Allison 5sp: First duramax

[Russell B]

My name is Russell Born and raised in Texas moved to Alaska in 2013 ready to get back to the lower 48 any day now. Not new to the diesel world but new to the duramax world. Owned a few 12 valve Cummins and a 24 valve.. I guess my first question would be what kind of mild builds are out there?? I’m looking at getting my tranny rebuilt here in the next couple weeks and I want to make sure I’m not wasting any money buy doing some stupid tranny build when really I just need a mediocre build. I have a 2004.5 LLY with a K&N air filter, EFI Live DSP5 by Idaho rob, EGR delete, and cat replacement fuel filter.. I am looking at putting 100 horse sticks in it and a mild turbo build by one of the guys up here in AK. Here are a few pics of my truck.


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[WVRigrat05]

Why not a good build? These things aren’t like a junk dodge trans or a rich mans ford you have to slap 10 grand to build it. You can get a very capable trans built for 3800-4500 that’ll hold 750+ depending on who does it and what extras you get, obviously it’ll go over 5 grand with billet shafts and other mods to push the Allison over 1k horse.

 

[Russell B]

Why not a good build? These things aren’t like a junk dodge trans or a rich mans ford you have to slap 10 grand to build it. You can get a very capable trans built for 3800-4500 that’ll hold 750+ depending on who does it and what extras you get, obviously it’ll go over 5 grand with billet shafts and other mods to push the Allison over 1k horse.

True but I’m trying to save as much money as possible. So if I could get away with doing a stock build rebuild and upgrade the clutches and stuff if that would be enough to stand up to what I’m wanting to do with it. Cause usually I go big or go home. But these things get expensive and I’m still trying to save some money for my drive back down to the lower 48.


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[Russell B]

Why not a good build? These things aren’t like a junk dodge trans or a rich mans ford you have to slap 10 grand to build it. You can get a very capable trans built for 3800-4500 that’ll hold 750+ depending on who does it and what extras you get, obviously it’ll go over 5 grand with billet shafts and other mods to push the Allison over 1k horse.

I have seen stage 4 rebuild kits online for 1,079 without torque converter. And 2,069 with converter. So I’m just trying to see what all is out there for what I could technically get away with.

 

[WVRigrat05]

The kits are cheap, it’s the guy building it is the rest, a lot of those “kits” don’t have the properly clearanced clutches and there’s little tricks to make the trans hold more and shift smoother with less that’s what good builders do, I mean you can buy a kit and have any trans shop slap it in but we’ve seen quite a few guys do that and then come on here bitching the truck won’t move or stuck in limp mode and then have to turn around and pay that extra 1500-2000 and get it built right anyways.

You could order a kit from Evan on here as he makes sure the proper clutches are in the kit and a triple disk converter and give it a whirl, I raped a hurt trans in my LLY on big tunes for 200k, trans out lasted the motor.

 

[Russell B]

The kits are cheap, it’s the guy building it is the rest, a lot of those “kits” don’t have the properly clearanced clutches and there’s little tricks to make the trans hold more and shift smoother with less that’s what good builders do, I mean you can buy a kit and have any trans shop slap it in but we’ve seen quite a few guys do that and then come on here bitching the truck won’t move or stuck in limp mode and then have to turn around and pay that extra 1500-2000 and get it built right anyways.

You could order a kit from Evan on here as he makes sure the proper clutches are in the kit and a triple disk converter and give it a whirl, I raped a hurt trans in my LLY on big tunes for 200k, trans out lasted the motor.

How much are his kits? Don’t know how to use this site very well just yet is there a way to tag him or do you have his info to contact??


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[WVRigrat05]

Look up his site limitless diesel, I forget his screen name, been staining trim all night and prepping truck for long hauls again, brain is fried.

 

[frankenstien]

Evans info is in the vendor section. I have one of his kits in my truck, I've been beating on it for a while now, 15k miles ish, still good to go. Where in AK are you?

