Buckeye Precision

[Mark Oomkes]

Anybody heard of them? Good, bad or otherwise? They (he) builds torque convertors. Probably going to be investing in one for a V10 3500. I'm not complaining too much, though. This tranny lasted just shy of 3 years in this truck. That's about 3X longer than any other tranny we've had in it.

Wish I would have known about all the tranny rebuilders when we first started having troubles. :headwall :headwall Probably would have saved us a lot of headaches with this truck.

[wyldman]

Mark - you shouldn't need anything special convertor wise for a V10.It's the same convertor they use for the diesel,so it's plently strong enough behind the V10.If you mod the VB to increase lockup pressure,it should live a long happy life,as long as it wasn't slipping before.

3 years is pretty short life for a trans,and less than that is a big problem.Going through the whole trans and finding the cause of the failure is the first key thing.If you burn up the trans,and just rebuild it,without finding the original problem,it will just fail again over time.What were the problems ? Burnt clutches ? Broken planets ?

A lot of the same techniques and tricks that went into building my trans can also be used on yours,as it's the same tranny.A transgo shift kit is the first thing to do.Getting the extra clutches and blueprinting clearances is the other thing.The extra clutches may not even be needed as you probably won't have enough torque to slip 3rd anyways.

Johnny D is the man when it comes to these Dodge trannies,so talk to him,and he will point you in the right direction.

[Mark Oomkes]

Lost reverse and wouldn't go over 25MPH. I think the TC is shot, anyway. He said it would only be about $500 for the TC. I don't beleive that it is really custom built, just a guy sort of like Brian, that does the rebuild for this shop.

I always figured there was a problem with this tranny, but for some reason we kept bringing it back to the dealer for warranty replacement instead of just getting it fixed right. I was happy to get more than a year out of a tranny on this truck. I don't remember what all the problems we had with this truck\tranny, because it's had 8 or 9 rebuilds. This last one was a Jasper and I was amazed that it lasted that long.

Before the forums, we just sort of assumed that this kind of thing happened and there wasn't much we could do about it. Now I am a little smarter.

I will check with him about a shift kit and make sure they do or are capable of blueprinting it before the rebuild. They are just in the process of tearing into it right now to find out how bad it is.

Thanks for the info.

PS I just saw the last line of your sig, gotta love it. :grinz

[wyldman]

$500 is pretty steep unless it's a pretty good performance convertor.I bought a couple of used ATS convertors for that price.I can get a good reman convertor for the 47RE for about $300 CDN,maybe even a little less.

Sounds like you had a planetary failure,which will cause reverse to fail,and cause problems in forward gears too.That is the weak point in these trannies,and needs to be properly set up to make it last.

Post the findings when they get it opened up,so we can find out what happened.

You can also give me a ring if you want to discuss it further. :D

[John DiMartino]

Mark, the operator of the truck has a large impact on the service life of the trans. trucks with 3.55 gears and V10s need additional cooling,and/or a deep trans pan,IMO.The Cummins diesel has a much better oil to water cooler mounted on the engine block,it can transfer enough heat to make the engine run hotter,where as the v10s in tank cooler isnt nearly as large.If you keep losing reverse there are several things that can cause this,from simple things in the valve body,to clearance,and internal leakage issues.If you dont have a trans temp guage on the truck,id get one,and possible a larger cooler,or Mag hytec double deep trans pan,it holds a gallon more fluid,and by design its quite a heat sink itself.
Wyldman, what you got was a once in a lifetime deal,its the first time ive been able to do that and probably the last,Im glad you got a great deal on them.You were just needing them at the right time.:burnout

[Mark Oomkes]

I don't remember everyone, just a couple. I think the first was I just lost all motion. They fixed it, wouldn't shift out of 1st or 2nd. Last time the dealer touched it, they tried charging me for it even though it was under warranty because we were abusing it. The output shaft had a nice spiral crack in it. They were nice enough to warranty it after I told them that if they couldn't build a tranny that was going to stand up to plowing they shouldn't have sold me the truck.

So John, is $500 reasonable? I'm thinking about temp guages on all the trucks that don't have them after all this discussion.

Watch what you say about the operator, the first half dozen times it was me. :greenange

A little tangent here. So basically what you guys are saying is, unless you are slamming F to R and R to F, or pushing heavy, wet snow in D constantly, we shouldn't be having transmission problems? I thought it was just a part of snow plowing, sort of like death and taxes are a part of life, ya know? Or if we 'build' our tranny's right away or after a couple years use, we shouldn't ever have a problem? (excluding abuse) This is no matter what transmission? (excluding Torqshifts :mad:)

[wyldman]

You shouldn't be having trans problems that frequently,especially after a rebuild,as a lot of the updates should be done,and they should pay better attention to clearances.

A temp gauge will help keep an eye on things.A bigger better trans cooler can't hurt either.

A blueprinted trans,with a good shift kit,should last much longer.

The harder you drive it the better.The more you push the throttle down,the higher the pressures inside the trans,and the harder it holds.A shift kit will help raise pressures too.

After the rebuild,MAKE SURE the TV cable is properly adjusted,as well as the shift linkage,or it will not last.All the instructions are in the shift kit.

[Mark Oomkes]

Originally posted by wyldman


The harder you drive it the better.The more you push the throttle down,the higher the pressures inside the trans,and the harder it holds.A shift kit will help raise pressures too.



I don't drive this truck anymore, but if I were, this wouldn't be a problem. Maybe that was some of the problem to begin with. lol

I will let you know what they find inside to get opinions. I will also have them make sure on the cable. They should have a quote ready for me this afternoon or in the morning.

Thanks for the advice, it is very much appreciated!

[wyldman]

BTW,how is that pusher edge working ?

[Mark Oomkes]

Not sure, haven't heard any complaints, though. I'll give the operator a call tomorrow and ask him his opinion.

[Mark Oomkes]

Finally got the truck back, wasn't too thrilled with the amount of time it took, but we didn't miss any plowings with it yet.

Replaced the TC, cooler, the reverse band, kickdown band, front planetary and a bunch of other stuff. Added a shift kit, and a few other goodies that Wyldman suggested.

I never knew a tranny was supposed to 'feel' like that. If I had the money, I'd be having them rebuild a couple more and driving to Brian's for the Fords. I love the way it shifts, the power it has now, everything. Thanks for the help John and Chris.

Can I become a Charter Member of the Cummins Pusher Club? lol Pete, can you save me yet? Is there time?

[wyldman]

Glad to hear it's fixed,and your happy with it.It's amazing what a few simple tricks\mods will do to a stock trans. :D

[gslam88]

Mark:nope :wink :haha

Looks like we lost ya......

Pete

[Mark Oomkes]

Originally posted by gslam88
Mark:nope :wink :haha

Looks like we lost ya......

Pete

Heck, Pete, if you think that's bad, I was talking to Chris on the phone and you should have heard what he was trying to push on me. lolol:eek: :grinz

[John DiMartino]

Mark,your our newest member,but you got 4 cyl too many ,and your missing about 500ft lbs of torque,and a lot of turbo whine and black smoke,but come on in,the water's fine:D I'm glad you got it back,and its all good.What TC did you end up going with?Did you use a trans-go shift kit.

[Mark Oomkes]

It is the Buckeye TC and the transgo, I am very impressed so far.

Don't remind me about the extra cylinders and torque, I kick myself everytime I think about it. We ordered the truck so we could have gone with the CTD, but we were concerned about the new style truck\front end\etc holding up. :headwall :headwall :headwall