What Torque Convertor Do I Need? Brand? Stall?

BKM48198

15 Year Member
Jun 7, 2008
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Ypsilanti, Michigan
I have a 90GT AOD car with a 96 Explorer motor with a Mustang cam, 1.7 roller rockers, 65mmTB, 70mm mass air, 3.73 gears, and 26in tall tires. I am wanting a better torque convertor because I lost some low end power with this motor but have better high rpm power. I am looking for advise on what brand and stall speed torque convertor would work the best for daily driving, I haven't taken the car to the track in over 10 years and don't plan on racing it, just want to be able to launch better from a stoplight. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I've been reading about FTI torque convertors and heard good things, anyone have personal experience using one of their convertors? FTI Street Brawler sold thru Jegs and on sale now for $224 with a 2400rpm stall.
 
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Best is to contact a converter company like Edge or PA and have them custom make one for you specific application. There is much more to them than stall speed. Avoid B&M.

You also need to ugrade your valve body an install a trans cooler. Contact Brian at Silverfox or go to his website clickclickracing.com. He knows more aboujt AOD's than anyone else.
 
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Yeah contact a vendor. They'll ask things such as cam specs. If you're budget shopping and had to choose either a new converter or a new valvebody I think I'd get a better valvebody before a converter. Especially if you're not taking it to the track unless you foot brake at stoplights. At least w the new valvebody it'd clean up the lazy and sloppy aod shifts.
 
A converter is one of those things that you don't want to get wrong, so at the risk of not sounding like a broken record, you need to talk to a few companies that make them.
All converters are not created equal, and "advertised stall" is something that is too loosely thrown around to trust as a sole criteria for buying one.
I understand that you are not looking for a large increase in stall in order to make back some of the low end you've lost, and the right converter is where you'll get it back, but the wrong application may not do what it's supposed to, or slip too much.

Here's my case in point:

I (like you) have an overdrive trans. I have a 4R70W. I also wanted a small amount of stall, so as to allow the engine to get where it needed to be w/o sacrificing fuel economy via excess slippage when cruising. Ordinarily that would be an 11-13" OEM-sized converter rated at around 2500 stall.

Then I called PATC and talked to the guy about buying the one I had picked out.

AOD's, and 4R70W's have lock-up clutches in their converters. The factory converter is enormous both in diameter, and weight. Diameter, rotational weight and a small engine do not coexist well when performance is considered. While stall in the 2200-2400 RPM range is typically one of the advertised selling points of one of those 12" lockup converters,.... what isn't advertised is the fact that they weigh over 50 pounds empty. And your poor little 302 is busting it's balls just trying to spin all of that.

In my case I have a turbocharged engine, and getting it into boost quickly was one of my criteria, again w/o the trans slipping past 3000 RPM every time I matted the gas on the interstate when the thing was in O/D, and the converter locked up.

So, long story short, (which you'll never get from me) is.....

I bought a custom, 10" converter that was "tightened" up so I could realize my objectives and save about a BAGILLION pounds of rotational mass at the same time.

My $225.00 dollar 12" converter just became a $600.00 10" in about 15 minutes on the phone. It cost me almost 3 times what I wanted to spend, but I'm comfortable w/ the knowledge that I'm not having to spin a 13" flying saucer that weighs 65 lbs to get the job done.
 
I already plan on getting a trans cooler and the valve body has been upgraded, the drum inside also was upgraded and holds a few more clutch disks from what the guy I had rebuild it said. I'm also looking at a better servo from PA but that will depend on how much money my wife will allow me to spend, LOL, I've just bought a fiberglass hood, 255lph fuel pump, new seat covers, 1.7 crane roller rockers, and now want a better torque convertor before I get a better cam and aluminum heads. With a good convertor I might be happy and not need the cam and heads but I don't want to spend $750 on a convertor if I don't need to, but I don't want to go cheap and buy junk that will not last. From what I have been reading I won't be buying a B&M.
 
