New Power Module at SEMA

[RWHP]

Anyone notice the new product made by Diablo for the Dmax? I chated with the guys a little and they were a bit reserved to talk about it because it is still 3-4 weeks away from sales, but the product looks great.

Here is what I was able to pull out of them about this unit.

1. It is a hand held plug and play device, which can also be programed by the end user, and act as a scan tool.
2. Max power gain is 80hp, and they say you can TOW at this level no problem.
3. It changes shift points, and get rid of speed governor. You can actualy program in your own shift points.
4. This is the fabulous part, it bumps the line pressure in the Allison. They say no more slip under load at all, even while towing.
5. The price is $695.00 retail-looks like some other boxes are in for a rude awakening.

[sdaver]

IVE BEEN HEARING THESE RUMORS AND WAITING PATIENTLY....I WONDER HOW IT MIGHT STACK WITH THE JUICE...........HEY JK ANY INSIGHTS....DAVE

[BKoopman]

I also spoke to these guys. They were "reserved" in what info they were willing to share at this point. It does look pretty nice for those that don't need/want the high HP/Torque of the Juice/Hot Juice but only need a little. I also spoke to the guys at Hypertech. They too have a power programmer coming out in the new year. They would divulge any numbers but they told me that it would be well north of the levels seen for the PowerStroke version. You will be able to compensate for larger tires and gears and eliminate the speed govenor. They hinted that the price would be right around $400. I offered to beta test it and I am supposed to get a call this week to set this up.

[Plasticfantastic]

Good luck BK, I was one of the first Dmaxes they (Hypertech) used for baseline testing and have been waiting for that "beta-tester" call for about 11 months. Its been a "couple" weeks away for about 8 of those 11 months. Not downing the product, just guess development takes longer than they expect ...
(BTW, Hypertech is about 5 mins from my house and I check back monthly, nice folks, always friendly and helpful, just no product :( )

[ 11-11-2002: Message edited by: Plasticfantastic ]</p>

[hoot]

I will be nice to see the prices drop with competition. Closer to $500 might get me interested.

[carnutsx2]

Someone tell Hypertech I have money in my hot little hand! My wife say spend it ! What more could one want? I have used the hypertech on a Powerstroke, using my gtech the power gains were as advertised.

[SoCalDieselNewbie]

RWHP wrote - "This is the fabulous part, it bumps the line pressure in the Allison. They say no more slip under load at all, even while towing."

I am not so sure that this is sooo wonderful.

I have talked to a couple of different folks about beefing up the Allison because it is the component that is limiting power at this point.

Of the guys that I talked to, increasing line pressure is the 'easy way out' but will have a larger 'down the road' cost than doing it right in the begining.

They believe that doing a line pressure 'tranny mod' will expose the weak links in the tranny much quicker.

I guess the weak point in the Allison tranny is the 4th and 5th gear clutch packs. Also how the Allison performs, the mechanics involved, a shift.

Beefing up drivelines is a tricky ordeal between balancing 'strength' and 'durability'. You want to mantain the same parts being the 'weak link' but just uping the 'breaking point' of that weak link.

I see it all the time in rockcrawler Jeeps. The weak link in the driveline is the U-joints. So the first thing that Newbies do, after destroying a couple, is upgrade to HUGE over built U-joints.

Hey, the u-joints are no longer breaking but axle shafts are... when they upgraded the U-joints, they made the axle shafts the weak link.

To still maintain the u-joints as the weak link, which they should be in a rock crawler, with those HUGE U-joints, they should have been running Ford 9" axles.

So while uping the line pressure might cure the initial problem, what did you just make the weak point?

More than likely, that slippage was there for a reason...

[hoot]

I tend to agree that the slippage is not a problem If it was, it would happen to a stock truck. I too believes it's designed to slip. That's why they have three speed sensors along the drive path of the tranny. They know there will be slip so they monitor it and take appropriate action.

I presume they tested these trannies by overloading them with and without slip. I'm sure Allison knows what will break.
Now we need someone else that already tore a few up to let us know. Unfortunately, it's big bucks research so the people doing it consider it "private research knowledge" and need it to develop the mods.

