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"The Beast" died.

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Old Apr 2, 2009 | 08:31 PM
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Default "The Beast" died.

This so called strong sunshell "The Beast" is the reason my trans failed. Just thought I would share as I thought it was pretty funny after I tore the tranny down. Hope to be back up and running by the weekend.



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Old Apr 2, 2009 | 09:04 PM
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I will have to say I have never seen a beast break. And I have never seen any sunshell break quite like that. Something new. Looks like a clean break too weird. I would have to say defect in material since theres no sign of twisting or anything just a clean break. Hmm.
I am gonna save your pictures and send them to the manufacturer and see what they think about that.
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Old Apr 2, 2009 | 09:09 PM
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Looks to me like it was rubbing on something and wore through.
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Old Apr 2, 2009 | 09:15 PM
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I dont think so theres no sign in the picture of heat which you would expect if that were true and both thrust washers look good. Looks like it just broke clean to me.
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Old Apr 2, 2009 | 09:24 PM
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wow thats impressive
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Old Apr 2, 2009 | 09:35 PM
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Looks to me like the piece with the splines is sharpened like a blade. Hard to see though looking at the pic quality.
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Old Apr 2, 2009 | 09:49 PM
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well a closer look would be good, I could see nothing it could rub at the top. I suppose it could contact the low roller support.But that would require a bearing in or under the rear planet to have failed or the one at end of case in order for it to drop that far. Seems there would still be signs of heat and that support is cast if i am thinking correctly making it a weaker metal than the beast. Though if in fact that is the case it should be obvious by looking at the support.
Looks to me more like it broke clean then the center spun inside and may have made the sharpened edge.
A simple test to see would be to drop another beast in and see if it rubs with the planets in place.
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Old Apr 2, 2009 | 10:24 PM
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It is a clean break. I did not see any rubbing or twisting on any of it. There are no heat marks anywhere either. I did not see any metal shavings throughout the case either. I'm no expert but I think I may have gotten a bad one. Can't win them all.
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Old Apr 2, 2009 | 10:53 PM
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if 1 broke out of 10,000 or more sold id have to say it is still worth the money.ive never had a problem like that and ive used way more than 100.nothing lasts forever
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Old Apr 3, 2009 | 06:41 AM
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yea i did my research for a long time on and off this board and you are the first one I have herd that broke the BEAST
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Old Apr 3, 2009 | 06:48 AM
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Looks to me like it broke where it was welded. I have never seen that before. How hard did your trans shift? Do you manually downshift when driving it? What are you using for a second gear servo? Might be a couple things to look at. Vince
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Old Apr 3, 2009 | 10:10 AM
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I guess they really did beef up the spline area.
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Old Apr 3, 2009 | 12:13 PM
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Originally Posted by performabuilt
I am gonna save your pictures and send them to the manufacturer and see what they think about that.
Who exactly will you send it to?
I've seen them stamped with TCI, SPX, etc. Even seen plain ones marked made in china.
I guess it's obvious they're all the same blank shell in the same shipping crate from china and brand names get stamped on later?

Originally Posted by Vince @ FLT
Looks to me like it broke where it was welded.
I've never seen one welded, except the torque drive that uses the torrington bearing.
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Old Apr 3, 2009 | 03:43 PM
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We will send the pictures to the people we get them from , I guess they will send them on to where they get them from.

I dont know about a weld they look like they are just stamped to me but then it could be well cleaned up I guess
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Old Apr 3, 2009 | 10:15 PM
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Originally Posted by Vince @ FLT
Looks to me like it broke where it was welded. I have never seen that before. How hard did your trans shift? Do you manually downshift when driving it? What are you using for a second gear servo? Might be a couple things to look at. Vince
It shifted firm. Full throttle it would kick out the back end on the 1-2, but no other gears. I never manually downshifted this trans the stall made it to where I didn't have anymore dead spots. I'm not sure what the second gear servo is, whichever performabuilt uses. Like I said. I never saw one break and I assume I just got a bad one out of the batch and just thought everyone would enjoy seeing this.
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Old Apr 3, 2009 | 10:27 PM
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What size stall are you running?
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Old Apr 3, 2009 | 10:30 PM
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Its a 3000-3200 Performabuilt Converter.
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Old Apr 3, 2009 | 11:16 PM
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We us the fairbanks billet servo with full accumulation shifts are firm at light throttle but not hard and get progressivley firmer as throttle increases to quite agressive at WOT, We have not seen this or any beast break till now.I would guess a weak spot in the shell. I have seen planets ripped apart and input shafts broken but that is a first.
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Old Apr 4, 2009 | 08:50 AM
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WOW never seen one break like that!
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Old Apr 4, 2009 | 10:10 AM
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Originally Posted by 2002CAMAROSSLS1T56
I've never seen one welded, except the torque drive that uses the torrington bearing.
I took a little bit of time yesterday to analyze this a bit closer. Take a look at this picture. If you look closely at these shells you will see a bluish ring in the area just below where I have highlighted it in red. I think this is the heat transfer from the center section being welded in. Then both sides of the shell are machined to remove the weld and to true things up. I really believe the center portion of the shell is welded in. As you can see from the photo above that is exactly where it broke. Also on the opposite side in some cases you will see some pitting from what I believe is the weld that has been machined down.

Also if you look at the area just around the splines for the sun gear there is a section that is much thicker than the shell. The shell measures .162 at the area in which is splined or mated with the reverse input drum. This area does not show any signs of machining. Meaning if the shell was one piece of metal to start with then then all measurements should be .162 or less. I do not have the measurements with me but the area highlighted is much thicker.


Just a heads up in all of our level 4 and level 5 units we use a much nicer piece than the torque drive shell. I personally have used a few of them and never cared for them. Here is a picture of what we make in house every day. Vince
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