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Allison transmission information.

Junk runner

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2019
Messages
45
Location
Kansas City Mo
Im going to put Allison’s in a couple of my dump trucks That have standard transmissions at the moment. I posted on here earlier about a stand alone harness but believe I have that taken care of now. The next issue is getting the right flex plate and ring gear with adapter. I have been looking for used ones with zero luck so I may have to get new ones or at least if I had the numbers of whit I needed it might be easier to come up with used ones. If anyone could help me with the correct numbers that would be very helpful. I need the transmission adaption kit number and the engine adaption kit number and would like a break down of the parts included with numbers if at all Possible. I have called Allison and they are less than helpful unless you are a distributor. They just give you the number of your closest distributor who really doesn’t have the time or desire understandably so to help. I’m wanting to put a rds4500 behind a 2000 cat c15 in a kenworth the second is an Rds4500 behind a 1999 Cummins n14. Any help at all would be appreciated. Also I’m going gen 4 electrical pre prognostic which is 2006 to sometime in 2009 i believe. I could use a shifter keypad number that works with the gen 4 Pre prognostic.
 

colson04

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2016
Messages
2,093
Location
Delton, Michigan
Have you tried calling Weller's remanufcaturing? I had issues with an Allison a while back and they were incredibly helpful, especially since I was buying the parts from them.

1-800-872-6697, ask for Joel. Any of the folks there are good, but I worked with Joel on my issue. I also discussed converting one of our forage trucks to an Allison and he sounded fairly informative on what we needed. We didn't convert our truck though, it had other issues and we opted to upgrade instead.
 

grandpa

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2009
Messages
1,979
Location
northern minnesota
Really can't help you with part numbers, but this should help you with the gen 4 operational. file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/Allison%20Transmission%20TS3989EN%20Troubleshooting%20Manual.pdf
 

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,346
Location
sw missouri
On a cummins 8.3 I went the other direction, from automatic to standard transmission, when repoweriing some equipment. There are two different flywheel housings for the 8.3, one for automatics, one for standard. Automatics have a deeper flywheel housing to account for the torque converter. I would guess the same to be true for the larger engines. So you will likely have to find the deeper adaptors for the engines.

A good resource would be a shop that works on buses. Like the big tour busses. They have been running allisons for a long time.
 

Birken Vogt

Charter Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2003
Messages
5,330
Location
Grass Valley, Ca
I think converter and clutch (Allison) are far superior in soft ground, steep hills, etc. to anything direct drive.

If it was up to me, I would only use standard shift for long haul.

I have never used an AMT but all I hear is complaints about them in local work.
 

Vetech63

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2016
Messages
6,449
Location
Oklahoma
I guess Im just old school. I learned to drive on a standard and have always preferred them.
 

Birken Vogt

Charter Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2003
Messages
5,330
Location
Grass Valley, Ca
The advantages I am talking about are inching around using the converter and not having to be burning a clutch. Be it manual or automatic.

That plus the first few upshifts when trying to take off uphill. Frequently around here the truck comes to a stop before the engine RPM can drop enough to get into the next gear. Allison transmissions do not have that problem.
 

Truck Shop

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2015
Messages
17,073
Location
WWW.
With manual mode on the AMT you can tap the button on the stalk and it up shifts fast on a incline.
 

Birken Vogt

Charter Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2003
Messages
5,330
Location
Grass Valley, Ca
I just don't understand what would make an AMT preferable to an Allison. The Allison eliminates the clutch which is a constant source of headaches. Plus it has been around forever and is well understood, while the AMT can tend to be somewhat proprietary and strange.
 

grandpa

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2009
Messages
1,979
Location
northern minnesota
All 3 types will give you problems for sure, but I lean towards the Allison as well. On the newer Gen 4 and 5 models im having trouble in the 80 pin connectors being insufficient and not robust enough for gravel truck app. When you have to measure "pin drag" in a connector thats getting to be a little much. Just my 4 cents (inflation).
 

56wrench

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2016
Messages
2,134
Location
alberta
an allison in a tandem silage truck worked better on a short haul compared to any of the other standard trucks we used to run over the years. plus, we could put a 16 year old kid( boy or girl ) in it and only spend a minimal amount of training time. 6V53 with an MT650. noisy but it got the job done
 

Junk runner

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2019
Messages
45
Location
Kansas City Mo
For hauling asphalt and loading millings most everyone around here is buying new trucks with Allison’s. One of my trucks was an auto shift when I bought it and I liked it when it worked but not so much when it wouldn’t shift with a load of asphalt on. It also wouldn’t shift when they were pushing you with the asphalt buggy unless they slowed down or stopped. They weren’t fans of that and got a little cranky. I converted that transmission to a manual 18 about 5 years ago and it’s worked great. However there aren’t enough drivers around here and for sure not enough that can drive a manual well. Plus after riding the clutch all day or night in front of the milling machine my knee gets to killing me. Sucks getting old. So I’m going to put an auto in one of my trucks and if I like it convert the others if not I’ll wish I hadn’t and mark it up to not one of my greatest ideas. Thanks for the weller suggestion I’m
Going to call them next week.
 
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