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Why autos are prone to breaking

Old 04-20-2010, 04:58 PM
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Default Why autos are prone to breaking

Does anybody know any articles that talk about or could someone explain why automatics are prone to breaking when you start to add more power to our cars. I have a friend who thinks the 4l60/5e is invincible, and I tried telling him they aren't but can't find anything that explains it
Old 04-20-2010, 06:21 PM
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Actually wether its and auto or a stick as power increses the odds of something breaking does to. With autos its can be clutch or hard parts more often then not clutches , But at the same time with the manual its the same a good performance clutch can cost about what a rebuild cost for a 4l60e.
Autos have a few other disadvanatages such as when you use a high stall converter you are able to put the max tprque of the engine to the trans throughout the entire range of the race, Where the manual had to climb to that same power band . But the fact is auto or manual just like it you want more power you buy cams and head andturbos ect you then have to spend money on the drive train to handle that power. Yes its not as fun or as much to brag about but its a simple fact. You engine wont make more power unless you modify and your trans and rear end wont handle that power unless you modify its all part of the same thing and the hobby.
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Old 04-20-2010, 07:43 PM
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if you add a big tranny cooler, increase the line pressure so the clutches do not burn, and most important do not run big tires, especially DR's. your car probably will not hook for **** (mine sure did not), but if you do not have the time or the money to spend on a new tranny, doing those things will help it last allot longer

also auto's are much more complicated then manual transmissions and not too many people know how to rebuild them properly so they can take allot of power.
Old 04-21-2010, 04:53 AM
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Originally Posted by performabuilt
Actually wether its and auto or a stick as power increses the odds of something breaking does to. With autos its can be clutch or hard parts more often then not clutches , But at the same time with the manual its the same a good performance clutch can cost about what a rebuild cost for a 4l60e.
Autos have a few other disadvanatages such as when you use a high stall converter you are able to put the max tprque of the engine to the trans throughout the entire range of the race, Where the manual had to climb to that same power band . But the fact is auto or manual just like it you want more power you buy cams and head andturbos ect you then have to spend money on the drive train to handle that power. Yes its not as fun or as much to brag about but its a simple fact. You engine wont make more power unless you modify and your trans and rear end wont handle that power unless you modify its all part of the same thing and the hobby.
What he said ^^^. A combination of additional power/torque and/or a rough driver generally result in a failure of some sort whether it is a slipping clutch in auto or manual or breakage due to shock/overtorquing.

Factory builds them to last at X spec for 100,000 miles with warranty. Go outside the spec and the life decreases.

This is probably true for all and any factory transmissions.

Possibly made a little worse these days with computer controlled transmissions and engines in that a trans just needs to meet its design spec physically and the computing power prevents abuse/overloading/breakage and ensures at spec operation. But the cost of the trans is lower and it all fits within the warranty envelope. Physical over-engineering is less necessary.

Go outside the envelope and get into risky ground reasonably quickly.



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