I am saving up for my next mod. A torque converter.
My question is:
Is there really a difference bewteen the Vigilante, Yank and TCI converters?
Some people say Yank is better, some people say Vigilante is better or TCI.
Is there really a difference? Or is just preference, like owning a Chevy vs a Ford.

 

I think that converters from all 3 companies that are in the same stall range will perform very close to each other.

When you are choosing between the 3 companies you listed the biggest difference will be price and customer service.

IMO of the three Yank has without question the worst customer service. Yank will hardly ever answer the phone, return calls, or reply to an email. In addition it has been my experience (and a few others I know of first hand) that Yank will do their best NOT to honor their warranty.

I also know first hand that Precision Industries (vigilante) and TCI both have excellent customer service and always seem to be available. On the rare occasion that you have to leave a message you will most likely receive a return call in short order.

I can tell you what converter not to get…..YANK


Good luck

John

 

I absolutley love my Vigilante 3200 stall converter made by precision industries. By installing that converter and putting 245/50/16 Nitto's on i went from a 13.6 to 12.6. Goodluck on deciding which converter you want. Oh and also, if I were you I wouldn't go with anything under a 3000 stall, it's just too small.

 

I've seen people go fast with Vig converters. Colonel has gotten good results from his TCI but I haven't seen at my tracks anyone go real fast with a TCI in an LS1. I've seen people go the fastest with Yank. Yank also offers a wider variety of converters depending upon your goals.

Most people have a pretty good experience with Yank, but occasionally there are some unhappy (and vocal) campers. John is the current one. I've seen in person a couple vigs that have self destructed too, but generally most vig customers have a good experience. TCI, from what I can observe here, seems to be pretty responsive right now as one of their engineers often participates on the board.

I agree with Brent's advice. No less than a 3000 stall.

 

Thanks for the info guys! So I should look into getting a 3200 stall and up?
My car is basically stock for right now except from some small mods, such as FTRA,ported MAF ends,TB bypass and so on.......

 

I had great dealings with Mike at Yank. Returned my E-mail, returned my call, spent close to an hour on the phone with me discussing torque converter selection, and general racing BS. Came across as a REALLY nice guy, and very knowledgable.

I think people sometimes forget that Mike is pretty much a one man operation down there. He can't build great converters, do R&D, and answer the phone all at the same time. Yeah he can be a little hard to get ahold of, but think of it this way. What are the odds of getting the head engineer at any company to spend an hour helping you select the proper converter? Well, that's what you get (that's at least what I got) from Yank, and I don't see myself ever buying from anyone but Mike ever again.

 

You guys ever use Hughes Torque Converters?

 

maybe he should be helping other customers and honoring warranties instead of BS'ing on the phone with you for an hour...

just a thought

 

Do you have a warranty issue with mike?

NO

So please STFU

 

lol...funny guy you are

 

I just recently purchased a TCI verter...My transaction with them was wonderful. I ordered their SSF3500. The shop put it in, but when they went to bolt it up they realized that the bolts supplied with it were bigger than the holes in my stock flexplate. There was no mention of that anywhere. Well I got on the horn with Kevin and he was more than willing to work with me since the shop had to pull everything out and drill the flexplate. After getting it together, I wasn't crazy about the looseness of the stall, so I talked to kevin, and for compensation from the bolt issue he asked me to send back the SSF, and he custom made me a 3200 billet verter for no charge!!!

That definitely makes me want to do business with them again...and now the car feels nice and tight, and still breaks em loose at 70mph

 

I'll give you 2-1 odds you'll want it changed back to a 3500 (or higher) within a year.

 

I've been running Yanks for 3 years. I have installed several Yanks for others also. I have had no problems getting ahold of Yank/Mike when I need to, and have had NO problem with their customer service or support, including new purchases, phone support and restalls. IMO, Yanks just flat out perform.

 

So I take it you have no issues with yank?

 

I'm going to put on the flame suit and say Midwest is a great option. I have only been to the track once since I got my converter, and my results are really promising. I went with my old Kumho tires, nuked the rubber from the converter hit, got a worse 60ft, and picked up 3 tenths on the converter's efficiency alone. This year I'll have stickies and I expect real good things.

 

"and picked up 3 tenths on the converter's efficiency alone."

You picked up mainly due to having a higher shift extension.

 

Either way, still means there's something to be gained from the 60 ft.

 

I have tried Midwest, Yank and Vig.
You wanna talk about **** poor customer service, talk to midwest about a blown converter.
I got more bull **** from them then anyone I have ever talked to, and if I didn't have anything better to do I would bash them on every web site I could find.
This is the first time I have written about it.
As far as performance, you cant beat Yank or Vig.
They are the 2 top dawgs. Vig has better customer service, (but I am not complaining about Yanks) My oponion is Yank makes a better verter. Not by much, but better.
Midwest is a good converter for a first timer on a budget.
A friend and myself both got midwest converters. We both sent them back because they blew up within 2 weeks. We both also had to get new tranny's because the converter let loose and fuked the tranny up. We were both given a bunch of BS. He called them and asked for their address so the lawyer could send them some paper work. They became very nice, and send new verters out 1 day later.
Mine blew up 2 months later, his blew up 3 weeks after that.
2 new converters were given again.
I ordered a Yank and sold mine, he put a 6 speed in.
**** happens.
At the same time there is a number of guys that have had great resutls with their Midwest stuff, and their are those with problems from Yank and Vig. This is just my personal experience. We both had 679 dollar converters and were running Nitrous, this could be the reason they failed.
Yank clearly has a better selection, and better web site.
Here is my oponion of what you should do to get great oponions.
Call sponsors that sell all 3 or at least 2 of the 3. (thunder racing, Tbyrne, etc.) and see what they perfer.

 

...and now the car feels nice and tight, and still breaks em loose at 70mph [/QUOTE]


I would love to see a 3500 lb F-body spin tires at 70mph...in an automatic...with cam&heads....because I have never seent it yet! what tires do you run out back, 3.5 rims with 195's??????

 

Kumho I bet