47RH Transmission Tech - Budget Build Up

npe3484

npe3484

I hate ATF
I'll be ordering parts for my tranny rebuild very shortly, but I wanted to get some input on a few parts first. There will be lots of pictures taken as I tear down and rebuild the 47RH from my 95 4x4 truck. My budget is pretty tight due to hours at work being limited.

First and foremost, this portion of the buildup will only need to stand up to mild engine mods. We'll call it a STAGE 1 build LOL. Right now I have a #6 plate full forward, 5" exhaust, and BHAF. This is how the engine will remain until I can afford to put in a real torque convertor and billet shafts. I know many of you will be thinking "do it once, do it right". I totally agree with these thoughts, but the money just isn't there right now. So for now I will NOT be replacing the torque convertor, input/intermediate/output shafts, or upgrading the planetaries. The valve body upgrades will be done with a "kit" that I can install. I totally understand that it would make the most sense to do everything at once, but right now I can't even drive the truck. Hence the need for a rebuild. Now on to the tech (questions) :hehe:

Accumulator Piston: I've seen OEM plastic, cast aluminum with 2 steel sealing rings, billet aluminum with 4 steel rings, and billet aluminum with 2 steel and 2 teflon rings. Obviously if I'm spending money on a rebuild I won't use the OEM plastic unit. Any experiences with the other 3 styles?

Apply Lever: I definitely need some input here. 3.8? 4.2? 5.0? It's easy to understand that each of those levers exerts more force than the previous one. Are there any downsides to running a 5.0 that has 30something% more force than a 3.8?

Clutches & Steels: Stock-type materials or Alto-Red and Kolene? The price difference is almost double. Is it worth it? I'm leaning towards a stock rebuild kit with the hopes that all the other upgraded parts will allow the clutches/steels to perform like they're supposed to.

Strut & Anchor: Billet parts are available and look waaaay beefier than the OEM units. Price is reasonable too. Any reason not to pick these up?

Thanks in advance for the help! :Cheer:
 
gunracer1 said:
why bother if you are not going to put in a decent converter.
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I'm glad to see my expectations were met with the appropriate response :hehe:

npe3484 said:
I totally understand that it would make the most sense to do everything at once, but right now I can't even drive the truck. Hence the need for a rebuild.
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I'm sure there are other users out there who don't know the answers to all my questions. They too would benefit from a little tech.
 
gunracer1 said:
why bother if you are not going to put in a decent converter.
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because as of right now he has no truck!

accumulator - billet 2teflon 2 metal ringed

apply arm - i know in my built trans for hts has the 4.2 arm not the 5 to 1 and it still applies and holds pretty good

clutches and steels - make sure you are reading the packages correctly i know that PATC has the power packs which as extra steels and clutches to drums. for your application the stock clutches should be fine.

strut and anchor - get the upgraded band anchor and strut arm. remember that you're more than likely going to have to replace the front band as well, once you tear it down and look at it.
 
A stock rebuild kit will likely come with a new front band... mine did. The best price quote I got for billet strut, billet anchor, and billet 4.2 lever was from Brett at TNT.

If you're on a budget, get the $15 dollar cast aluminum accumulator to handle the higher than stock pressure from your shift kit. The plastic one held up fine so why spend $40 on a zero leak billet one?

On my rebuild, I spent the $25 for the 2nd servo cover. Seems like a lot of tranny builders recommend it.
 
Big Blue24 said:
A stock rebuild kit will likely come with a new front band... mine did. The best price quote I got for billet strut, billet anchor, and billet 4.2 lever was from Brett at TNT.

If you're on a budget, get the $15 dollar cast aluminum accumulator to handle the higher than stock pressure from your shift kit. The plastic one held up fine so why spend $40 on a zero leak billet one?

On my rebuild, I spent the $25 for the 2nd servo cover. Seems like a lot of tranny builders recommend it.
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I was hoping you would chime in! The trans buildup you're doing on the 2wd drag truck really got me motivated to get my parts ordered. :thankyou2:

We're supposed to get MORE snow tonight, so pulling the trans is gonna get pushed back another couple days. :bang If it's not one thing...
 
Another cheap upgrade you can do to the overdrive/direct clutch pack, the one that's held in place with the big spring:

Order (9) 0.054" steels instead of the stock (8) 0.068" steels. You also need to order one extra OD/Direct friction. Basically this allows you to upgrade from 9 standard frictions to 10 or an 11% increase in friction surface. This upgrade cost me $15.46 instead of PATC's $100 upgrade!

https://www.wittrans.com/SchematicParts.aspx?Transmission=A518/A618&LinkCode=122


Another cheap upgrade is to buy the 48re backing plate for the OD clutch pack. This allows you to run 6 OD clutches instead of 5 for a 20% increase in friction surface area. This upgrade cost me a whopping $13.39 instead of PATC's upgrade for $$$$. To do this mod, you need to buy one extra friction, one extra steel, and only use one flat snap ring on the bottom below the backing plate. The stock setup uses a 1/4" backing plate with a waved snap ring and a flat snap ring.

https://www.wittrans.com/SchematicParts.aspx?Transmission=A518/A618&LinkCode=141

I'm still researching "cheap" upgrades to the front two clutch packs but haven't found anything "cheap enough" yet.

And finally, if you want some extra friction, so the stock clutches are more grabby, run a different fluid. Ford Type F is a lot more grabby than ATF+4, if you really want to go all out on fluid, run some John Deere Hy-Gard. That's what I'm going to run in my race tranny. 5 gallons for $56 out the door. The only fluid I could find cheaper was Walmart's dex/mer generic stuff at $9.85 a gallon. I chose the tractor fluid cause it's really grabby, has a much better additive package: better than any tranny fluid on the market today, deals with heat and high pressure better than any tranny fluid on the market, and it's a little thicker so it will tighten up a stockish converter. If you live in a cold climate, I'd mix the tractor fluid 50/50 with something red: ATF, Type F, Dex/Merc, etc.


***Just a disclaimer, I am not a transmission expert. This is my very first transmission build so consult with your local tranny expert before you follow all of my suggestions.
 
Awesome info! This is exactly the kind of stuff I was hoping to see in the thread.

Big Blue, I saw in your buildup thread that you're gonna be using the TransGo shift kit. Have you seen/heard of the shift kit that DTT is now selling? It's listed at $199 on their website. This is some info that I got from Stefan Kondolay of DTT.
The biggest difference is that the DTT shift kit is custom tailored to your truck, which means the proper springs, valves(no grind yours like trans-go), new brass check balls, Machined NEW seperator plate, Billet band strut. It's the way to go if you can do your own build.
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I have never ran a DTT product so I can't really say one way or the other. Me, personally, I couldn't justify $199 when the Transgo TFOD-HD2 kit goes for $115 to my door.
 
nice post... We have a farm truck that needs a trans rebuild that is about the same power level as npe3484's truck (but will remain there forever, no more mods).

I priced a rebuild kit and transgo kit from ctpowertrain and came up with $250.

A billet strut, anchor, 4.2 lever, front servo cover, cast aluminum accumulator, and teflon coated pump gears from PATC came to $169.

What else will I need for this truck? single disk convertor (from who?)

This is also a very small budget build so unfortunately a Goerends is out of the picture.
 
Stefan's kit is very nice and they have great customer service. Everything is all set with his kit and just needs to be installed. Stefan also taught me the band apply lever ratio is more about timing of engagement. I went with a 4.2 lever and was told the 5.0 is not a good idea.
 
Big Blue24 said:
I have never ran a DTT product so I can't really say one way or the other. Me, personally, I couldn't justify $199 when the Transgo TFOD-HD2 kit goes for $115 to my door.
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The DTT kit does come with upgraded strut and anchor, so you can technically subtract that from the shift kit cost ($40-60 depending on source). I'm gonna go with DTT because Stefan has been awesome about answering all my questions.

SHIFT-KIT-PAGE.gif
 
npe3484 said:
The DTT kit does come with upgraded strut and anchor, so you can technically subtract that from the shift kit cost ($40-60 depending on source). I'm gonna go with DTT because Stefan has been awesome about answering all my questions.

SHIFT-KIT-PAGE.gif
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That's a pretty decent deal... I can get the Trans-Go for around $90 though, but that's cause I have an account at Transtar for the shop. I would recommend finding a Borg-Warner rebuild kit, it already uses the thinner plates in the OD-direct clutch pack, or at least the one's I get from Transtar do. The 48RE backing plate is a good idea though.

An old school cast aluminum accumulator (from a 727) is sufficient for your application, though I would HIGHLY suggest getting a Sonnax Low/Reverse servo. I haven't seen it mentioned here, but even in stock rebuilds I like to install one of these, simply because the stock unit likes to cock in the bore and break causing you to lose reverse, for $60 it's a good peace of mind part.
 
BlackSkyRacing said:
I would HIGHLY suggest getting a Sonnax Low/Reverse servo. I haven't seen it mentioned here, but even in stock rebuilds I like to install one of these, simply because the stock unit likes to cock in the bore and break causing you to lose reverse, for $60 it's a good peace of mind part.
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Thanks for the advice. I think I'll add it to the build list. I lost reverse in my trans which is exactly why I'm doing the rebuild.
 
On my build I didn't order the upgraded reverse/low servo because this is for my race truck and it won't be street driven very often so it will rarely use reverse or manual 1st.
 
Big Blue24 said:
On my build I didn't order the upgraded reverse/low servo because this is for my race truck and it won't be street driven very often so it will rarely use reverse or manual 1st.
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Um... You really plan to torture that poor low roller clutch and your transmission case don't you?
 
I put in my order to DTT today for their shift kit. It was $195 plus shipping. The billet strut was included in that price, but the billet anchor (which I opted for) added another $20.
 
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