Dynamic

It really depends upon what he's putting inside of these builds. Does he offer any kind of build or spec sheet on these packages? Those last two horsepower numbers seem a little arbitrary and perhaps a little on the optimistic side to me. A transmission that will hold well north of 550 hp can certainly be built for $4800 out-the-door...including a billet flex plate.

I use TCS shafts exclusively. Their quality is top-shelf... I also use their billet servos, band lever/strut/anchor and accumulator piston in most builds as well. I recommend running 5 discs in the direct, 5 in the forward, 6 in the OD brake, and the stock 10 disc stack in the OD direct. Run full thickness stuff (I prefer OEM Borg or Raybestos)...no thin Alto stuff, or setups that run forward clutches in the direct. I also prefer and recommend the Raybestos Pro Series intermediate band. Make sure whatever kit you get has EVERYTHING you're going to need for a proper build...ie. sprags, OD thrust bearings, output bearing, stuff to setup end play, etc. Many "kits" are really good about selling you fancy clutches and a paper/rubber set, but fail to provide the rest of the stuff that wears out, too. Your stock gear train is good for well past your hp goals. The best valve bodies that I've seen (that I didn't build myself) were done by Dave Goerend or Tony Garcin (who, sadly, is no longer with us...). I'm not going to mention names, but I've seen some pretty crappy stuff from some of the "bigger" companies come across my bench over the years... Just my .$.02...

Yes, I believe it was... Sorry to bring everyone down with all that GM talk...!

Here is an example of why I'm not a fan of Transgo. This mess came out of a GM 4L60E that I tore down this morning. This is (was) the 1-2 accumulator assembly with Transgo's accumulator springs in it. There are 3 springs, one inside the next, inside the next... All 3 are broken, which destroyed the piston and ultimately took out the transmission. Now, granted, whoever installed this stuff should not have reused the factory plastic piston, but the results would not have been much different in the end. Although this was a GM application, it's a prime example of the quality of their springs...

Yes, my "website", if you can call it that...is a work in progress. It's the culmination of what happens when a transmission guy tries to do web design... As I am not a paying sponsor of this forum (yet...coming soon), it was never my intention to sell anything to anybody. I want to respect that. I was just trying to provide some information for guys interested in stepping up their valve body. I'll send you a PM...

Yes, it's absolutely a DIY job. The instructions are pretty good, but I have some recommendations that would deviate from them if you chose to. Here is a "recipe" that works quite well, and is completely DIY friendly: Superior Shift Correction kit for the Gen 2 24-valves Sonnax .200" Line Pressure Bore Plug Sonnax Pressure Regulator Valve (w/line-to-lube check valve) Sonnax Boost Valve Retainer Borg Warner HD Governor Pressure Solenoid OEM Governor Pressure Transducer OEM OD/TCC Solenoid Set (w/internal harness) Filtran Filter Drill the 1-2 shift orifice to .109" (vs. .093" in the instructions) Drill the 2-3 bypass orifice to .093", leave main 2-3 orifice alone Drill low/reverse band apply orifice to .093", retain check ball Leave fwd clutch apply orifice alone, retain check ball Drill switching valve balance hole to .055" (NOT .093" as per instructions) Use Superior pressure regulator spring, install with 2-1/2 turns of preload Use Sonnax .200" line pressure bore plug in place of stock .264" plug. This will raise and widen your line pressure curve a bit. Use Superior manual valve, cut exhaust passage with provided tool as per instructions Use Superior TV regulator spring, retain stock throttle valve and cut end off of it as per instructions, check end of TV plunger for wear (replace if worn) Use Sonnax pressure regulator valve, DO NOT drill .055" line-to-lube hole at PR valve if using Sonnax PR valve (recommended) There are a few more specifics, but I'll really need some photos for it to make sense (as may be the case with some of these). but these will help get you started.

