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View Full Version : good news Great product and great service from Suncoast



sdaver
06-10-2003, 10:24
Well lets get straight to it....I drove last Wednesday afternoon to Fort Walton Beech Florda
and Left my Truck with Joe At Suncoast Convertors. On Thursday and Friday they installed their triple disc torque convertor and clutch pack upgrade kit. Joe and I have had several conversations about this over the last few months and soon as the parts were availible I decided to have mine done. Joe suggested that I have the power levels set to where I thought I would run on the performance end. So after a few calls to some diesel page friends I came up with a juice/pressure box combo that has yielded 420+ conservatively at the rear wheels. Needless to say this combo would limp my stock tranny at will. Joe and I drove my truck and noted the areas we felt it was slipping (third and fifth mostly). Then I drove their 03 3500 dually with the transmission upgrade and a hot juice/tts reflash combo for power. The transmisson was fabulous. It handled the additional power with ease.......no jerking no slamming NO LIMP!!! .....just smooth shifting....needless to say I was sold. I rented a truck and drove back to Tuscaloosa (4.5hrs)and could not hardly wait until Friday. Friday afternoon I picked up my truck and it was raining........It is not real easy to test a truck with that kind of power in the rain, in fact its impossible. So I drove very conservatively to Pensacola to meet my family down for the weekend. The truck shifted flawlessly(under a very conservative foot). Saturday yielded more rain. Joe performs a full computer reset of the transmission when upgrade is performed and several upshifts and down shift have to be performed to allow the tranny to learn the new power levels. Since the weather was not cooperating I just drove the truck moderately on Saturday. Sunday I left Pensacola early heading for Commerce Ga (385 miles). About 45 miles from Pensacola I hit dry pavement.........rolled into the throttle in fifth at 70 mph..... 30 pounds of boost (with the wastegate unblocked)and acceleration like never before. Not even a hint of slip. Slowed down and made a few runs at 75 % throttle... smooth shifting. It is really amazing how much slip the stock tranny has and how much more power you feel when the slip is gone. Later that day I arrived in Commerce dropped off a very valuble package and started the trip to Tuscaloosa(200 plus miles). Made a full power run getting on the interstate. Extremely fast acceleration smooth shifting and no limp or slippage. Monday I drove the truck all day in mixed highway and city situations. No bad side effects to report just smooth shifting. The tranny behaves very similar in normal driving to stock transmission with very slight firmer shift(which I like) and a more noticeable lockup in fifth which I refer to now as my new sixth gear. I now have close to 1000 miles on the tranny and its shifting great. I have the old clutch packs and some cool pictures of the triple lock convertor hope to post all soon :D :D :D :D dave

GMCTRUCK
06-10-2003, 10:32
Sounds good. Besides quicker times I bet a truck with a hooked up tranny like you're describing would also have better dyno #s. As good as some of the dyno #s you guys have put down there was probably some slip there before that wasn't even noticed. Kennedy for instance, could probably lay down some even more impressive #s than what he has once he gets a tranny that isn't giving up anything.

mackin
06-10-2003, 10:40
Just what I like to hear ..... Soon I hope I will join you with the tranny mod in place .....

Mac :D :D :D

GMCTRUCK
06-10-2003, 12:53
Originally posted by mackin:
Just what I like to hear ..... Soon I hope I will join you with the tranny mod in place .....

Mac :D :D :D Just can't stand being outdone can you? If I had your money I'd burn mine.

GMC D-Max
06-10-2003, 13:10
Man, I just had to go and read this thread, didn't I?!?

I can feel a second mortgage comin' on for more upgrades.....
:eek:

king D
06-10-2003, 13:22
dave have you put the gtech on it yet .....jess

mackin
06-10-2003, 13:24
Originally posted by GMCTRUCK:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by mackin:
Just what I like to hear ..... Soon I hope I will join you with the tranny mod in place .....

Mac :D :D :D Just can't stand being outdone can you? If I had your money I'd burn mine. </font>[/QUOTE]Working on it ...... ;)

Mac

sdaver
06-10-2003, 13:34
had to return the pressure box for a upcoming event did not have time to gtech.........gonaa stack the predator and gtech them

Kennedy
06-10-2003, 13:51
Dave is the guinnea pig here! I'll be limping mine to the Rendezvous and taking a step back and evaluating where things stand.


