Each one of our
Dodge Torqueflite transmissions receive what we call our base
packages. This base package can be built and improved upon
with a plethora of options and upgrades to suit your individual
needs. These units are not "cookie cutter" units
but rather something individually catered to your specific
needs. Each one of our calibrations to the valve body, pump,
seperator plate, and even the clutch stack-ups are meant with
your intended usage in mind. These units include have many
upgrades from the factory not just for performance but restoring
hydraulic integrity to some very crucial circuts, Here are
some listen below:
The Billet
Band Package
The Torqueflight
transmission utilizes a band to shift the transmission into
2nd gear, then this band is release when shifting into 3rd
gear. This band is wraps around the direct drum (right behind
the transmission pump)this drum house the direct clutches
(3rd gear). When thinking about the amount of torque these
trucks can make coupled with the torque multiplication of
the converter and it soon becomes apparent why this area could
be problematic. The band itself from the factory is a very
flexible band, these band will stretch and require constant
adjustment. When even modest attempts of increased apply pressure
occur these band break due to the flimsy construction. You
will some aftermarket attempt to use a very rigid material
to keep these from flexing or breaking. SunCoast took a different
approach and just redesigned the band all together. Each one
of our units recieves a new SunCoast custom billet band machined
in house. This new SunCoast billet band is also lined with
a Carbon Fiber friction material offering the best friction
coefficent available.
Our next focus
is with the hydraulic integrity of this band acuation. The
best band in the world is useless without proper clamping
force when apply and a quick release off the drum when needed.
This is where our SunCoast billet 2nd gear servo comes into
play. The factory uses a cast servo, the servo offers two
simple o'rings to help control cross-leaking within the bore.
This bore over time will wear, as it wears cross leaking occurs
causing lazy shifts, slips going into 2nd gear, and of course
in some events bind-ups and dragging of the band going into
3rd. SunCoast corrects this by installing a custom cnc'd billet
intermediate servo. This servo is made with 4 sealing rings
both teflon and rubber, That is double what the factory uses.
This servo is also larger in apply area, over 20% larger than
the factory. This larger apply surface area allows for not
only a dramatic increase in apply pressure giving you an enormous
amount of clamping load, but this also allows for a faster
shift time. As almost everyone in our industry lust over the
additional clamping force and much quicker apply time, we
often overlook the release of the band. The release of the
band can be just as import if not more. When they drag on
release it can cause bind-up issues, scoring of the band material,
and of course premature wear. SunCoast also modifies the length
of this servo to achieve much crisper shifting.
Now that we have
increased the clamping force we must address the two other
problematic issues with the band strut and the band anchor.
Just as an engine builder would change to a stronger chrome
moly push rod when changing the camshaft to ensure no deflection
occurs the same can be said for the band strut and band anchor.
With now having a more apply pressure on the band we must
correct or issue with the factory band strut as well. SunCoast
replace the factory band strut with a much stronger billet
band strut to keep any deflection at bay. The band anchor
is also replaced with a billet one as well.
Throwing
out the garbage
The factory, through
all of the engineering they have done somehow thought it would
be a good idea to put a plastic accumalator piston in this
unit. We are still left scratching our head everytime we see
a broken one. These very inexpensive plastic pistons will
in fact break over time. This is not a matter of if but when
this will happen. When you couple this with the fact that
this piston also has issues with cross leaking within the
bore, It only make sense that it belongs in the trash. Here
at SunCoast we manufacture our own new piston that has additional
sealing rings to fix this issue. This accumalator piston is
also designed with annular grooves to keep side loading from
transpiring.
Deflecting
the blame
Deflection can
occur in many ways, in engineering deflection is the degree
to which a structural element is displaced under a load. When
we start talking about loads under hydraulic apply priciples
and deflection is always around us.
In both the direct
and forward drum we see deflection and side loading contribute
to repeated failures daily. At SunCoast we have addressed
the issue with the direct drum by making several improvements.
The factory cast piston has several key issues we felt we
needed to address. On every one of our Competition transmissions
we simply replace the factory direct drum with a full billet
one. While this is very costly we felt it neccassary despite
the cost. This upgrade is not needed for mildly modded vehicles
and we can resolve the key issues by simply replacing the
factory piston. Here they key issues with this piston and
how we address it:
Crossleaking
- The factory piston over time will wear in the inner diameter
allowing it to wear and even cause side-loading. this uneven
wear and side-loading can further aid the deflection occurring
with the higher line pressure from say a shift kit. This is
alleviated by simply changing the material that is much more
resistant to wear.
Deflecting
- in attempts to achieve greater clamping force most builders
will modify the seperator plate and valve body to achieve
both more volume and line pressure. The only issue is the
factory "cast" piston was not designed for this.
The modest attempts by the builder is now causing deflection
and uneven apply. We correct this issue using a custom SunCoast
cnc'd direct piston that will not deflect under the most extreme
loads.
Clamping - when SunCoast sat down to design our new
billet direct piston we knew we wanted to address the apply
surface area, so we did just that. The new SunCoast billet
direct piston has a larger than factory apply area. This along
with the fact it is billet allows us to achieve the greatest
undeflected apply pressures in the industry.
Stack-up - SunCoast has specifically designed these
apply pistons in both the forward and direct drums to a custom
design allowing our own propriertary custom clutch and steel
stack-ups. We manufacture each billet piston for both the
direct and forward piston with exact tolerences in mind.
Release - The SunCoast custom redesigned billet direct
piston also comes with our own custom spring count with a
set of custom return springs. This was an important issue
we wanted to address in the direct clutch, after all the release
is just as valuable as the apply.
Each one of our
builds receives new custom billet direct and forward apply
pistons. We are proud say that both the forward and direct
pistons are designed, engineered, tested, and manufactured
here in the U.S.A. by American workers.
The Valve
Body
In many way the
valve body is the brain of the transmission. This one simple
piece can simply be the life or death of a transmission. Each
one of our SunCoast custom built transmission's receive one
of our custom calibrated valve bodies. SunCoast has specifically
calibrates each valve body for that customers specific needs.
We also offer a variety of additional upgrades to these as
well. We offer full manual setup's in both forward and reverse
shift patterns. These can also be built with custom transbrake's
as well.
- TORQUE
CONVERTER SOLD SEPERATELY.