No longer going to support the 3 speed...
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 10:01 pm
As some of you may know, I was a believer in the durability and reliability of the 3T40 slushbox 
. With almost every attempt in making it into something that it just is not cut out to be I am cutting my losses with that piece of scrap 
. It's a fine DD trans for the stock application vehicles it came in and can handle a lot of abuse as long as the abuse isn't more torque/horsepower being thrown at it, but really hows that any fun!? 
In the past I've went through more 3 speeds than I care to remember and I can tell you all of them were supposedly built by someone that "knew" how to make it "bulletproof". After a lot of disappointment, I soon started building my own and used nothing but best of the best that I could get my hands on
. With a lot of research and one off parts I realized that this bulletproof trans was just unobtainable keeping me from greater achievements 
. With my quest of a "bulletproof" trans I often was prompted with the 4t60/65 suggestion, but that suggestion just was not something I was looking to hear/read for many reasons that I will not explain since most that know, know the reasoning's 
.
The first sign to this misleading theory that the 125C/3T40 was not a performance capable trans was when I started approaching 350hp/tq numbers and started ripping through these transmissions like a fat kid in cake
. When the power output increased more, it failed a lot quicker and would just fail right on the rollers . Over time, I've used a few coolers, in which some were suggested by local FWD specialist and it just didn't cut it. My temps were ideal, normally. However there's a point in which power over comes heat and friction surface was not proper for what it should be 
. The only item to live through this was EP's LSD... But it really cannot fail when the part behind it stop moving before the plates and springs can do there job.
Of all I went through with these transmissions, I can say that I would rather pull the engine and trans together than try to drop the trans out the bottom.
After doing a clean up of the parts I managed to snap a few pics of some parts prior to pitching...
Enjoy the carnage and random parts that survived (This trans was only in for a couple days and run time was less than 10 hours... most was of the time was idling or cruising ) :
I have one trans in mind that I am going to give a try...AND NO IT'S NOT A MANUAL TRANS!
Starting early May I hope to have the trans I need and all the parts to put in it to be ready by June
. After some research with reality on mind, I feel confident in my next choice.
I know I am leaving a lot of other info out that I am just forgetting to post up, but really its nothing positive.
One thing I hope to save someone later on in their projects is the grief that I went through trying to make something into something it just cannot be.
. With almost every attempt in making it into something that it just is not cut out to be I am cutting my losses with that piece of scrap . It's a fine DD trans for the stock application vehicles it came in and can handle a lot of abuse as long as the abuse isn't more torque/horsepower being thrown at it, but really hows that any fun!? In the past I've went through more 3 speeds than I care to remember and I can tell you all of them were supposedly built by someone that "knew" how to make it "bulletproof". After a lot of disappointment, I soon started building my own and used nothing but best of the best that I could get my hands on
. With a lot of research and one off parts I realized that this bulletproof trans was just unobtainable keeping me from greater achievements . With my quest of a "bulletproof" trans I often was prompted with the 4t60/65 suggestion, but that suggestion just was not something I was looking to hear/read for many reasons that I will not explain since most that know, know the reasoning's . The first sign to this misleading theory that the 125C/3T40 was not a performance capable trans was when I started approaching 350hp/tq numbers and started ripping through these transmissions like a fat kid in cake
. When the power output increased more, it failed a lot quicker and would just fail right on the rollers . Over time, I've used a few coolers, in which some were suggested by local FWD specialist and it just didn't cut it. My temps were ideal, normally. However there's a point in which power over comes heat and friction surface was not proper for what it should be . The only item to live through this was EP's LSD... But it really cannot fail when the part behind it stop moving before the plates and springs can do there job. Of all I went through with these transmissions, I can say that I would rather pull the engine and trans together than try to drop the trans out the bottom.
After doing a clean up of the parts I managed to snap a few pics of some parts prior to pitching...
Enjoy the carnage and random parts that survived (This trans was only in for a couple days and run time was less than 10 hours... most was of the time was idling or cruising ) :
I have one trans in mind that I am going to give a try...AND NO IT'S NOT A MANUAL TRANS!
Starting early May I hope to have the trans I need and all the parts to put in it to be ready by June
. After some research with reality on mind, I feel confident in my next choice.I know I am leaving a lot of other info out that I am just forgetting to post up, but really its nothing positive.
One thing I hope to save someone later on in their projects is the grief that I went through trying to make something into something it just cannot be.
