How will my transmission react to upgrades in engine power?

[Lethalweapon100]

Hey all, I have a question.

So I plan to put some more horses under my hood this spring. I want to do a few simple things, such as throttle body spacer, an air intake, and maybe even a Flowmaster system. Now, the truck has 209K miles on it. Runs and drives just fine, although it does burn more oil than it should. I need to do the plenum/kegger mod with a full gasket set. But obviously repairs come before fun.

Anyway, Chrysler was not famous for their transmissions. I have the 46RE in my truck, and a few thousand miles ago, I changed out the filter and the fluid. I don't know when it was done before that, but the fluid looked pretty good and very few metal shavings in it when I took it out. Im not sure if the transmission is original or not. But, down to the question:

Will adding the few mods I want to my truck shorten my transmissions lifespan significantly?
Will giving it some gas with those mods hurt the transmission?
Is there any simple things I can do to beef up the transmission/Extend its lifespan with moar power?

Thanks all, I appreciate it.

 

[dapepper9]

The mods you mentioned won't hurt your trans at all. In fact, tb spacer and cai won't add power your truck. Cai might give you some slight throttle response and sound great under load but no actual power gain. Exhaust really won't add much either but it will be a slight increase.

Things to increase trans life include check ball valve delete. Also adding an extra/replacing trans cooler with a bigger one will also extend trans life. Good way to tie those together is to add a trans temp gauge as well so as to keep an eye on it

 

[Lethalweapon100]

The mods you mentioned won't hurt your trans at all. In fact, tb spacer and cai won't add power your truck. Cai might give you some slight throttle response and sound great under load but no actual power gain. Exhaust really won't add much either but it will be a slight increase.

Things to increase trans life include check ball valve delete. Also adding an extra/replacing trans cooler with a bigger one will also extend trans life. Good way to tie those together is to add a trans temp gauge as well so as to keep an eye on it

Really? Huh. Then what DO the cai and tb spacer do? Anything? Is it just snake oil? i know exhaust won't do much, thats more for show.

Also, ill look into those trans mods. Thanks for those.

 

[dodge dude94]

Spacer is a nice paper weight.....

CAI allows a bit more air flow, that's about it. You don't have to worry about hurting the trans. until you do more indepth stuff like a cam, or rockers, good tuning.

 

[Lethalweapon100]

Spacer is a nice paper weight.....

CAI allows a bit more air flow, that's about it. You don't have to worry about hurting the trans. until you do more indepth stuff like a cam, or rockers, good tuning.

I see. So, new question. What good bolt-on mods are there, if any?

 

[BlackMagnum2000]

A hemi swap is a good bolt on. Very cheap. Minimal fab-work required. kidding of course. Not sure there is much you can do that's just bolt on for power gains. I would start with first doing a proper tune up, good plugs wires, distributor cap, rotor button, etc. Then do a plenum repair. Then a CAI and exhaust to help the engine flow better. From there you can get a Superchips for a quick canned tune or go ahead and throw a cam in it, some nice roller rockers, maybe some heads, and a SCT with a custom tune should really liven her up.

Edit: I don't suggest doing what I've done and wasting money on a cam that doesn't require a tune or putting 37s on it especially if you're worried about your transmission and especially not 37s with stock gears. My truck is a rolling miracle to be completely honest...

 

[dapepper9]

Good bolt-ons include headers, straight flow muffler, intake manifold, tb, and a tune to tie em all together.

 

[dodge dude94]

I see. So, new question. What good bolt-on mods are there, if any?

Technically, 1.7 ratio roller rockers are considered a bolt on mod as it's a matter of removing the valve covers, removing the old rockers and putting the new ones on.


Those, plus a tune, larger TB and the kegger mod are decent starting mods.

 

[Lethalweapon100]

Cool! Thanks everyone!