought it from and he checked the maint records on the truck and said he put 3 rebuilds on the truck. he bought the parts from from either napa or carquest.
'im only putting stock crap in this thing right now because i don't know what name brand stuff i should get nor have i narrowed down a setup that is conducive to my application. but the this is broke down at the moment and it only cost me 260 for the rebuild kit, 2 bands, and a tc so ill roll with it and break it down again this summer when its not the middle of a real michigan winter.

sutter, what parts do you recommend? give me a list if you dont mind and ill most definitely look that stuff up.

and the same goes to anybody else who has a setup opinion. i welcome them all.
91 w250 a518 regular cab plow truck, bone stock, just over 100k, 1 ton front springs and air bags in the rear
94.5 f350 crew cab long bed powerstroke, 100hp beans injectors, solid state chip with 6 pos switch, adrenaline HPOP, about to turn 300k, summer work truck.
1970 bmw 2002, inka orange
1987 vw golf gti, 2.0l conversion
1994 bmw 525i
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Re: my truck is a plow truck, my tranny needs some love

Postby PToombs » Sun Jan 19, 2014 4:55 pm

I agree with Sutter, a quality converter (even at stock stall speed) and a shift kit will make a world of difference. A shift kit doesn't have to slam into gear like a race car to be effective. Mostly it eliminates the slippage between shifts and bumps the pressures so the clutches hold better. That will cut down on heat that kills converters and clutch plates. When you talk to converter builders tell them what you do and that the converter is ballooned, then they can help pick the right one for you.
pete

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Re: my truck is a plow truck, my tranny needs some love

Postby Sutter1stgen » Sun Jan 19, 2014 7:18 pm

You don't want a pig, you need a truck that gets going off the line. My Specrite would be on the edge of being too tight. I believe they run for 900$ with a steel stator. Now my boss has a off the shelf suncoast unit, it has they factory stall, but dont be fooled. It will flash up to 2500rpm a little faster than my truck, but when it gets there your going. There is no slippage past that. And that's what you want, a converter that will put the load on the motor at the right time. I believe it was 650$ for their unit, which in my mind was a good deal. I went with Patc 500$ rebuild package. I'm sure there are cheaper ones, but mine came with all new red eagle clutches and kolene steels. It also came with a 5:1 apply lever, but you should ask if they can trade it for a billet 3.8 or 4.2. The 5:1 is far to aggressive for diesel application, unless you double up the front servo return spring. The kit also came with a billet acumilator piston and second gear servo, along with a stronger wedge and strut. A shift kit also came.

I order a 47rh steel planet and intermediate shaft for a little extra strength.
Total cost to Patc was $725 ish
With all that you should be able to work the snot out of the truck if all else internally checks out well with the Trans.

P.S. I have 3.07s. And when I use my truck for work like plowing snow I run in 4lo. Haven't found a citation that it didn't like.
Higher rpms help pump more fluid as well as keeping the converter in its stall. Both of hose things help in keeping things cool.
Eric

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Re: my truck is a plow truck, my tranny needs some love

Postby sloppy2nds000 » Mon Jan 20, 2014 4:39 am

so i got the tranny out yesterday evening and torn down. all the parts im putting in it are raybestos. the kit im installing didnt come with od parts. so im leaving the od housing alone for the most part. gonna pull it apart and clean it. but thats about it.

so all my internals of the main housing are steel internals, i was under the impression that some of the components were supposed to be aluminum, and also all my gears are helical cut and i was under the impression that they were supposed to be straight cut. i believe theyre called the sprag gears? cant quite remember but at any rate they go in and around the reverse low sun gear.
flywheel looked quite nice, id say it'll hold up the rest of the winter, but there is always that chance it wont.
the clutch plates were a little thin. the steels were a little over heated and the reverse/low band was a little worn. but none of it was badly worn or in my opinion worn out. if i could find the wear limit specs for the clutch packs and bands, i'd better know the condition of the parts. at any rate im putting the new ones in this morning. and hopefully wrestling the tranny back into place by lunch time.
hopefully it all holds together for the rest of this winter/plow season. but it should.
91 w250 a518 regular cab plow truck, bone stock, just over 100k, 1 ton front springs and air bags in the rear
94.5 f350 crew cab long bed powerstroke, 100hp beans injectors, solid state chip with 6 pos switch, adrenaline HPOP, about to turn 300k, summer work truck.
1970 bmw 2002, inka orange
1987 vw golf gti, 2.0l conversion
1994 bmw 525i
sloppy2nds000
fuel screw!!!!
 
