Well dudes, this day simply rules so far. I am in the middle of watching and gaining a TON of knowledge and having a great time doing it. The old trans is out and John has spent quite a bit of time filling my head with how all this stuff works and why this new transmission is going to be pretty bombproof. First, he is a class act. His shop is really clean and organized and he knows his stuff. I'll just post some photos for now while we are on lunch. A lot more has to happen. Long story short, my old trans was going to go any day now. See for yourselves!



Out with the old



In with the new




Cracked bell housing anyone?




Triple disc billet TC

That's it for now. More later! Also got a new rear main seal, new flexplate, and all pressure washed underneath from all the leaks of oil and ATF. Looking really good so far!

 

Congrats Byron! That must be a great feeling indeed. I gotta say I'm a little jealous! lol. But my old E40D is still ticking along, I know that will be on the list at some point.

I can hear Ruby saying thank you now. Its gonna be great!

 

Out there in holtvile?
ask how the pheasant population is doing out there. Ill be headed there in 2 weeks for some bird hunting

 

It'll be such a relief for you. No more wondering when it'll go boom.

 

I just want to know how much different it is to drive?
Once use to a crappy trans it has to be a whole different animal...

 

Depends if John sets the shift points or not and that depends on his mood.

 

Thanks Thomas. I would recommend ordering one from him when you decide it's needed and just get some buddies to install it. Its way easier than I thought. I knew I could do it, but just didn't have the place to at the moment.

They have pheasants?!?!?!?! That is my absolute favorite type of bird hunting!! I used to guide during the season at a ranch in Colorado some years back. I had no idea. Great little town for sure. Let me know how you do. I am really curious.

Nick you are not kidding. I am really stoked about our trip now more than ever. This was the one major hurdle for us to overcome and it's done! It was nice to drive it back home and be able to push it with some confidence. It was definitely ready to go boom very soon. I am surprised it lasted as long as it did.

Aaron, it is an entirely different animal. I'll try to describe it. the old trans would sort of "smudge" into a gear. The JW feels much more strong through the powerband and "pops" into gear while holding the power. It doesn't lug or shift to early. There were a couple of hard shifts into OD when i was getting on it and building pressure, but no teeth rattling. The really cool thing is that when it upshifts, I can feel the power in my seat much more than before. he explained that it is actually going to get more power to the wheels with the Triple Disk...much more so than the crappy reman stock single disk that was in there. He was right. Now all of the power is actually getting to the ground and not being lost in the trans process. I hope that makes sense?

I managed to get a few more photos, but spent a lot of time watching and asking questions.



Uppies in good shape after 9 months



More pics crappy work from PO



Oh yeah, new skins on the rear from yesterday



Front shot of new one minus TC



Otherside view



I'll a few more here shortly as soon as Photobucket decides to quit acting up.

 

Shop out front



All nice and pressure washed



I did also get a new rear main seal. Might as well while its open. It wasn't leaking bad, but enough as well as the rear oil pan gasket. They have a fix for it that John says usually works pretty well. That's the silicone you see here.





Front view of purdy new billet TC



F-150 OBS in the parking lot

 

Yeah I'll definatly consider that, I'm trying to figure out what would be cheaper, to have him do it or pay freight to get it there and back. Lol. Don't get me wrong though, the road trip would be well worth it. Lol

 

I wanted to write a little more about my experience. I was fried when I got home last night with info overload! Anyways, as far as John goes, he was really cool to hang out with and was willing to talk about this stuff all day even though he was very busy. He loves this stuff and I never felt like he was bothered or too busy. Trans cases are pretty much sitting everywhere either being built or waiting to be built. One thing I learned is a lot about what really goes into most "rebuilds" and what John says he does with his. For example, a lot of the big "race trans/HD trans" guys will reuse hard parts, such as drums or planetary gears, or they will get them from Taiwan/China where the metal quality is very poor. This is being on very expensive rebuilds by big name guys and its good to know what you are really getting and what questions to ask. I also got a glimpse into clutches that fail vs. the ones that don't. There are guys that are coming to John that are having $6-7K trans failures after 30k miles due to some of this malarkey. My trans got Borg Warner clutch packs with steel teeth that DO NOT fail. Some of these clutch packs are getting what looks to be smaller teeth or crappy material and they are failing prematurely. I guess one of the biggest things I learned is to know your parts and know what they are made of or where they come from.

The most important thing I learned about is that John is a machinist and he really believes in doing things right the first time. A lot of the improvements he makes to the parts out there is done by machining them himself so they perform better and last for the long haul. He didn't say he has had no failures, but the few that have come back he actually opens it up, finds the problem, OWNS UP TO IT, and fixes it right.

Anyways, that is some of my experience. I am not trying to cause a pissing match about trans builders or call anyone out. This is completely 100% MY experience and we'll see what happens for the long haul and after I pull my trailer again across the country. I do know that he has a huge attention to detail, is organized, and keeps things clean. That speaks volumes to me when I do have the rare occasion of someone else touching my truck. Also, the guy that works for him has been there for 4 years. His name is JR and he has learned everything from him. He's a cool dude and was good to talk to a lot as well. He knows these trucks. Hope this helps you guys!

 

I'm glad it went good for you Byron! Besides the test drive, did he do anything else?

 

Yeah that would be a pretty fun road trip! I am guessing freight might be cheaper, but I'd just check it out and see. The education you get might be worth it by itself.

 

Thanks Glenn. 2nd was a little touchy with my 4:10 gears, so he took the VB back out, made an adjustment, and it was pretty perfect after that. Um, I also got a hat? LOL Oh, he did look a little into my TPS issue that has been there forever, but since I have overcome the problem for the most part, he just said leave it alone. I am going to try to get back to him before we head out to get my chip re-burned for better shift points. He said he can definitely improve that as well. I think it shifts great, but he said he'll make it better and do it for no charge. I just have to see when I can get back there.

 

He was just starting to get into tuning when I was there, is he now tuning?

 

As far as the trans stuff goes, yes.