As the mods come out we will know by what they beef up are the weak links.

So far it seems to be the lockup clutch on the torque converter for starters. I believe ATS says it's the first component to slip.

I wonder what parts will out right break if no slip was allowed.

[sdaver]

HEY SCAL NEWBIE I GUESS WE CAN AGREE ON SOMETHING...MY WRANGLER HAS DANA 60'S FRONT AND REAR FULL DETROITS, 406 CUIN FUELINJECTED STROKER NV4500 DODGE TRANNY WITH A 241HD TRANFER CASE AND U JOINTS BIG AS YOUR FIST AND YOU ARE RIGHT IT JUST MOVES THE WEAK LINK AROUND.........AND THERE ARE SOME HIDDEN WEAKNESS THAT 800FTLBS WILL FIND IN OUR TRUCKS.........IVE HAD 2 HYPERTECH UNITS ONE FOR A 99 6.0 LITER CHEVY..........IT WAS GREAT....VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT THEY SAY THE ARE GOING TO DO WITH THE ALLI/DMAX.......I HAD ONE OF THE FIRST UNITS FOR THE 8.1/ALLI WITH NO TRANNY ADJUSTMENTS LIKE THE 6.O ITS JUST NOT THE SAME..THEY COULD NOT CRACK THE ALLI. BUT CLAIMED IT WAS JUST A FEW WEEKS AWAY......A YEAR AND HALF LATER I BOUGHT A DMAX.........HEY THEY ARE NICE GUYS BUT ILL BELIEVE IT WHEN I SEE IT.....MY 8.1 AND MY 6.0 WERE LIMITED TO I THINK ABOUT 125 MPH(WITH THE HYPERTECH UNIT) AND WOULD GET THERE...I WISH MY DMAX WOULD.....BUT ITS PROBABLY GONNA TAKE RAISING THE REV LIMITER SOME......EDGE HAS NOT ADDRESSED THE SPEED LIMITER FUNCTION.... I TALKED TO AARON ABOUT THIS AND HE SAID MAYBE LATER AT SOME POINT........MY INTEREST IN A PROGRAMER/LOADER FOR TRANNY ENHANCEMENTS AND SPEED LIMITER WOULD BE FOREMOST. I THINK FOR NOW THE PERFORMANCE FROM THE JUICE IS ENOUGH...... THE ABILITY TO DOWN LOAD AND TRADE ECM ENHANCEMENTS BETWEEN FRIENDS ALONG WITH RETAINING THE ABILITY TO RESTORE STOCK PROGRAMING WOULD BE AUSOME.....FROM WHAT I HAVE READ WE ARE NOT FAR FROM HAVING ALL THESE FEATURES..DAVE :D
PS I STILL HAVE THE 8.1/ALLI.......ONE OF MY EMPLOYEES DRIVES IT.......ITS BEEN RETURNED TO STOCK PROGRAMING.... IF SOME ONE HERE WANTED THE HYPERTECH UNIT FOR THE(01 ONLY) 8.1/ALLI THE POSTAGE IS ALL IT WOULD COST........PM ME A PHONE # TO SET IT UP : ;)

[Kennedy]

I really don't think that the Allison will respond as simply as some think it will. I also believe that the 5th gear clutch is the weak link, but to get to it we need to beef the converter and oil flow.

Line psi is pulse width modulated to reduce losses from hydraulic pumping, and keep loads/temps minimized. This also plays a role in torque limitation. The clutches can take a bit of slip, so the idea is to keep an eye on them and if they do, drop to failsafe.

The long and short of it IMHO is that some form of hardware is necessary to take things to the next level. Now 80HP isn't really pushing things, so any claimed improvements will be hard to test.

I also don't think we are at risk for any driveline failures due to firm shifting as long as it is kept within reason. By selecting "Preset all TAP cells" on the Tech 2, we start with the maximum adaptive pressure tables and the Allison pares them down from there. I haven't seen any harsh shifting as a result...