[bananaboatford]

So I am browsin' around on destroked and for a lil money i see an adapter to mate a 7.3L to an allison
well it get me a thinkin'

here some time in the next few months i am gonna have to upgrade my trans
would it be worth spending and extra couple grand to do this conversion?

 

[haul_n_horses2]

Call Brian at BTS and ask him what he thinks about the "Allison" or the "Torqueshift" for that matter. You will get an education. I know I did when I was getting my BTS tranny put in. Now I know some of you cynics will say Brian is just marketing what he sells but I do not think he would be saying that if he truly felt the Torqueshift or Allison were better designs.

 

[imelmo]

I'm going to end up doing that sometime around the end of the year or beginning of next year probably.

 

[cdacaraudio]

my buddy has a 02 2500HD duramax and all he has is aftermarket exhaust and a edge programer and he is on his 3rd transmission rebuild under warranty!! after the first rebuild it lasted 1500 miles 2nd rebuild well we will see

 

[imelmo]

I'm not getting a stock Allison; it'll be built too.

 

[thedieselkid]

[ QUOTE ]
Call Brian at BTS and ask him what he thinks about the "Allison" or the "Torqueshift" for that matter. You will get an education. I know I did when I was getting my BTS tranny put in. Now I know some of you cynics will say Brian is just marketing what he sells but I do not think he would be saying that if he truly felt the Torqueshift or Allison were better designs.

[/ QUOTE ]

If I am not mistaken, I think that Brian builds a torqueshift but he still like the 4r100 more. If you do ask you will get a very good explanation of why.

 

[SmokeyWren]

[ QUOTE ]
...would it be worth spending and extra couple grand to do this conversion?

[/ QUOTE ]

No. Not even close.

The Allison in its various guises is nothing more than an ordinary Chevy tranny. Why would you want to spend extra to put a Chevy tranny in your Ford?

Instead, spend less (but more than for an ordinary tranny) and install a BTS 4R100 tranny with matching Precision Engineering Stallion PSD torque converter. Then you'll have a bulletproof Ford tranny that doesn't require any changes to the engine/tranny computer or to the flywheel or to the driveshaft. And the BTS will probably outlast the engine.

 

[thetonka]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm not getting a stock Allison; it'll be built too.

[/ QUOTE ]

So aligned with this topic, elmo what are your reasons for planning an Allison swap?

 

[imelmo]

Because this is the 2nd time I've put the fully built motor in the truck only to have the trans get shredded the first time I tried a launch. I'm thinking at this power (low end torque to be specific) and weight we've possibly found the limit of the 4R100, aside from going to billet everything. I already have all the billet stuff ATS sells for it except the output, which has never broken. So far I've twisted a billet input, snapped a billet intermediate, and trashed a front drum. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Time to try something else; I'll be the guinea pig if no one does it with a higher hp truck before me.

Plus I like the idea of an extra gear in there.

That said, I'm going to TS this weekend but probably won't drag race. I'm gonna do the pulls and possibly dyno so I don't have to worry about breaking the trans again before the pulls. Then I'll probably go to the track in Houston the following week and see what happens. After that the motor's getting pulled and replaced with a mini-me/GT38 motor and I'll be all over the Fordota. Guess I'll have to be happy runnin' high 12's instead of low 12's - high 11's in the meantime./ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif

 

[THEDIESELMAN]

imelmo you are the man!!! I wish I could do half the stuff you do to your truck to mine.

 

[thetonka]

[ QUOTE ]

Plus I like the idea of an extra gear in there.



[/ QUOTE ]

Definately an advantage. When I was still working on building the tonka or a replacement crawler I was looking at the 4 electronic 4 speed autos. Better range than a 3-speed and with a stand alone computer you have a LOT of control over the shifting.

 

[samdust]

[ QUOTE ]
So I am browsin' around on destroked

[/ QUOTE ]
the word destroked just erks my soul. i hate that word.

 

[Aljay]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
...would it be worth spending and extra couple grand to do this conversion?

[/ QUOTE ]

No. Not even close.

The Allison in its various guises is nothing more than an ordinary Chevy tranny. Why would you want to spend extra to put a Chevy tranny in your Ford?

Instead, spend less (but more than for an ordinary tranny) and install a BTS 4R100 tranny with matching Precision Engineering Stallion PSD torque converter. Then you'll have a bulletproof Ford tranny that doesn't require any changes to the engine/tranny computer or to the flywheel or to the driveshaft. And the BTS will probably outlast the engine.

[/ QUOTE ]

UH I gotta call B.S. on the alli. being just another chevy trans. You are sadly misinformed.Have you even been under a diesel chevy with an a1000? They are far from ordinary, they are so I was told by an Allison tech basically a smaller version of the 3000 series.

 

[Bobcat698]

Now Elmo, do NOT take this as a dig against your truck, its power output, or your current setup please.. Your truck is great.

But if I'm not mistaken Maddog is putting his 1000HP through a E4OD or 4R100 variant.. Am I right?

Maybe you need to talk to him about what he has done as I haven't heard of him breaking much other than axles.

 

[DarkShadowDiesel]

i thought i read somewhere in a tranny thread he'd been having trans problems since switching to ATS? granted that was before he had 1100+hp... maybe he only had 900 back then haha

 

[imelmo]

David did. He breaks input shafts fairly regularly and has also broken the front drum as i have. You've gotta remember the weight of my truck too; that has a lot to do with it. Plus with the headwork I have, the launches have a whole lotta torque behind 'em.

That's why I don't think I'll have this problem with the Fordota.

 

[clamgulch]

I've also been considering switching to an Allison. My BTS is great, but- it's just "missing" a gear that it should have. Consequently, it spends a lot of time hunting when it should be working. It's not a problem until I tow, then it's a major annoyance for me.

The think that scares me senseless is the prices of Allisons. Yikes! Those things are spendy even as cores, and the cores aren't exactly stacked up in piles waiting to be dragged off. They are hard to find. From what I've seen so far, they have to be built up to withstand the abuses that Danny dishes out for sure. With the rate I break things, it's a foregone conclusion for me too. I've seen website pricing on "bullet proof" allisons for SIX GRAND. That's a ton of money for me.

One possible advantage I MIGHT have is that my cummins came with a SAE #2 housing on the back of it which is a fairly universal housing that MANY trannys bolt to (but not a 4R100 as far as I know). It also has a flex plate on it already, so I may save myself around $1,500 in my conversion by switching to an 840 pound allison garbage truck or dump truck tranny, but then I would have to run a divorced transfer case. An allison can be made to "talk" to a Cummins, but not to a 7.3 computer without an interface of some sort.

Decisions, decisions....

Danny is right, no matter how you cut it, it costs
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[clamgulch]

BTW, Happy Birthday, Danny! Hope it's a good one for ya!

 

[remedm]

I will put my BTS up against any allison, Brian schooled my on them
too, I also know of a guy who is on his second allison on a stock
moter with less than 50k. Allison is no better than the stock 4r100.

 

[imelmo]

Thanx!