I want this post in the SD forum not the compition forum!


I was wondering what all the differnces between the Torqueshift and the Allison are. I know all the forward gears are the same ratios, the Torqueshift has a much taller reverse ratio which is good for us snowplowers and bad for everyone else, I need to be able to go fast in reverse. One thing I like about the Allison is that there are kits out there to firm up the shifts and beef up the tranny a little, I haven't seen anything for the Torqueshift. Anyone know anymore details about the two tranny's? The Allison cost more then the Torqueshift. I heard when the Torqueshift first came out that GM\Allison was sueing Ford because they copied there design, don't know if that is true, if it is the two tranny must be pretty close to one another....

 

I know that in 2001 I conned my local Lampasas Chevy dealer into leting me take a 8.1L allison combo home, hook up my travel trailer and do a 75 mile round the little local towns and back trip.

Thirty miles into the trip, with new truck, 850 miles on the Odo, loaded trailer right at 8000lbs, the Allison trans took a dump and scattered the tail housing all over highway 190 between Lometa and San Saba right on an upgrade after crossing the Colorado river.

The dealer was mucho POed at me. He just knew I hot rodded it. I had to get USAA my insurance involved and they said I was covered. Two weekes later Lee Hoffpouier himself (owner) called and apologised. Chevy downloaded the black box data and it proved I was in the proper gear, 2300 rpm and the trans commanded a imporper lock to two actuators simultaneously.

One other interesting tidbit. Chevy had two years of beta testing the Allison on owners. Many of the early units were tagged to remove, replace, and ship faulty uinit to Chevy for tear down analysis. Actually a lot of major manufactures use this method.

Needless to say my one experiance is not an indication that the Allison trany is crap.... on the other hand I never want that kind of grief 1000 miles from home. I prefer the reliability of Ford SuperDuty trucks. That trans cost Chevy one sale that I know of

 

"One other interesting tidbit. Chevy had two years of beta testing the Allison on owners. Many of the early units were tagged to remove, replace, and ship faulty uinit to Chevy for tear down analysis. Actually a lot of major manufactures use this method."

It wasn't beta testing- just a R&R warranty procedure. The duramax was handled the same way. The theory was, in the interest of customer satisfaction, to replace the entire component in the event of a failure, rather than repair. Allisons and Torqueshifts both experienced a higher than normal failure rate the first year out (not a huge surprise, right?), but have proven to be quite reliable since.

The Northwest Chapter of FTE
we don't get lost,
we just get found

 

I will give my towing perspective/experience-

I rented a DuraMax/Allison in the Fall of 02 to pull my 7,400 lb boat 900 miles. The truck ran great unloaded, quick acceleration, smooth riding etc. A decent truck. Loaded it pulled well, no hard shifting or issues on a somewhat mountainous, high elevation route.

7 months later I pulled the exact same route with my 3 month old 6.0 w/TS- The PSD handled the load much better IMO. Here's why: Down & up shifts seemed to be more at the drivers discretion- When I want to down shift, the PSD does it on demand... Easier than the Duramax to maintain a steady speed despite elevation changes. Also, there is no question that the stock 6.0 has more umph during this 900 mile test pull, even though we had about 250lb heavier passenger load. My wife's assessment: "There is no comparison-The Ford pulled much better" (so there you go).

Plus: Comfort wise, the Ford is IMO a much more comfortable ride for long cruising days. In the past two years, I have done many 600-700 mile days on extended roadtrips with zero back fatigue-

Gee, I almost got through this entire post with mentioning The 6.0 Grin that came standard with the PSD!

 

i feel that when driving the allison when you take your foot off the gas and coast it is like the brakes are dragging badly.

 

At the Ford dealership where i work, the TorqShift seems to be pretty reliable. There are lots of loggers in town here with chipped 7.3's and 6.0L engines... with the E4OD we were swapping transmissions left right and center, there is one truck out there somewhere with its 6th E4OD, but we haven't had any problems with the torqshift so far.. it seems to be very reliable. If there were one advantage to the Allison 1000 it would be the external filter... comming from a QCM tech, an external filter would be nice

 

Forgot about the Allisons external filter. So what really sets these two trannys apart, besides the filter nobody has really said much....

 

I think the consensus is...not much, really- although they don't share any design components. By not much, I mean they go about their appointed rounds with a minimum of muss and fuss. I can think of a lot of reasons to choose a Ford or a Chevy, but the transmission isn't one of them.

 

Hi GMCDrive and welcome to the forum

How's things in Quesnel? I work at Terrace Totem.
We've got a few Torqueshifts in the shop right now waiting for parts
Apparently the Mercon SP is backordered now too. Just great

 

Buddy of mine says the same thing. There is a "tow/haul" button, but he says that just increases the problem. He has a utility body loaded with tools. He says he'd love to be able to get the thing to coast!

 

I was under the impression the torqshift has the external filter also. Anyone know ?

 

The external filter on the 2005 SD TorqShift is on passengers side right next to the radiator. I remember using this as a tie down point for an oil pan power cord heater.

 

That SP is rare stuff... lol.. and it smells weird...
and quesnel is doing pretty good, its really warm during the day now. Has Terrace had the same warm weather that we have had?

 

We had the shop doors open all day today
it was about 13 degrees.