It seems as if i am overly-afraid to actually beat on my truck, where the transmission takes the brunt of the stress. some may not believe it, but i have never done a burnout or a brake-stand with my truck. dont get me wrong, actually friday when it was raining, i dumped into the throttle on a wet uphill (only with the TC locked) and shot the speedo to 65+mph and then back down to 30 when they caught. i do it very sparingly though.

i always hesitate when im about to dump into the throttle, in fear of me crapping out my transmisson. i feel it's pretty strong, with only 78K miles, and 69K of it being bone stock, apparently driven granny-style. i've never mashed it off the line to see if i could break my tires loose, nor have i powerbraked it and launched drag race style. however i do get on it when the TC is locked. with my chip, after a certain % of throttle, the TC will lock as it shifts into 2nd. i roll smoke, and at the 2500rpm shift into 3rd, it feels buttery smooth most of the time. the dyno says that my transmission is slipping badly, i squirted out 291/579 this fall, and most of the reason i didn't make it too 300/600 was the tranny slipping.

am i being too careful for my transmission? i like the idea of doing burnouts and stuff, however every time i think of that, it is over-ridden by the thought of how badly i am screwed if my tranny goes out. in the future, i'm surely getting a fully built BTS, and then i will have no worries, but until then...

those of you with stock transmissions (stock internals such as hard parts and TC) and a BTS VB/sonnax, what transmission punishment have you put your truck through? i want this to be the only transmission i have, before i can DRIVE down to Lead Hill for a BTS. what do you think?

 

Well beings how I don't have much for mods I don't get on it to much. But when I do I always keep it in the back of my mind "Do I wanna drop 4k on a new ATV right now or for a BTS transmission?" I wanna squeeze every mile I can outa this thing so I baby it. My wife gives me crap for driving like a bat outa he!! in her expedition but when I get into my truck my grandpa could kick my *** in a quarter mile. I don't think there is ever going to be a good time to get a new tranny so I will probably let it surprise when its time to go but at least I know I got every mile I could outa it.

 

I think if anyone want to buy a new transmission, burnouts/powerstands are an excellent way to get one.

 

my tranny was getting weak at 150k and the sonnax was all it took to finish it off

 

I know what u mean man...i fear breaking my input shaft on my ZF like i did with my old NP 4spd w/mildly built 360 FE. Ive dont plenty of burnouts with mine...but ive never DUMPED the clutch or braketorqued it for the fear of having to take that huge tranny out and have to tear into it.

 

The only mean thing I do is tote a trailer thats somewhere around 6 tons. And I just hit 79K for miles, and I'm without a truck for a bit. Its sitting in the shop waiting on its THIRD transmission. This one will be a BTS. I put a stock in last time because it was all warranty. But I just went over on time. So I'm getting something that I hope is a darn sight better than stock this time. I don't want to play this game again.

 

I treat my tranny like a red headed step child.

I have been known to powerbrake once a month with no ill effect. Since you are only engaging your primary drum and not advancing through the gears, it shouldn't be a problem. If you just want to put on a smoke show, drop it into 1 and leave it there. 2nd if you feel the need to boil the rubber off the rims.

Third gear is typically where the stress is. Low RPM, high load. The only thing I think you in particular are bound to break is a drive shaft, or input shaft with those giant sneakers you got on there.

 

Kris you treat your automatic with the same respect I gave mine with the exception of mashing it at a stop light every once in a while for fun. I never bothered trying to get the tires to spin, I wanted to save the rubber. $$$. I was never afraid to firewall the throttle whenever I wanted to, but I just never saw the point of putting on a "redneck show". And they never let me down.

 

Why not get a BTS valve body right now? That should be affordable.

 

Kris, I know exactly what your saying. My last truck with the E40D could never make it past 80,000 miles. After the second rebuild I got rid of it.
I believe Kwikk is on to something, A BTS Valve body is in my future.

 

If I go WOT then my trans shifts great, no banging or slipping. But if I go like 3/4 into it, it seems like in between shifts it slips bad and then bangs into the next gear. I think it might be my 10k mod giving my motor power, but the trans isnt getting what it needs from the computer. Maybe TPS or something, so its either WOT or granny when I drive. I just hope if or should I say when my trans dies, Ill have saved up enough for a BTS.

 

eventually, im getting a DP tuner chip, BTS VB, and more gauges, etc. however im about to dump all my money on my new wheel and tire setup sometime this week, and im pretty stoked about that. once i get some money after this, yes that's in my future.

 

Keep in mind that taller tires will put an even bigger load on the transmission.

 

kris
give me a email .i can hook you up with the needed parts to bullit proof that bad boy's trans.

 

This thread got me to thinking. I'm not the kind to borrow worry, but when the tranny goes out do we usually get any warning? I do ALOT of HEAVY towing. I tow 15,000 - 30,000lbs of equipment or logs often. I drive a June 1999 F350 not a 4WD crew cab long bed with a Superchip, tow setting (65HP I think).
The transmission has never been flushed and I have never changed the filter.
I have heard not to kick a sleeping dog. Is there anything I should do? It seems to shift a little hard but it always has and has not been getting worse.

I should add that I am into 255,000 and maybe 256 by now. Haven't looked in a couple days.