Allison Shift Kits

[Greg McCall]

Is anyone on the board using the new Transgo Shift kit ? Any prices ?
Recently Quad was looking into a shift Kit to market, so I need to do some research (make a call) and step up to the plate.

[ratlover]

I hope someone chimes in with some personal experience with just using the transgo shift kit and the Alli. I dont have the $$$ or desire to do a complete trany upgrade but a new VB if its reasonable or a shift kit might be an option.

I have always though transgo was one of if not the best in the way of kits for other tranys. JMO though

[403turbo]

Well I can help you a little,

I have the Suncoast upgrade that uses the Transgo shift kit.

My upgrade included a new TC with a lot more lockup clutch material. The shop that installed it replaced the C2 clutch pack as suggested by the shift kit instructions.

I can tell you that after a hundred miles or so of aggressive driving the shifts are mostly smooth and firm. My transmission is actually happier now when under a load. Sometimes when using very light throttle the shift quality is a little harsh, but in most city driving situations a passenger would never know it has a shift kit. I feel none of the fifth gear shudder and hesitation I felt under WOT with level 4 juice.

The Transgo kit requires that the guts of the transmission come out so that new springs can be installed on the C2 Clutch apply cage. So the trans must be pulled to install this kit. As long as you are doing that you might as well put the super tough torque convertor in. FYI....several people myself included have had welded mounting lugs on the OEM TC crack and cause serious leaks. Do not half a$$ a trans upgrade, the Allison is a tough trans but it is not capable of holding on to all the torque that even the reg juice can make.

I have felt a significant increase in power since the suncoast upgrade, the juice was backing off in my truck and I didn't even know it.

I spent the same money installing the suncoast upgrade as I would have just paying the dealer to fix the TC. No brainer for me.

[Kennedy]

403 Turbo,

How did your old C2 hardware look?

[ACCRASH]

Just wondering, are the C-2 clutch pack and the TC the primary weakpoints in the allison? Are there any other clutch packs that are having a hard time with the extra HP? I want more power but I don't dare on the stock transmission. :(


Chuck

[sdaver]

welcome 403 turbo to the no slipn fifth club.......12K on my suncoast.........hammered daily........... :D dave

[403turbo]

John,

I did not get to see the trans apart, the shop that did the install was a ways away from home but had an excellent reputation, I spoke on the phone to the installer and he said that the C2 clutches looked fine but he had already ordered them per the shift kit instructions, so he put the new parts in.

I did see the cracked weld on the OEM convertor, after a careful cleaning and inspection it was obvious where the leak was. Overall the design of the TC seemed to be flawed, those long legs seem to have a lot of leverage on the weld, if not torqued properly I could see how they could fail. The crack was actually at the base of the weld in the stamped cover of the convertor not the weld itself, wrong material or the area got too hot during the weld process and crystalized. Either way we will see more failures of that design.

All in all I could not be happier with the Suncoast upgrade, when the TC locks it really feels like another gear, I have a 5 1/2 speed allison now :D

I would suggest that anyone that wants to go hotter than a regular juice seriously look at helping the Allison cope with the power, I have learned that just because it's not limping doesn't mean its not slipping.


Thanks SDAVER....my only problem now is that I KNOW the trans can take a beating, so now I need more power!!! I think I might need a support group of some sort.......D/A should stand for DIESEL ANONYMOUS :D :D

Get paid tomorrow......might need an ATTITUDE adjustment :cool:

ACCRASH....Yes the TC and the C2 clutches are the weak point ......at least up to about 550 HP at the flywheel....after that all bets are off...something else will slip........ probably all four tires smile.gif

If your thinking about a trans upgrade (and you should) spend your money with John Kennedy and Joe @ Suncoast I worked with both for my upgrade.....customer service #1 and tons of knowledge about what they sell.