Wanted to see if anyone else has run into this or if this is the new. I recently purchased a new ACDELCO reverse input drum from a very large transmission part house. Came brand new in box. The issue that concerns me is that it is considerably thinner than stock one that I removed. Now ACDELCO should be ACDELCO right? The last one I purchased I got from GM dealer direct 3 months ago and was identical to the old drum. The GM dealer unit cost $40.00 more and had the same part number. I posting up a picture of the old and new with measurements. Just really wanted to see if this is the new norm. I have contacted the parts house and was told a offshore maker is now suppling acdelco with these drums. Guess my only concern is the housing being thiner wall and possible heating up quicker causing issues. I am running a wide carbon band. This trans will be behind a ls2 in a Jeep and will see offroad use and abuse. See pics and let me here what you think. I have already contacted the well know part house and they are working on it but are un aware of the change.

 

You want to measure further down where the band rides, not the teeth. Since it looks like the teeth are thinner, that would be fine.

 

My current caliper does not reach that far down but I will have one shortly that will. FYI these are apparently now supplied to AcDelco by a company Called Tsang Yow out of China. This drum was off a pallet the parts house just received. I will measure and update later. thanks for the response.

 

I saw this post and it made me curious. I worked for ACDelco for 7+ years and held technical service seminars, two day class and had 7 warehouse distributors to handle illeged defective parts. I was contract labor for Raytheon but had made friends with several "GM.com" guys (That's what we called them). Bobby G. has work for GM right out of high school pushing a broom and still racks up his points. His dad built pickups for 30+ years, then rotated into management.
I gave him a call, part number and issue. It took 3 hours and Bobby told me that the input drum was re-designed to allow the transmission fluid to remove heat generated from the application of the band. Engineering felt that liquid, being the best conductor of heat, would be more effective than the original thicker metal to get heat generated away from the band. A wider band has more surface area and would produce less heat under normal circumstances. Most, just like you, are using the wider bands everyday in common rebuilds.
It makes sense to me as a retired ASE Master Tech, but he knows everyone in different departments and has never lied before. I have seen running changes in door locks, ABS sensors and many other parts resulting in a engineered spec product designed to last 5000 hours. That's 150k on the odometer in car talk. That is their minimum spec regardless of who gets the contract. That company goes thru a rigorous testing for quality control, spot inspection's plus materials and GM has a fancy name that I don't remember...like ASPEC or something. Much less ISO9000 standards.
Just rest assured that it is not to save money or reduce weight or gip the customer. Working at a Buick / Isuzu dealer, transmission parts, springs and other parts were constantly change due to service bulletins to update customer concerns or engineering who asks for and gets failed parts to test them if they see a trend. This is why ACDelco brake friction is tested using dual dynamic dynamometer electronic control, or D3EC. Yes, both the ability to stop the vehicle within the original listed DOT specs using weight transfer as it occurs on real vehicles. Otherwise, a strip of thick leather glued on will stop the vehicle somewhere. Like a stage coach. You know!
Reporting from Omaha, old retired guy.

 

It called "Xio Xan Chen" where Buick is a top selling vehicle...and are built. The Chinese TECH2's are made down the road, I mean copied.

 

 

 

It's interesting the label says "Made in Taiwan, Republic of China". I guess ACDelco has given into China's demands that companies list Taiwan as being China's property.

 

During the 2000's, GM was already building vehicles in China. The vehicles are highly prized in the far East. This is where the cloned TECH2 come from that are not a rugged and has many failures. As with most jobs with global companies, suppliers were from many country's for transportation reasons. I was shown a video of stores to mud huts that had the ACDelco logo next to Farcy, Arabic as well as other languages. Gm met the goal of "Global Architecture" for vehicle systems, so you can change the radio for stations in the U.S., Europe to Dubai. The same is true for the diagnostic flow charts. The same everywhere.

I would guess every manufacture studies others vehicles and GM does as well. Vehicles are purchased, driving, tested then disassembled into all of the parts groups for engineering to review. I was in a building in Troy, MI. that had 23 stations with sheet metal next to table one, then parts by group across 23 more table in a line. I came across one I did not recognize, but found odd that each part had bar code tags with the manufacture, city or town, state or country. It had parts from 90+ companies. At the end of that row was the engine, pistons, tires & lug nuts...It was a Silverado. They counted the spot welds to the tail lights housing.

In Omaha or the Midwest, gravel roads gets us home or into the city. Dust is sucked into the fuel tank vent solenoid then after the PCM's timer runs an EVAP test, it fails, small leak, fuel tank vent won't seal. DAH! I was in MI. with a group and a GM technical guest speaker discussing engine reference systems and I pointed out the road dust causes a high failure rate in fuel tank vent solenoids. Why is it behind the rear wheel? He paused and stated "Your roads should paved". Well, most are not and many do not have internet! He looked shocked then changed the subject.
So engineering is disconnected from real life and parts are made from around the world, as some county's won't allow them to be sold, built or parts made unless it is a packaged deal.
Where does Napa, O'Rielly's or AutoZone get their parts. Is it copies of a first design no longer used? It is a new world!