You always have the money to do it right the 2nd time. The converter is going to help you out of the hole immensely. Get the wrong one and you can do all sorts of bad things from worse performance to ruining your transmission.. IMO you will want to retain the lockup for the OD but that means keeping the 2 piece input shaft, unless you plan on buying a 1 piece input shaft and the corresponding converter- again more money. Also, compare the quality of each company, what their reputation is, and what their warranty is. Do they allow you to reflash and how much do they charge. LIke I said, there is more to it than buying based on advertised stall. That being said, if you are planning a HCI swap, wait until that is done before getting the converter.

FWIW, I'll be getting this Edge converter when I get around to it for my AOD.

Street Edge Converter for Ford AOD Transmissions [SEAOD] - $545.00 : Edge Racing Converters, More Horsepower with More Torque Guaranteed!

My car currently makes around 300 rwhp through an AOD with a silverfox VB and stock converter.. Like you, the powerband has been moved up the rpm curve and will need a 2500-2800 stall converter.
 
Years ago there was a trans company on the East coast that was selling performance trans and convertors for about $1000 so I bought one with a 10in convertor, it was good for just over a year, but I was coming out of 1st gear at about 5-10mph, that convertor came apart and I had specks of metal that went thru the trans and killed it, when that happened I went back to my stock trans and convertor and the trans sat in the garage for years till I found a good guy to rebuild it. I've owned this car since 1989 and want to be able to enjoy driving it but not race it, just want it to give me another 25 years.
You always have the money to do it right the 2nd time. The converter is going to help you out of the hole immensely. Get the wrong one and you can do all sorts of bad things from worse performance to ruining your transmission.. IMO you will want to retain the lockup for the OD but that means keeping the 2 piece input shaft, unless you plan on buying a 1 piece input shaft and the corresponding converter- again more money. Also, compare the quality of each company, what their reputation is, and what their warranty is. Do they allow you to reflash and how much do they charge. LIke I said, there is more to it than buying based on advertised stall. That being said, if you are planning a HCI swap, wait until that is done before getting the converter.

FWIW, I'll be getting this Edge converter when I get around to it for my AOD.

Street Edge Converter for Ford AOD Transmissions [SEAOD] - $545.00 : Edge Racing Converters, More Horsepower with More Torque Guaranteed!

My car currently makes around 300 rwhp through an AOD with a silverfox VB and stock converter.. Like you, the powerband has been moved up the rpm curve and will need a 2500-2800 stall converter.
I have both ( one piece and 2 piece input shafts) been thru plenty of transmission since I bought the car and saved a lot of parts. I do want a lock-up because most of my driving is on the highway to and from work, I don't mind if I have to get a different convertor later on if I do a cam and head change, I want something really good for this set-up. I've been reading about the companies that will reflash the convertor within a year but it might be longer than that before I get inside the engine again. I was hoping to hear more about what brands others have had good luck with and which to stay away from. I've been reading reviews online but would rather hear from people that really have them in their Mustangs, things such as is one rated great online but not really better than one at 2/3rds the price. I wish there was an article in a Mustang mag that actually compared convertors on the same engine on a dyno but I can't find one.
 
Had one built by Circle D in texas for my Cougar a few years back. Great converter....very well built.

Whatever you do, keep the lock up feature if you plan on daily driving this car. They become annoying to drive without it and fuel mileage suffers.
 
Had one built by Circle D in texas for my Cougar a few years back. Great converter....very well built.

Whatever you do, keep the lock up feature if you plan on daily driving this car. They become annoying to drive without it and fuel mileage suffers.
I did buy one that is a Lock-up, and about 5-600 rpm over stock stall, also have a trans cooler coming that should be here tomorrow. I contacted a few torque convertor makers and most were not helpful, I have been working 12 hour days and tried to get some help thru e-mail since they were closed by the time I got home and only TCI went into detail about what I should get. One told me I needed a 3400 stall then when I replied to that they said I needed a 2000 stall, but would only give VERY short replies to my questions and really didn't answer my questions. Maybe after I upgrade the cam and heads I'll need a better one and check Circle D. I hope to get the convertor installed next weekend when I'll have a few days off, working 12 hour days 6 days a week doesn't leave much time for working on the car but makes paying for parts easy.