Need a rebuild in ohio!
- Thread starter C.bowles2
- Start date
i know a trans guy. hes actually a friend of mine for many years. He used to rebuild for gm. Did tons of allisons, and if my trans went bad I wouldnt let him look under the truck at my trans. Let alone build something I would expect to hold up to high hp. He knows his 4l60s, 400s, 350s etc pretty well but the last one he built for me was a 4L80E out of a sierra and it has a valve hanging or something into 2/3.......anyway point is techs may know factory builds well but when it comes to the brutal torture we put these trucks through I would just leave it up to the professionals. Im pretty mechanically enclined and have done a few 4L60s and I wouldnt touch my trans.
Ok well what if i want to become one of these professionals, id love to work with an Allison performance builder and learn a thing or two. No mechanic or tech can know everything about every vehicle. Its impossible. Every year things change on vehicles. Everyone holds pieces of knowledge that someone else can learn from and vise versa. Im sure theres things i can bring light to and things another tech could also. Ultimately i want my own diesel shop geared towards the performance end of things. Id love to bring a good reputable diesel performance shop with good work ethics to northern ohio because theres no one here to do it. Anyhow im keeping my options open for this trans build. Id like to do it myself with help from people so i can learn and better myself. Maybe i can find a shop that will let me hangout and help while they build my trans. Although being a tech i know how it is with someone watching over your back haha but just depends who it is i suppose.
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Even the pro builds need refreshing. Automatics are inferior
Manual clutches never wear out huh?
Yeah things wear out, hard parts and wear items. So do the Gods auto trans. I just love how everyone trys make every task a riddle to scare ppl off from trying it them selves. I haven't ever built an Allison but I think the end result in holding power is pretty simple. Pressure and surface area
Give your theory a try and report back. You will have a lot of twisted planets and broken hard parts.
Seriously… All coming from people who have either never built an Allison or don't run a lot of power through one. These guys build trans for a living and you think you could do just as good….what a joke. 
I'm sure there are tricks and that help greatly. But for an average 500-580 horse truck a suncoast kit would be fine. I've either got a suncoast or a revmax in my dd. alot of ppl local to me have revmax that last fine also. Even in 800hp trucks
The aftermarket kits do work fine in most cases. It is those weird cases or rare instances where the failure is not just to much power and a slip. Or the clutch debris has damaged other components. Or what about when the customer decided to dump brake fluid in his trans to swell the seals. Then your trans tears a lip seal after 3000 miles and you say idk I put the kit in etc.
I believe this is what MikeL is referring too. A huge amount of backyard guys throw a kit in, they may even get some help from a good builder. A huge amount also have very good results. But when you get a core on the bench that you have no idea the history of, well that is what builders deal with. I build from cores and like Mike said I have to check every bearing, and bushing, pistons for warpage and scoring. planets for cracks. Because you are shipping a trans across states to an unknown user who may be a good mechanic or not. Did he flush and clean his cooler, is the converter pushed in far enough. Do they even know how to check the fluid.
But all in all if it was your trans and it just limped, slapping a suncoast or other reputable companies trans kit in will most likely do ok. You may have some sloppy or harsh shifting you may bust a torrington because the intermediate shaft slides, but all in all it will probably work.
But then when it doesn't. the guys come on here and trouble Mike and Evan with stuck E valves and p0777 tie up and I can only imagine how hard it is for Mike to muster up the courage to answer respectfully when he knows if he did the work the thread would have never started.
Start a shop building them. I'm not arguing with you. I already said I fooled you guys ( excluding you of course ). You were smart enough to see right through me.:thumb:
After several transmissions, the smart ones will actually start to figure it out honestly. That is the way everyone learns or they apprentice.
The learning curve may get a little steeper if you guys were not here to answer tech questions.
But then again I am sure the vendor they buy the kit from has tech assistance of some sort also.
So they will figure it out eventually, and there is a lot of satisfaction in that for some guys. knowing they did it on there own more or less.
I encourage people to build there own and help many people that do :thumb: That wasn't the point of my comment. He stated he has never built one yet he had it all figured out so I told him to test his theory .
I know that Evan. I was agreeing with you. :thumb:
http://www.duramaxdiesels.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63152
Right here is a perfect example and look who is there to help.
I remember years ago I bought a sciv from Mike, he talked me thru the whole process on Saturday and Sunday. I did everything exactly as he said. That trans held up to a 650hp lb7 for 100,000 miles. Then one day out of the blue, it overheated and she was done. I knew I was getting a budget build (cause I was the one doing it) but it sure was comforting to have Mike on the phone telling me what to do and why. I believe all things considered I got great life and usage from that trans. It hurt a lot of feelings around here! My tuning was spot on too, and I believe that has a LOT to do with how long they last. BUT, I wouldn't consider building my own again! I replaced this one with a new Suncoast unit. If Mike wasn't on the wrong side of the country, I would have had him build it.:thumb:
