I would like to see what the guys (and possibly gals) here use, or would prefer to use for automatic transmission parts in their business or personal vehicles.

For example; what would your choice of metal clad seal be?
-AC Delco (which ever brand GM is using for an application), National/ Federal-Mogul, Parker, SKF, Pioneer, Freudenberg/ NOK/ Corteco/ TransTec ?

How about bushings/ sleeve bearings, torrington bearings/ thrust washers, and roller bearings (tapered or ball) ?
-AC Delco (which ever brand GM is using for an application), Timken, Koyo, NOK, SKF, Clevite/ Mahle, Durabond/ Federal-Mogul ?

Also maybe sealing rings or lip-seals ?
-AC Delco (which ever brand GM is using for an application), Freudenberg/ NOK/ Corteco/ TransTec, Toledo Trans Kit/ Seal Aftermarket Products, Koyo, Precision Industries/ Precision International ?

Feel free to mention any other type of automatic transmission part and corresponding brand that you would like.
As well as specialty parts from Sonnax for example.

 

As for me.....what ever comes in the box from the place I order from.....parts unknown galore !... I would not mind using GM or Delco.....if I only knew all the P/Ns for every part ( do they even sell a complete rebuild kit ? ) ....never felt like harassing the parts guys for hrs on end to scoop up all the P/Ns for every tranny part ....even tho it would be nice

and I do use use sonnax parts as the budget allows

 

Why? Are you trying to put together a kit for people to buy for rebuilds?
Are you a parts distributor trying to sell to the layman?

I use mainly transtech paper/rubber (aka banner) kits
raybestos steel modules
borg warner or raybestos frictions and bands

What's the purpose of this thread?

 

I have always carried multiples of parts from multiple companies.
However, I use the same parts time and time again in builds for customers.

For example; for a given application (let's say 4L80E), I will compare the pump metal clad seals from 4 or 5 companies and select the best one.
I always use a National Seal #714598. For example the seal provided by AC Delco is also a National Seal (#8661602), however the outward facing lip is less prominent and is of a lesser design.
Unless someone request an alternative part, I stick to my standard choice.

Recently; I have had a significant amount of parts only sales, where I would be asked for a specific part that I do not use in a build for a customer.
I would like to see if the demand for other companies products is abundant or not for some of you here.

Also, do most of you sell the parts that customers request even if you would not use the part yourself?
I have been doing this hesitantly if a customer does not take my recommendation for what I feel would be superior.
Otherwise I may close some of the accounts for products that I am not primarily using.

Any opinions are welcome.
Would you rather carry all these different Brands and keep a small group of customers happy?
Or would you cut the accounts, and save on parts over-head?

 

I've heard people say that ebay is taking away their business.
Well ebay has ratings on each sale, other places like rock auto, or any of the transmission parts suppliers online don't have this.

I used to buy a lot from bulkpart.com (don't think their around by that name anymore) problem is you never know what you're getting. Bushing kit order one day it's Clevite, a week later it's no name.
Even the local stores if I need a front pump seal on a sunday I can go to Napa 50 minutes round trip and get a National seal in a napa box made in china. OR drive 10 minutes round trip to Autozone and get a Duralast and it MIGHT be a National in the box, Made in USA, or a no name with nothing on it.

In other words, for me, description is key to what parts I buy.

This is why the mom and pop parts stores are gone, you go there and pay three times more for that Timken seal that looks identical to the china seal in the National box.

Here's a real life example. Advance auto parts (15 minutes round trip) they stock one axle repair bearing per store for my truck. I had to go to two different stores.
Here's what I came home with:

 

I have been happy with TransTec (which is a Freudenberg/ NOK/ Corteco company) Paper, fiber, and rubber seals and gaskets.

I have not been happy with the sealing rings, metal clad seals, and specialty seals that are included from TransTec.
I will go to the OEM, National, or Precision Industries.

Bushings and bearings can also be hit or miss from certain companies. Some times a good set of bushings will just have a **** batch go out.
Unless a bushing is supposed to be "size-to-fit", I want the damn thing to be at least close to the correct dimensions.

As far as clutch frictions go... I would say most of my inventory comes from Borg-Warner transmission div. (which is a Dana/ Spicer company).
Also a high amount of my inventory would be Raybestos Stage 1 and Raybestos High-Static plates. Some tan and some Blue Plate Special/ Gen2.
There is a small amount of Allomatic plates (which is a Raybestos product now).
Lastly a very small amount comes from Alto. I do actually like their intermediate bands for the THM200-4R and 2-4 bands for the THM700-R4/ 4L60E.

 

Very true Jay, very true... and thus I carry the same part from multiple companies. But I may not wish to for much longer...
I have to sells parts at a competitive price (I'm sure most of the business owners here do) and profits are made by volume of parts sales.
Individual parts sales add up to peanuts...
Labor is where we find the majority of profits compared to parts.

I like to pride myself on my choice to use and sell the highest quality parts available for a given application.
I like to pride myself on the quality of craftsmanship and quality of labor provided.

