so im new here, referred by jmop on timbercrawler. got some questions. ive got a 03 powerstroke with a 7.3 and an auto. 42k and it puked the trans last night while towing. ive got some power goodies and whatever so i know it was hard on the auto...

so no ive got to figure whether to A. junkyard trans with probably more miles than my truck has B. reman C. rebuild the one ive got D. get a shop to performance build the one ive got E. buy one from like ATS for a rediculous price

whats gonna be my best compromise of price, performance and durability
and then if a rebuild, what parts might i upgrade to handle the way its used...

thanks
scott

 

When my auto transmission finally dies I'm buying a BTS. No question. Do a search and you'll find only good things about the BTS on FTE.

http://www.brianstruckshop.com/index.html

 

hello, welcome to FTE, the best place on the net for fords!

If i were you, i would not go back to a stock transmission. You see what your extra power did to the transmission you have now, and it's just going to do that again to the next stock one. I do not know how mechanically inclined you are, but rebuilding a transmission is a cheaper way to get back on the road, while upgrading parts too. It's a great way to learn about how a transmission works too. Personally i do not know how far you are away from Northern Arkansas, but most guys on the forums here , including me, will recommend Brian's Truck Shop (BTS) for a transmission. This guy builds insanely tough transmissions, and you are basically covered for life. There is a 2 year written warranty, but that doesn't matter to this guy. He has no regard for "eating his cost", he has fixed every one of his customer's transmissions, and most of them were doing things such as sled pulling, drag racing, and beating on their truck in ways that you couldnt imagine. In ways that the warranty from other companies would have laughed at. Ask Jtharvey when he chimes in here. I think that out of the top 6 most powerful powerstroke automatics, three or four are running a BTS tranny. I know im going that way in the future when mine blows.

 

so this guy sounds pretty good, i am a mechanic/welder by trade on heavy equip. btw, and i could rebuild it myself but i honestly just dont have the time. what his website doesnt have is price ranges....?

 

No, he doesnt have prices on his website. A tranny build is $3900 and a core charge of $1000, plus shipping to you and to ship your core back. Or, you can drive to his shop in Lead Hill, AR, and skip the core and shipping. That is what im doing. For $3900 you wont have to worry about your tranny ever again.

 

my tranny went almost 2 years ago to the date and i replaced it with a complete ATS setup. if i would have known about BTS i would have gone with him and saved some money. my tranny all said and done cost me 6800 bucks, OUCH. i didnt want to go a cheaper route because i plan on keeping my truck for a loooong time and i dont want to worry about the tranny. what i really wanted to do is install a 6-speed and call it a day. ohwell, i am very very pleased with my ATS, almost 50,000 miles on it and it feels like new. just my .02.

 

Yup...BTS is the top notch way to go, IMO. I was indeed drag racing my truck in Colorado, as Brian was watching in the stands when the TC blew. The TC was bad from the start, and shouldn't have blown. No fault of Brian's or the TC mfgr. A small percentage of all parts will fail - I had that small percentage. Anyway, point is Brian took care of me. He hauled me and the truck back to AR, dropped the trans, went through it, replaced all necessary parts, and had me back on the road. All of this was done at no charge to me. Even the truck we used to haul mine back to AR was volunteered to Brian for use....it was one of Brian's customers who loanded it to him for us to use. That's how much people think of him.

They way I look at it, you pretty much can't afford not to have him rebuild it. It's the last transmission you'll ever have to buy, and those are Brian's words.

 

BTS w/ STALLION TC.
as i read it, it doesnt get any better than that. not to mention the warranty is unbeatable if your close by.

 

I just got mine rebuilt locally here in Houston for $2100. They put in a heavier, billet bottom torque converter and "did all the updates" to beef it up. I've been using these guys for awhile and they seem to be pretty straight shooters.

I toyed hard with the idea of spending $5,200 to have an ATS stage v or driving to Arkansas and paying the $4,000 for the BTS.

My last rebuild from this local shop lasted 100k miles, so I figured I let them do this one. Based on all the opinions here, I would've loved to go the BTS route, but I have no idea what I'd do if I ever did have a problem.

By the way, I did speak with BTS and they say they have more problems with the trannys they ship than the ones they install themselves -- food for thought.

 

well im nowhere near AR but would like a tranny i dont have to worry about anymore. how does it work if i have a problem? pull it out and send it back or what?

 

Craig, Who in Houston rebuit your tranny? I have yet to find a good reputable tranny shop here.

 

Redboat,

I used Snider's here in League City. Matt Snider's the owner. They've been in business for a long time (40 years I think). He doesn't know a lot about Powerstrokes, but I've used them in the past and their tranny held up for 100k.

I think I'm pretty easy on tranny's though, funny how knowin' I've got 3 college educations to pay for affects my left foot so much.

 

im in seattle area... anyone know anyone?

 

Well like everyone else has said, "go with the BTS trans". I have one and it is absolutly wonderful. I tow a travel trailer and when I went across the scales it said something like 20060, without me. Definately worth the money. Brian also told me that I wouldnt have any problems with towing my "lightwieght" trailer, since he has built them to do alot more than I do with it. Sledpulling, dragracing, and on and on.

 

well thanks everyone, BTS is building mine next week...