I am in the process of refreshing my 1992 f350 cclb 4x4. It had 180k miles on the engine and trans. I pulled the manifolds to install a banks exhaust system and found broken manifold bolts. Long story short the engine is being rebuilt, and the tired trans needs to be replaced.

I am trying to decide who to source my new (or rebuild my current) e4od from. I have seen monster, Gearstar, and ats all on popular car and truck shows as well as featured In magazines. I am concerned though, that the product I receive won't be up to the same standards as the units built for essentially promotional purposes. They have a lot more incentive to take their time with a trans that's being used in a tv show or magazine build.

The truck is my daily and I will be building the 460 to be In the 350-400 HP range and tow a 7k boat a dozen times a a year.
Any experience, reviews, input would be appreciated.

 

You decide what, after market PCM and trans controller, your going with, I like monster, a few buddies have their E4OD.

 

I am going to be using the factory ecm to control the engine and transmission. Will be upgrading to a pimpxshift if need be down the road. Engine modifications are going to be mild. .030" overbore, flat top Pistons to bump up compression ratio and a mild cam to Maintain Factory SD EFI compatibility.

How long have your friends been running their monster e4od's, what engines do they have and have they had any issues?

 

One's 96 F250--7.3L(15kmi) and other is 92 F150 5.8L(40kmi) both about 2-3 years so far.

 

I've never dealt with Monster before, but ETCG recently had an issue with one built by them. I don't know if this is indicative of any larger issue, but I've generally found him to be pretty honest about what's going on.

 

Check BTS all of the diesel guys swear by it. Precision Transmissions out of Texas has a very high rep as well.

 

So far I have gotten quotes from ATS and Monster Transmission. With them coming in at 4400 and 3000 respectively for a similar product. The ATS transmission would include a deep sump pan (so that's part of the extra cost) and require I send them my trans to build as they don't have a 7.5l bellhousing trans on hand. I am going to reach out to BTS and Gearstar for quotes as well. I tend to believe that you get what you pay for and "buy once, cry once" usually holds true. That being said I am leaning away from monster after watching some negative review videos and testimonials. Going to continue my research and narrow it down.

One thing I really like about Gearstar is that they Dyno test their transmissions before shipping them out. I haven't seen anything about other companies doing the same.

 

I'd have no issue using Precision Transmission out of Texas, but he's not a big fan of doing carryouts anymore, because he can't control if the damn thing gets installed correctly or not.

 

That's going to be tough for me being from NJ, I wouldn't be able to get the truck there to have them do an install even if I wanted to. I don't have the free time or money to have a truck shipped their and back.

 

Yeah, It might be worth a call, I haven't dealt with him in a few years, I just know he's been talking about it on his youtube channel. I'm not sure what he's doing for out of area customers.

 

These guys built my E4 to requested 95 up specs with selected aftermarket parts for $3600

It was dyno tested with a rebuilt (in-house, what they started doing originally) 2500 stall factory HD converter.

When I asked if it was 650HP safely capable, I was told with a billet converter & input shaft it would handle 1K safely.

I did have a problem & by the time it was discovered, it was a year later & the company had changed hands.

However the mechanic who built it made it personally right.

https://transmissioncenter.net/

This is their sample E4 build with supplied core:

https://transmissioncenter.net/shop/...-transmission/

 

Do you know why the company had changed hands?

 

The original family had just had enough & wanted out. They were real big into racing & I think it just lost the fun. I think most of the techs stayed.

You could probably do some searches & get a feel for QA reality/BS quotient

 

So I have decided to go with Gearstar out of Akron Ohio. After speaking on the phone with the owner and going over their build process I feel confident in having the transmission built by them. They have an excellent warranty and I will have piece of mind seeing my transmission being run on the dyno before they send it out to me. Hoping to have the freight company pick up the trans this coming Monday

 

Update 5/25 - FedEx Freight will be picking up the transmission today and it will be on it's way to Gearstar. I was quoted 4-6 weeks lead time and am looking forward to receiving a better than new E4OD in return.

In the meantime I will be preping the engine compartment for the newly rebuld 460 to be installed. Cleaning up the frame, laying down some rust treatment and some sort of protective coating as well as installing a new core support before stabbing the whole assembly back in place.