 

[zakkb787]

No such thing as a mild built Allison really. It’s better to overbuild for sure because once that built trans power bug bites that’s all she wrote. Stock turbo and injectors are plenty to smoke a stock trans. Talk to Evan at Limitless or Mike L from Inglewood about your wants and needs and they’ll set you up. Avoid taking it to local shops that claim they know Allison’s because chances are they don’t. These trans require a LOT of precision to build. Not like a dodge trans.

 

[Russell B]

Evans info is in the vendor section. I have one of his kits in my truck, I've been beating on it for a while now, 15k miles ish, still good to go. Where in AK are you?

Thanks for the info, I’m in Eagle River. What kit you go with and what did it run you??


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[Russell B]

No such thing as a mild built Allison really. It’s better to overbuild for sure because once that built trans power bug bites that’s all she wrote. Stock turbo and injectors are plenty to smoke a stock trans. Talk to Evan at Limitless or Mike L from Inglewood about your wants and needs and they’ll set you up. Avoid taking it to local shops that claim they know Allison’s because chances are they don’t. These trans require a LOT of precision to build. Not like a dodge trans.

Oh for sure that’s the reason I was going to go with the stage 4 but since you guys are talking about this Evan guy I think I’ll have to find him and shoot him a message asking what he can do for me.



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[Russell B]

Look up his site limitless diesel, I forget his screen name, been staining trim all night and prepping truck for long hauls again, brain is fried.

No worries I appreciate you getting back with me.


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[Blackmax123]

Evan's screen name is: Evan@limitlessdiesel

Doubt he'll be around much this weekend since to day is the final day of UCC

 

[frankenstien]

Thanks for the info, I’m in Eagle River. What kit you go with and what did it run you??

Sent you a pm

Fairbanks here.

As already stated, talk to Mike L or Evan before you call around talking to local shops, from my expierence, a lot of them didnt want to touch the allison, or wanted to put in a shift kit and call it good, cant remember the name, but its been discussed before as it causes tie ups.

Also got what I would call some misimformation about what I need for a torwue converter

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[TheBac]

You arent going to get anything worthwhile for nothing in this world, so stop thinking that way.
If you want to do things on the cheap, you'll be redoing the job and spending twice as much in the end.

Oh well, welcome to the site. Look thru the sections on Tapatalk.. that'll give you some idea where to post technical questions. Mike L has a transmission section if you have specific questions on a trans build.

 

[zakkb787]

Went with a PPE stage 5 trans in my lb7 with a local builder. It was stout but I wouldn’t have trusted it much past stock turbo capabilities. If I could do it over I would have sent it to Evan or mike for sure. Anything else you’re gambling on a lot of lost money.

 

[Russell B]

You arent going to get anything for nothing in this world, so stop thinking that way.
If you want to do things on the cheap, you'll be redoing the job and spending twice as much in the end.

Oh well, welcome to the site. Look thru the sections on Tapatalk.. that'll give you some idea where to post technical questions. Mike L has a transmission section if you have specific questions on a trans build.

I never said I wanted to go cheap... I said I wanted to make sure I’m not throwing money away.. By that I was meaning why would I be putting in some top dragster tranny into a mild upgraded motor..?? Yeah I’d always have it but that would suck for a daily driven rig. See where I’m going with that??

Thanks for the response and I’m looking at learning a ton of stuff on here and from you guys.


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[Russell B]

Evan's screen name is: Evan@limitlessdiesel

Doubt he'll be around much this weekend since to day is the final day of UCC

Thanks for the response I’ll have to send him a message and see what he can do to get me going in the right direction.


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[Russell B]

Went with a PPE stage 5 trans in my lb7 with a local builder. It was stout but I wouldn’t have trusted it much past stock turbo capabilities. If I could do it over I would have sent it to Evan or mike for sure. Anything else you’re gambling on a lot of lost money.

That’s the reason I’m asking what is good and what ain’t before I put about 3-4,000 into a build then have to put even more because of the screw up..


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[Russell B]

That’s the reason I’m asking what is good and what ain’t before I put about 3-4,000 into a build then have to put even more because of the screw up..


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Do it right the first time is what I go by.


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