The Superior kit is a much simpler kit (thus has fewer pieces), and is quite a bit easier to install. Their manual valve, as far as an off-the-shelf piece is much better than either the Transgo or the Sonnax. You will get much better cooler flow and converter charge in "Park" with Superior's valve as it brings in all of the same balance signals that are present in "Neutral". No, the Superior kit is not diesel specific, nor does it need to be. Really the only difference between the gas and diesel setups is orifice sizing, pressure regulator valve spring (and preload), and the lockup calibrations. All of these variations are mentioned in the instructions, but I do have several changes that I make to their calibrations that work much better in the diesels. Like I said before, I'd be glad to share them when the time comes. The Transgo kit has you making all kinds of modifications that are simply unnecessary and, to be honest, don't work quite as well. One example is the way they reverse the hydraulics of the OD accumulator in the valve body, and then pack the piston full of their springs, which are of very low quality (I regularly find them all broken upon teardown). This method of modifying the 3-4 upshift is much more complicated, is very difficult to revert back to stock, and quite simply doesn't work as well as the simply turning up the line pressure. I also do not care for (at all...) Transgo's line-to-lube setup using an inner PR spring and the "D" shaped washer. Some guys like them. I do not... I have seen them jam up on more than one occasion. No... None of the "kits" have the resistor in them anymore. Both the Transgo and the Superior kits use a pressure relief valve to exhaust excess governor pressure once the solenoid pulls wide open. The Transgo uses a ball, seal and spring setup on the back side of the OD quick fill valve, along with a hole you drill in the lower separator plate. It does work if installed correctly, but it's a bit "homemade" for my taste. The Superior gives you a new shuttle valve with a pressure relief valve incorporated into it's center. NOTE: This setup is only necessary on the 2nd Gen 24 valves... Most of the valve body work that I do is custom, so I am rarely simply installing a "kit" of any kind, but I do use several parts out of the Superior kits in many of my setups. I also use several Sonnax parts, depending upon what I'm trying to accomplish setup-wise. These are just my opinions...

Nick, I'll try to get something together here soon. I have a couple of Stage 2 builds coming up here in the next week or so. I use some of the parts from the Superior kits in those VB's, so I'll try to remember to take some photos. Scott, Bummer about your bushing failing. Yes, using a good quality bushing, getting it in there nice and straight, and getting it staked properly are all essential to a long lasting pump assembly. Jon

I'll try to do a little "tutorial" the next time I do a Superior kit. Most of the VB work that I do is custom in nature, so I very seldom simply install a "kit", but I'll try to get some photos and document some of the additional mods and calibrations that work best with the diesel the next time I do. What failed in the pump? There's not much in there...! Bushing? Gears? Stator support?

I would recommend against the Transgo kit. It is a very convoluted kit that makes several unnecessary and irreversible changes to the valve body. Plus, their manual valve and 'line-to-lube' strategy leaves a bit to be desired. For an off-the-shelf kit for the DIY installer, I strongly recommend the Superior kit with a few calibration changes (that I would be glad to share when the time came). You'll end up with a bit higher line pressure than the Transgo kit will give you, and Superior's manual valve is the best on the market (available to the masses anyway...) and will charge your converter and circulate your cooler system much more effectively when in the 'Park' position than the Transgo.

Yes, even though the 3-4 shift is PCM controlled as far as its actual shift point, backing off the TV cable will lower the line pressure during the shift, which will soften it up a bit...as long as the shift points for the 1-2 and 2-3 don't become too early as you back off the cable. How is the TCC lockup? Raising the line pressure, 'steepening' the line pressure curve, and firming up the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts to a reasonable level, but without creating an overly harsh OD shift and TCC lockup at the top end is definitely part of the 'art' of valve body setup...!

Man, it's too bad it shifts that hard into OD. That's pretty hard on stuff...

Just put a quart in it. That's all you need...just for some prelube. Any more than that and you'll dump half of it back out when you're trying to get the converter lined up.

Not a lot to go bad inside the pump on a 47RE, unless the converter was not lined up properly when it was changed.

While there is really no such thing as "stator clutches" in a torque converter (unless you're referring to the stator's roller clutch, which is supposed to be locked and holding the stator stationary when under load), the converter clutch plates themselves can be held partially applied, causing a mechanical coupling between the impeller and the turbine. This will drag the idle speed down and, in extreme cases, kill the engine at a stop. There are several causes for this, the most common of which (that I see) is a sticking switching valve in the VB. A failing clutch can also cause this when friction material that is peeling off of the friction plate(s) becomes lodged in the clutch assembly, causing a dragging clutch and can kill the engine as well. At any rate, the test given by diesel4life above will help to isolate where the cause may lie.

I see the hard anodizing flake off of the switching valves in the valve body quite often. The flakes can (and often do) stick the switching valve in the partially applied position. This will cause the converter clutch to drag. Sonnax makes a decent replacement valve if there is any flaking/jamming going on. Even if the TCC solenoid is stuck in the on position, there isn't any fluid being fed to it until after the 1-2 shift (unless someone has modified the VB for 1st gear lockup), so it would not be possible for it to cause a lockup in 1st or reverse. One note on low stall converters; a properly built low-stall converter will require little (if any) more brake than stock to hold the truck stationary in gear at idle. If the converter is pulling the idle down so far that it kills the engine, it's too tight...

Most of the "cheaper" electric gauges are not worth the hassle, IMO. I use the Spek Pro electric gauges. They certainly are not cheap...either in quality or price. But they are very accurate, have super precise 280 degree electric movements, fully programmable high or low alerts and fully programmable backlighting and needle lighting. I really like them, and run them in my race car and my truck. www.propartsllc.com