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Re: my truck is a plow truck, my tranny needs some love

Postby dazedandconfused » Mon Jan 20, 2014 5:58 am

Since its been rebuilt in the past I'm going to guess that the weak hard parts have already been upgraded. Does it have the 5 pinion steel planet?
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1983 Dodge D150 that has been repowered with a 93 Cummins/518 running gear AKA The Ugly Duck! I would much rather build them then buy them.[
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Re: my truck is a plow truck, my tranny needs some love

Postby sloppy2nds000 » Mon Jan 20, 2014 6:44 am

i want to say i only saw 4 gears in it. but i was under the impression that the gears are straight cut on the diesel tranny. and mine were all definitely angle cut gears.
trying to find torque specs for the front pump cover bolts at the moment.
91 w250 a518 regular cab plow truck, bone stock, just over 100k, 1 ton front springs and air bags in the rear
94.5 f350 crew cab long bed powerstroke, 100hp beans injectors, solid state chip with 6 pos switch, adrenaline HPOP, about to turn 300k, summer work truck.
1970 bmw 2002, inka orange
1987 vw golf gti, 2.0l conversion
1994 bmw 525i
sloppy2nds000
fuel screw!!!!
 
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Re: my truck is a plow truck, my tranny needs some love

Postby dazedandconfused » Mon Jan 20, 2014 6:47 am

If its only s 4 pinion then its the factory aluminum one. The 5 pinion planet is the steel one.
Big Andy
1983 Dodge D150 that has been repowered with a 93 Cummins/518 running gear AKA The Ugly Duck! I would much rather build them then buy them.[
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Re: my truck is a plow truck, my tranny needs some love

Postby Sutter1stgen » Mon Jan 20, 2014 10:00 am

A lot of the transmission guys out my way swear by raybestos. They said they will survive behind a 800hp truck. They can handle some minor slipping, where as once a red egle clutch and kolene slip, that's it. Or at least that's how it was told to me. So don't take it as fact. But I think you'll be just fine with using that rebuild kit.
Eric

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Re: my truck is a plow truck, my tranny needs some love

Postby dazedandconfused » Mon Jan 20, 2014 10:16 am

I know a few reputable builders say the say thing. Dave Goerend uses factory raybestos clutches.
Big Andy
1983 Dodge D150 that has been repowered with a 93 Cummins/518 running gear AKA The Ugly Duck! I would much rather build them then buy them.[
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Re: my truck is a plow truck, my tranny needs some love

Postby sloppy2nds000 » Tue Jan 21, 2014 4:43 am

34 hrs later. its all back together. i didnt get enough atf though so its not pumping up all the way. barely reads on the dip stick. put 0ne qt in the converter at install as that was all it would hold for half full and 8 qts in the transmission. thought it took 8 qts for a rebuild so i got only one extra. should have got 12 looking back. but at idle she did roll forward and reverse. so that was good enough for me at almost 1 am this morning.

that was a brutal 2 days. one man army, shop full of other projects (5 other cars), one floor jack, some blocks of wood and a couple ratchet straps. i think ill change my name to junk-show. but life is about struggle, so i wouldnt have it any other way.

ill let you guys know how it goes today, ive gotta plow as soon as i get the atf and the blade back on.
91 w250 a518 regular cab plow truck, bone stock, just over 100k, 1 ton front springs and air bags in the rear
94.5 f350 crew cab long bed powerstroke, 100hp beans injectors, solid state chip with 6 pos switch, adrenaline HPOP, about to turn 300k, summer work truck.
1970 bmw 2002, inka orange
1987 vw golf gti, 2.0l conversion
1994 bmw 525i
sloppy2nds000
fuel screw!!!!
 
Posts: 68
Joined: Mon Jan 06, 2014 5:24 am
Location: northern michigan
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