We stopped by Goerend's shop in Saint Lucas, Iowa to pick up the new transmission for Carter's truck at 1 a.m. We also took a chance to sneak around and take a few photos of the shop and were impressed at the cleanliness-as well as the amount of hard parts.
6. At what point do I need to worry about getting billet shafts for my transmission?
Goerend: At 500 horsepower and above, I would put in a billet input; at 600-650 and above, they should probably have intermediate shafts in them, too. The intermediates are n the most danger if you're towing really, really heavy loads.
Lovrich: On an Allison, at about 600 hp and above, on a Dodge, anything above 375 hp and you're going to need at least an input shaft, and the same goes for Fords.
7. We've heard flexplates can break. Is that true?
Goerend: A lot of stock flexplates will break. Fords and Dodges seem to when you go up in torque. Above 500 horsepower, you'd better do something with the flexplate, especially with a common-rail Cummins.
Lovrich: Those Cummins are nasty and put down a bunch of torque. With the Fords, I haven't seen that many break, but above 500 hp, it would probably be a good idea. The Duramax flexplates seem to be pretty reliable.
More rotating weight also equals more stress on your transmission. Having six monster tires on your truck won't make your stock transmission happy.
8. Any info on the '08 automatics yet?
Goerend: We should have a triple-disc for the 68RFE soon. Overall, it looks like they'll be pretty solid. Physically, it looks like it will be a brute of a transmission, but for overall reliability, only time will tell.
Lovrich: They're all pretty good, but the weakest link in them by far is the converter. Even on a stock truck, yanking the transmission and putting in a converter would put you a step ahead.
9. My truck has 150-200,000 miles on it. Do I need a rebuild?
Goerend: Just because it has a lot of miles on it doesn't mean it needs to be rebuilt-200,000 highway miles is a lot different than 50,000 of use on the farm. It mostly depends on your usage and maintenance.
Lovrich: No, not necessarily. You may or may not have damaged the transmission, depending on how you drove it. At that point, you may not need one, but it would be a good idea. A rebuild that is built correctly should last another 150,000 miles, no problem.
10. What are the Ford transmission's strong/weak points?
Lovrich: Those Ford transmissions are big, so the strong point is just its size. The weak point is the converter and the valvebody programming of the transmission. If you're going to buy a programmer for a 6.0L Ford, you definitely need to buy one that raises transmission line pressure.