High Stall Converters and Highway Driving???

Posted By: Junky

High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 03:16 AM

I get tired of conflicting info.

I've read on here that it's fine to run a tight converter rated at 3000 stall on the streets, roads and highways. Talked to someone today about running a TC with about 3000 stall who said that it would be too high for highway driving. That it would generate too much heat. That I should keep it down to no more than a 2500 stall TC. This person has been racing and custom building engines for like 40 years. I'd like input from you all about this subject.

I'd like to run a 3000 stall TC. I'm running a 727 with 3.73 gears. The cam would love it.

Posted By: dOrk !

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 03:21 AM

USING a good quality converter ...NOT to worry

Posted By: Twostick

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 03:25 AM

Your friend is still stuck in the sixties.

I'm running a 4800 lb C-body with a 493 727 3000 Turbo Action converter with 3.23 gears. ZERO problems.

Install a good quality trans cooler and enjoy.
With 3.73's it would be locked up freeway speeds anyway.

Kevin

Posted By: GO_Fish

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 03:25 AM

you'd need to do some calculations, including exact tire height and rear gear ratio. As long as your highway RPM's are higher than your stall speed, you will not generate excessive heat. I.E. Highway RPM's at 3500, not so much heat. Highway RPM's at 2500, there would be heat caused by slippage in the converter, and more heat generated as RPM's decrease. Install a big trans cooler and go for it!

Shop carefully for your converter. They will need all kinds of precise information to get you the right converter (it must work with your cam selection for optimum results). If you provide them with bad info (or they never ask for detailed info) you will not get the full bang for the buck and may be unsatisfied. The wrong converter can make the car a dog!

Posted By: buildanother

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 03:26 AM

Just do it. I ran a 323 geared 440 B body all over the joint with a 10" turbo action, factory radiator cooler only, never burnt trans up. It won't be slipping too bad to pull your B body around under minimal load. I could not say the same thing if you were hauling a 5000 lb or more trailer, up a steep grade for many miles though.

Posted By: YO7_A66

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 03:28 AM

I agree with the above posters on running a quality unit PLUS a tranny cooler.
I run a TA 10" tight unit now for 5 years on the street with 3:91's and 27" tires (3500rpm unit) and no problems so far. I also have a temp gage so I can watch the running temp of the tranny with the converter. Call Paul Forte at Turbo Action and he will ask for all of your info.

Junky:
With your new cam, I would bet that you won't be able to wipe the smile off of your face if you went with a 3k+ converter.

With all of the bolt on items that I have thrown onto my car in the last nine years(5 carbs,2 intakes, 2 cams, 2 ignition systems, even 340 HP manifolds to TTI headers[second place!]), this 3500 converter is by far the most "seat of the pants" improvement that I have seen.

Posted By: Twostick

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 03:29 AM

Kevin

Posted By: slantzilla

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 04:04 AM

Unless you are really on the throttle the converter will be pretty much locked up anyway. (At least as locked as it will get)

Posted By: GO_Fish

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 04:35 AM

my understanding is the better converters slip less under light load than "budget" converters. My 9.5" Dynamics converter has a noticeable slip pulling away from a stop sign at light throttle, but by 15 mph or so, it is not noticeable. For the most part, you usually get what you pay for with converters. Not to say that some brands may be over or under rated.

Posted By: DJVCuda

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 04:56 AM

I run a 3800 stall 9.5" dynamic - with 3.23 gears - runnin down the highway i get 16 mpg -

before with a mopar 2500 ( 175k ) 10" converter i got less mpg, it spun the engine 400 rpm more at 55 mph and made more heat - a quality converter will work in this application.

I called several, ATI told me i'd never get it done - i called dynamic and they said i could drive to florida and back ( NJ) and they were right - i have over 8000 miles on it now and never had a problem!

Posted By: crlush

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 05:21 AM

Theres no such thing as high stahl street converters, the higher the stahl the more heat it will generate, just make shure you use a good trans cooler and you will be fine, been running a 3800 stahl converter for years with a good trans cooler and have never had any problems.

Posted By: DJVCuda

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 05:27 AM

the fin pitch, stator design and construction can essentially make a smaller diameter converter flash AND become efficient at speeds...

picture a pinwheel behind a fan - one will push the other and it will eventually get close to the same speed.

That is a positive pitch on the fins, the old school way to get stall was to put a negative pitch, and it would work against itself never getting efficient. Not anymore.

I put this together a few years ago - might be worth the read.

April / May 2008 Mopar Enthusiast Magazine - Talking Torque Converters

Posted By: Junky

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 06:32 AM

OK, I'm confident now to get a higher stall converter. I'm already running a B&M trans cooler. Tires are 28" tall. I'm usually runing 2700 RPM's down the highway or more. I think it's 383man that runs a tight 10" Turbo Action rated at 3000 stall, and he loves it. I'll be looking at that one, but will look into others too.

Quote:

Junky:
With your new cam, I would bet that you won't be able to wipe the smile off of your face if you went with a 3k+ converter.

I can't wait.

Posted By: Junky

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 06:41 AM

Thanks, good read.

Posted By: 383man

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 09:20 AM

I have been driving my 63 on the road since 2006 with a 9.5 Dynamic converter that flashes about 4200. I drive the highway all the time along with the back roads. I drove it to Carlise going up 83 at 60 mph all the way taching about 3300. Its about 90 miles one way. I have not had any problems in my 63 or my boys Dart that has been on the road since 1997 and also has a 9.5 Dynamic unit.
See here I am at Carlisle.

