tci
03-26-2009, 07:16 PM
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tci Hey guys new to automatic everybody says yank fti vigalante but what about tci anybody have good results o and i have a 2000 ta with a stock 6.0 with cam lt ory cat back and 342 gears
03-27-2009, 04:23 PM
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I had terrible luck with my TCI 3500. The first one I had shredded a lockup clutch and killed a perfectly good trans. The replacement they sent me didn't suffer any kind of failures, but it was an absolute turd. It got the car out of the hole pretty well, but it was a dog on the top end. The efficiency of their converters can't compare to the better brands like Yank, Vig, Circle D, etc, as was apparent on the dyno when the torque curve dropped like a rock at ~4k rpms. I have since switched it out for a Yank 4000 and the difference is night and day. The car pulls harder, is more streetable, and it's a monster on the top end. Where the TCI felt like it was hitting a brick wall around 85mph, the Yank keeps pulling. I'm not really praising Yank as much as I'm expressing my extreme displeasure with TCI. Do some research and you'll hear similar stories from MANY other people. I regret not doing enough homework when I first bought the converter because I would have gone with another brand right off the bat. With a converter, you really get what you pay for. The TCI's are a lot cheaper than most other converters for a reason.
03-27-2009, 06:41 PM
#6
Well, the OP asked "anybody have good results?" Some of us have.
Like you, I went from TCI to Yank, 3000 to 3600. Although the Yank flashes about 500 rpm higher, I'm not getting significantly better 60's, et's, or top end. My best 60' to date was with the TCI. Jimmyblue ran some tests on the TCI 3000 and found it very efficient - something like 98% on the top end.
Lock-up clutches are a known TCI issue, however. But I had no problems with mine.
Like you, I went from TCI to Yank, 3000 to 3600. Although the Yank flashes about 500 rpm higher, I'm not getting significantly better 60's, et's, or top end. My best 60' to date was with the TCI. Jimmyblue ran some tests on the TCI 3000 and found it very efficient - something like 98% on the top end.
Lock-up clutches are a known TCI issue, however. But I had no problems with mine.
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03-27-2009, 08:20 PM
#8
TCI has been around well as long as I can remember and thats a while 
They sell several stles of converters. From what I understand they are not custom built but rather off the shelf. But since the have been around a very long time I would have to disagree that they make crap. I am sure they have failues everyone does unfortunatley from time to time. However I would say the converters they have are fine in there class.
You must bear in mind a few things.
1- I would bet that TCI has sold more converters than all the vendors here combined.
Heres the problem with that. From what I have noted over the years out of every 100 happy customers about 1 will actually post about it in a forum and ussually only once. Out of unhappy users 100% will post 100% of the time and generally multiple times.
So the very fact they are big gives them or any high volume company a major disadvantage over the smaller compaines.
2- You get what you pay for from what I see they have multiple styles and types of converters at varying prices.
Dont get me wrong I am certainly not defending TCI we have converters to I would love for you to consider. The point I am making is that asking that question in a forum wont really get you the results your looking for. They will tend to be biased toward smaller companies with a lower volume simply due to numbers.
And example would big company A sells 1000 converters in a year. Small company B sells 100 converters. Just and easy off the wall number lets say 10% of both companies converters fail.(hopefully its less)
Well big company now has 100 people to post bad about there converters for you to see.
Small company has ten people to post bad about there converters .
Remember almost no one post when they are happy.
So what you get is COMPANY A looks like they make a bad converter and company B looks pretty good only 10 failures.
What I suggest is that you use search to find people with various converter manufacturers in the signature and just PM them and ask.
I will conclude my useless rant with this . Circle D, Ourselves, Yank,FTI and anyone else I missed whos a sponsor(dont wanna leave anyone out) can build and sell you and excellent converter in various levels and prices. Its just a matter of what you want and what level your willing to pay for.
End of Franks useless rant
They sell several stles of converters. From what I understand they are not custom built but rather off the shelf. But since the have been around a very long time I would have to disagree that they make crap. I am sure they have failues everyone does unfortunatley from time to time. However I would say the converters they have are fine in there class. You must bear in mind a few things.
1- I would bet that TCI has sold more converters than all the vendors here combined.
Heres the problem with that. From what I have noted over the years out of every 100 happy customers about 1 will actually post about it in a forum and ussually only once. Out of unhappy users 100% will post 100% of the time and generally multiple times.
So the very fact they are big gives them or any high volume company a major disadvantage over the smaller compaines.
2- You get what you pay for from what I see they have multiple styles and types of converters at varying prices.
Dont get me wrong I am certainly not defending TCI we have converters to I would love for you to consider. The point I am making is that asking that question in a forum wont really get you the results your looking for. They will tend to be biased toward smaller companies with a lower volume simply due to numbers.
And example would big company A sells 1000 converters in a year. Small company B sells 100 converters. Just and easy off the wall number lets say 10% of both companies converters fail.(hopefully its less)
Well big company now has 100 people to post bad about there converters for you to see.
Small company has ten people to post bad about there converters .
Remember almost no one post when they are happy.
So what you get is COMPANY A looks like they make a bad converter and company B looks pretty good only 10 failures.
What I suggest is that you use search to find people with various converter manufacturers in the signature and just PM them and ask.
I will conclude my useless rant with this . Circle D, Ourselves, Yank,FTI and anyone else I missed whos a sponsor(dont wanna leave anyone out) can build and sell you and excellent converter in various levels and prices. Its just a matter of what you want and what level your willing to pay for.
End of Franks useless rant
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03-27-2009, 11:32 PM
#11
We have to be careful here that we're not comparing apples to oranges ... Yank & Vig have billet front cover with an upgraded clutch with greater surface area. Popular TCI models have the stock cover and clutch - that's one reason why they're cheaper.
Trouble is, PWM chews up those clutches and spits them out into the trans with catastrophic results. A wimpy clutch won't survive the rigors of PWM.
Trouble is, PWM chews up those clutches and spits them out into the trans with catastrophic results. A wimpy clutch won't survive the rigors of PWM.
03-28-2009, 07:03 AM
#13
We have to be careful here that we're not comparing apples to oranges ... Yank & Vig have billet front cover with an upgraded clutch with greater surface area. Popular TCI models have the stock cover and clutch - that's one reason why they're cheaper.
Trouble is, PWM chews up those clutches and spits them out into the trans with catastrophic results. A wimpy clutch won't survive the rigors of PWM.
Trouble is, PWM chews up those clutches and spits them out into the trans with catastrophic results. A wimpy clutch won't survive the rigors of PWM.
FYI - Circle D uses billet fronts on all their race converters.
Chris
03-28-2009, 07:46 PM
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I had a TCI 3500 stall and had no problems,and out of the hole or dig it hit alright but thats it..Well long story short I now have a Circle D 5c and I'm much happier now..Although its a 42-4400 stall it feels tight for a big converter and,has great driveability.. It hits hard everywhere from roll or dig.. HUGE improvement!! The 5c is my most favorite mod so far