Dynamic

I'm a huge camshaft guy. I've had custom cams ground for almost everything I own, and have owned for decades. The right camshaft is at the heart of any good engine setup. Would I go through all the trouble to cam a B-series Cummins with your current mods if I didn't need to pull the camshaft for other reasons? Not in a million years. There are so many other mods that would come before a camshaft. Would I put a cam in it if I had to pull the camshaft for other reasons and I had the $$$ to do so? Absolutely...!

Yeah, 4.10's are a good choice. So many people run around with gearing that is way off. As far as your transmission goes, I'm not really in a position to offer much by way of suggestions. There are simply too many variables in play. It's currently so far from the way I would set things up that without putting my hands on it, there are just too many unanswered questions.

Yeah, it sounds like you may have a bit of a confused package there. It's really tough to say what all was done and not done, what parts were used, clutch counts, clearances, stall speed of the converter, etc. Lots and lots of variables in play... One other huge thing you can do performance-wise, once you get a good transmission setup, would be to regear the truck for those 36" tires. You'll feel like you got let out of jail!

Any time there is flow across a fixed orifice, there will be a pressure drop. If you're leaking oil at the servo, you will see a reduced pressure because the oil that is flowing to the leaky servo has to go through the 2-3 shift orifices. The greater the low, the greater the pressure drop. There will always be some leakage, but 12 psi would not make me too happy (again, assuming your gauges are accurate). What, if any, mods did they do to the front servo? The second spring in the front servo helps to push the band off quicker so you don't have tie-up on the 2-3 shift. It becomes necessary when the line pressure gets up there. The Transgo 47RE kits have you discard the OE spring and replace it with their spring. In reality, it works better with both springs in there if you have higher line pressure. 150 psi is kind of low to be needing a second spring, especially if 150 is the highest pressure, and only at WOT. Down where your transmission spends most of its time is much lower than that, especially with stock PR hydraulics.

The front servo pressure tap is reading 3rd gear oil. It's the pressure that pushed the band off (and is holding the band off) from 2nd to 3rd gear. It would be on the downstream side of the 2-3 shift orifices, so any leakage (ie. flow...) at the servo would show up as a loss of pressure. The one thing that I would verify when using two different gauges to measure two different pressures at the same time would be that the gauges are accurate. Gauges can vary, sometimes significantly. I have several pressure gauges kicking around the shop, and some of them definitely are not accurate. I, obviously, would not any of use those when needing down-to-the-exact-psi accuracy on something. The amount of pressure gained per turn of the PR preload adjustment depends upon the rate of the PR spring. It's anyone's guess what the spring rate of your PR spring setup is. The one thing that is worth saying is to make sure it's the PR preload adjustment that you are turning. It never ceases to amaze me how many people wind the TV lever stop to the moon, thinking that they are turning the PR preload. You should be turning the PR preload adjustment counterclockwise to increase line pressure. But again, it is an adjustment, yes, but meant for fine tuning only. The meat and potatoes of setting up the line pressure curve occurs elsewhere in the system. If you're going to make a legit 700 hp, you'll need a whole lot more than you have right now, line pressure and otherwise. 150 psi max won't get you too far. But, you're only seeing 150 psi at WOT. Ironically enough, with high hp setups, it's not really WOT pressure that kills transmissions (although things would not last long at your current 150 psi). It's everywhere else in the curve that needs pressure, particularly the middle "third" of pedal travel (and thus, TV cable travel...when everything is setup correctly). An aggressive pressure curve is as important (if not more) than peak WOT pressure.

I didn't see in your post where you swapped valve bodies until I reread it. My bad... If they setup the VB for 150 psi, then you're pretty much there. If you want more pressure than that then the overall PR setup should be revisited. Simply increasing the spring preload (on a spring of unknown rate) will only get you so far.

You're going to have a hard time getting to 180 psi with a Transgo 47RE kit PR spring(s) and a stock 47RE PR valve train. There are a few other mods necessary to get there. I would not turn that PR spring preload much further than what you already have.

If you're working the converter, you're going to make heat, but you're also multiplying torque. It's science... If you're making more heat than the factory setup will keep cool, it's time to take a look at your setup. Is there a problem? Are you using it in a unique way that requires a unique solution? Some do, most don't. As far as a replacement for the OE unit, the Mishimoto would probably be my choice. I do very little with the 2nd Gen trucks themselves anymore (I only bench build the transmissions these days), so I didn't even know that Mishimoto made a drop-in for them.

You'd be surprised at how little of a $6K build that the builder gets to keep. Nobody is eating prime rib or cracked crab if they're building transmissions for a living.

That's your boost valve retainer (at least part of it), and the boost valve spring. If it was jammed in the solenoid harness, that was likely your short.

It's more about wanting to avoid the awkward conversation when the customer's self-diagnosed repair doesn't fix the problem.

Three things come to mind... One: Most shops are absolutely buried right now. All of the shops that I deal with and build for are out at least 6 weeks right now. It is the busy time of year, plus we're in a strange economic climate right now where everyone seems to have money, and is willing to spend it on their vehicles. Two: An unfortunate number of shops or, more accurately their "technicians" couldn't diagnose their way out of a wet paper sack. The diagnostic component of automotive repair has largely been lost in favor of parts hanging. Just throw enough parts at it, and you'll eventually find the problem Sad... Three: Most shops that have been around for a while (long enough to know better, anyway) won't want any part of a customer's pre-diagnosed project. Nine times out of ten those end poorly.

What is the stall speed of your DPC converter? Many people get carried away with lowering their stall speed. A little tighter than stock is all you want, and at altitude a good case could be made for a stock stall converter in your application. Also, Tractorman is exactly right. The reverse gear ratio of a 47RE/48RE is very tall - somewhere between 1st gear and 2nd gear when compared to the forward ratios.

It was loud, not all that comfortable to drive long distances, and I was ALWAYS fighting EGTs...I'm not sure a 6 speed would have helped much with any of that! It did have fairly decent power, though. But I much prefer the truck I currently drive in that regard as well. Just my opinion, though... I never did build a complete transmission for that truck. I never needed to or, obviously, I would have. But I did use it to develop the valve body packages (especially the pressure control and shift calibrations) that I use now. I bet I had the valve body out of that truck 100 times...

Oh boy... Don't get me started! I really, really wanted to like my 2nd Gen, and I really, really tried! But, alas, I just did not care for that truck.