Ron

Posted By: BigBlockMopar

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 11:33 AM

I've driven a heavy '67 Newport with a 3800 Dynamic convertor as a dailydriver for a couple of years.
3.9 gears and a 'happy' 440 under the hood.
Ran the transcooler lines through the extra cooler only.

Posted By: 70Cuda383

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 11:35 AM

here's my understanding of the topic.

New, high quality torque converters are good for the street, AND will still stall high on the track for good ETs.

remember, it's a TORQUE converter. TORQUE being the key word, not "RPM"

the more torque you put into it, the more it will slip. at maximum torque, you'll get maximum slippage, up to the stall point.

under part throttle, light load cruising, your not really making any torque, and that "high stall TC" is not slipping excessivly --again, at part throttle cruisng.

Posted By: ProStDodge

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 12:46 PM

The first stall converter I ever had was so bad I was about ready to give up driving a performance car on the street. It would slip noticeably up to 3000 rpm. I could shift through all 3 gears at 2000 rpm and never see the tach move.

I bought a good converter and WOW the difference was amazing. Not only did I have very firm shifts at ANY rpm (it could bark the tires on the 1-2 shift at 2300 rpm and part throttle), but it flashed on the trans brake to 4200-4400.

I have since had several different converter/car combinations, and always found the ones I ordered for the cars were great, the "off-the-shelf" units - not so much.

Scott

Posted By: DAMOPARS

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 01:45 PM

9.5 3800 Dynamic no problems

Posted By: quickd100

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 06:33 PM

Use a good trans cooler and worry about something else that's important. I run a 8" TA that stalls 6200rpm, I drive it everywhere and the closest cruise nite is 30 miles away. Dave

Posted By: kruger

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 10:18 PM

Quote:

Use a good trans cooler and worry about something else that's important. I run a 8" TA that stalls 6200rpm, I drive it everywhere and the closest cruise nite is 30 miles away. Dave

My niece runs a 3400 b&m with a 484 mp w/cooler and 410's all day,highway,stopngo in a 63 Dodge 330(watta boat)going on 3 years now with no issue's.
I also think your going to be really surprised.

Posted By: thehemikid

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/28/10 11:27 PM

...also, wasn't the factory RR converter considered 2800.

Posted By: dustergirl340

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/29/10 12:01 AM

I have a PTC 3,400 with 3.91 gears in the Duster, I have thousands of street miles and hundreds of quarter mile passes on it and it still runs flawlessly. I have a trans cooler on mine too. A quality converter is key. A good one will lower rpm on the freeway too, as mentioned.

Posted By: GoodysGotaCuda

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/29/10 01:31 AM

Quote:

USING a good quality converter ...NOT to worry

Yep, my dynamic flashed at 3500 and cruised down the highway at stock-like rpms.

Posted By: slantzilla

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/29/10 01:38 AM

Don't be afraid to do the best thing you can possibly do, call a converter company and get one matched to your car.

Off the shelf stuff can always be a crapshoot.

Posted By: Junky

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/29/10 05:08 AM

I'm still readin'. I tried one very popular converter company about 3 years ago that really blew it. Gave them all the necessary info to build me a converter. Asked for an eleven inch 2800 verter and got a loose 3500+, very loose. What a joke. I'll not try them again. The ones I have my eye on are Turbo Action, Hughes, Dynamic and Coan. I'll be talking with all of them.

Posted By: MLR426

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/29/10 03:43 PM

Look at the Turbo Action Street Tight convertors
they are street friendly.They give the best of both worlds street driving and high stall when you put your foot into it.

logan426

Posted By: Mopar_Country

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/29/10 05:43 PM

I spoke with the guys at Dynamic a while back with the same concerns. They assured me they can produce a converter that will flash to 3500 and still be VERY streetable. As for me that will be my choice, along with a good cooler and temp gauge. A little pricey but these guys have been doing this for a while.

Posted By: mopar4ya

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/30/10 06:53 PM

Quote:

the fin pitch, stator design and construction can essentially make a smaller diameter converter flash AND become efficient at speeds...

picture a pinwheel behind a fan - one will push the other and it will eventually get close to the same speed.

That is a positive pitch on the fins, the old school way to get stall was to put a negative pitch, and it would work against itself never getting efficient. Not anymore.

I put this together a few years ago - might be worth the read.

April / May 2008 Mopar Enthusiast Magazine - Talking Torque Converters

I wanted to make a copy of the link, but now it don't work????

Dan.

Posted By: Junky

Re: High Stall Converters and Highway Driving??? - 11/30/10 06:55 PM

Quote:

Quote:

the fin pitch, stator design and construction can essentially make a smaller diameter converter flash AND become efficient at speeds...

picture a pinwheel behind a fan - one will push the other and it will eventually get close to the same speed.

That is a positive pitch on the fins, the old school way to get stall was to put a negative pitch, and it would work against itself never getting efficient. Not anymore.

I put this together a few years ago - might be worth the read.

April / May 2008 Mopar Enthusiast Magazine - Talking Torque Converters

I wanted to make a copy of the link, but now it don't work????

Dan.

Same for me, now. PM DJVCuda to repost the link.