DEFINITELY true that I haven't watched slip speeds in 4th on the dyno. Could well be that the Juice is backing down to save the transmission...

WhiteDuramax
06-10-2003, 16:00
What kind of prices do they have on their kits? Do they gurantee to a certain hp or do they build to suit the hp you are wanting to put out with the truck? Thanks

Kennedy
06-10-2003, 16:54
What transmission mods bring to light is that many aren't extracting the full potential of the Hot Juice programming in all gears. Other boxes may seem stronger, but the simple fact is, that you can only turn the injectors on for so long before you reach the point of diminishing return, and any pulse box/program can go there...

dmaxalliTech
06-10-2003, 17:36
do they sell the parts and pieces or do they have to install it? I might need an upgrade tongue.gif
I would do it myself, Florida is a long trip :D

SoCalDMAX
06-10-2003, 18:32
That's great news! I'm looking forward to hearing about long-term driveability as well as performance from 0-60 and 1/4mi. I've been waiting for something like this to come along before going any further on the engine mods, it's been a long time since I used propane, just running on reg Juice for now.

All you maniacs keep in mind, with the gearing, you're applying INCREDIBLE torque to move a 7,000lb truck and/or load! One member here lost his front u-joint on a STOCK Dmax and it came up thru the floorboards! Luckily no one was injured.

Once you've removed one weak point, there's always something else in the drivetrain that is about to let go. I've got a driveshaft loop in my Mustang GT, and it probably weighs 1/2 of the truck with 1/3 of the power!

My understanding is that Suncoast is currently doing all trannies in-house for now for QC reasons. I hope that after they've done a number and feel confident that a kit might be OK for competent shops to install, it may be avail. in kit form.

The best part is that it addresses the actual weaknesses rather than applying a band-aid to cover them up. AFAIK, increased line pressure only gives hard shifts and increases wear on the whole drivetrain. More/stronger clutch packs and billet TC allow it to shift as designed yet handle tons more torque.

Well, if Dave can't break it and Mac buys it and it holds up, you know what that means - IT'S BULLETPROOF!

(You guys thought I was gonna say idiot proof, huh? ;) )

Regards, Steve

sdaver
06-10-2003, 20:09
afaik........you almost got me there :D

Burner
06-10-2003, 22:14
David, It may be a moot point but have you noticed any improvement in fuel economy? What is the difference towing?
The only way the trans would pay for it's self would be to improve the 10 MPG towing mileage by "1" MPG in 330,000 miles. Three thousand gallons "saved" times (X) 1.40 per gallon equals 4,200.00. :D "Paid for

Kennedy
06-11-2003, 08:15
We'll get Dave set up with a box that DOESN'T manage fuel based on trans data, and see how it takes it!

I have great confidence after talking with Joe on this. Will be making a decision after the Rendezvous...

mfontana
06-11-2003, 10:31
sdaver: Sounds like you got the results you wanted. That's great. Many times price is not a consideration for some people if the results are accomplished. For those of us that price may be a consideration, please let us in on the pricing.

sdaver
06-11-2003, 12:08
needless to say my next born son will be named joe and will have the smell of atf on his hands........truthfully call joe and make your deal.........burner the trip to comerece was 380+ left at 7 arrived at 1..... 20 minutes for a stop 16.83 mpg :D :D dave

Burner
06-12-2003, 12:57
David, reading your post made me think that our "stock" transmission under "stock" HP must be slipping... a lot. I doubt that a stock 02' could get 16.83 MPG doing the same run at the same speed you did. Do you know of anyone that has a SunCoast behind a stock 6.6 Dmax?

What does the G-Tech say? tongue.gif
Have you hit any dyno's, yet? If you want to try it, I'll met ya at Ronalds place.

Keep us up-to-date on the SunCoast. :D


Burner-----&gt; :D

cowboywildbill
06-13-2003, 20:10
What was the total cost for the upgrade? Sounds like a good mod if it isn't too pricy.

Burner
06-14-2003, 11:28
Does the SunCoast use the stock pan, Allison deep pan or a Magna deep pan? tongue.gif


Burner

mackin
06-14-2003, 21:06
Originally posted by Burner:
Does the SunCoast use the stock pan, Allison deep pan or a Magna deep pan? tongue.gif


Burner I'd be willing to bet they use what ever you show up with ...
tongue.gif

Mac :D :D :D

sdaver
06-15-2003, 07:31
he used my deep pan :D