Some people care, some claim to care. However, many people don't seem to care...
There will always be people who simply want the cheapest part, product or service and that's it.
Then there are the few who want the best they can get.

Do we carry parts for everybody to keep making sales???
What do you guys do?

 

Wait till you go out of your way to buy a "Napa Gold oil filter" (supposedly made by WIX and the best construction). Then see "made in venezuela" on it as you are walking out the door.....
Venezuela. That's just screams manufacturing excellence.

 

Is a Napa gold engine oil filter (supposed to be a WIX filter) any less money than purchasing a WIX (branded and packaged) filter?

I'm just curious as to why more people do not just buy the actual WIX filter vs Napa gold or other rebranded filters...

 

If you have time to compare 4 or 5 pump seals and then analyze each one to select the "best" and exclusively purchase that one only...I'm guessing you don't have much manufacturing experience...or maybe just entirely too much free time.

It's great that you take the time to do that, I just never make the time to try to make a mountain out of a mole hill.

I'd much rather spend my time with a transmission studying the hydraulic diagrams and doing something with that. I've made alot of headway and had good performance success with many different transmissions by pointing my time towards the hydraulic manual.

To each their own I guess...but I guess I've never had a single pump seal leak from the kit I get from suppliers so I don't bother making an issue out of one that isn't there.

 

Not sure. For me its convenient as theres a NAPA fairly close to work. Now I want to seek out a WIX dealer to see where they are made. The Chain stores up here dont carry WIX, That I have found.

 

Studying the flow charts/ hydraulic diagrams for automatic transmissions was a massive passion for me once upon a time... To a point where I was memorizing many of them.
Always looking for ways to alter and/ or improve the design and/ or function of the circuits.
Years ago, I had several of the original Hydra-Matic hydraulic diagrams enlarged and assembled on 4 foot by 8 foot cork-boards (for thumb tacks) and covered with sheets of plexi-glass to display all around the walls of the shop.

I spent a good number of years machining valve-bodies and valve-train components to accomplish those goals and began selling them shortly after.
It became my favorite aspect of automatic transmission work.

Now a days, I usually enjoy more so the engine building aspect of my work the most, then designing bussed electrical systems/ building wiring harnesses/ Delphi electrical connectors, then metal fabrication/ welding work, then any type of transmission work, and lastly transfer-case and differential work.

Time... what a concept :-)
I wish I had free time. Instead of sleeping, I end up at my home work-benchs at 2AM with my wife yelling at me to go to sleep... Just to put some thought into nonsense, like this project of trying to cut back on my selection of parts.
The transmissions that I build at my shop, almost all follow a recipe for a given application at a given power level ETC.
It is when I am simply making parts sales, that I end up having more choices available to customers than I care to have.

I was hoping to gain some insight from people on the message-board here. I would liked to see what some of the demand is for here. Then cut back on products that the majority of people do not wish to purchase.
I would prefer this over making my decision solely on some of the idiots that make parts purchases from my shop and have no clue as to what they are doing.
You know the type... The DIYer calling 15 times a day asking questions for 2 weeks after they had made a purchase.
I ended up hiring a guy to do nothing but take care of the phones and E-mail.

 

So this whole post is for selling parts. That's sortof what I figured
Selling parts to the DIY transmission guy is a losing battle. You can include the best parts and perfect instructions and they are so clueless and/or insecure about what they're doing that they'll still call.

Just sell them what any transmission shop across the states gets for parts when they go through a unit.
Transtec kit, raybestos steel modules if needed, borg and raybestos bands/clutches

99/100 times a transmission fails, its not because of the brand of bushing you used, or the name on the box of the pump seal, etc...for anyone DIY their own trans, its the big goofy guy with his booger pickers that is putting it together. That's usually the issue

 

If I wanted to ensure my customers were getting quality parts in their trans, I'd buy an RPM trans and take it apart and note what parts are being used in those. Companies like that have too much integrity on the line to risk someone buying their trans and seeing china junk inside it.

 

I am completely set on ensuring I can offer the best part for a given application.

I was looking to cut back on some of the other brands that I carry.

Ideally, thin out the brands of a given part that are anything less than the superior part.

Instead of carrying 5 different brands of a metal-clad pump seal for a 4L80E, carry two.

However, I do have requests for the lesser parts from internet and phone parts only sales.

Many people just wish to buy the cheapest thing possible... I would be cutting off my sales to those people by no longer carrying these parts.

 

what's the company/business anyway

If I'm going to be part of market research for free, I'd at least like to know where it's going

 

There are generally three types of part customers so it should be possible to narrow the parts to three suppliers for each part instead of five as follows.

Cheapest priced part - for the bottom barrel builds, stock a few of these.

Good quality - for typically I need a good quality part at a good price. Stock normally as you do now.

Best - the parts that you use and feel are the best available for the application. Stock normally as you do now.

Cut the other 2-3 vendors for the given parts.

Offer to order the other wild card parts for customers that want other stuff. Have them pay upfront and drop ship the part to their door. The phone and email guy can take care of doing that for the small number of custom orders that will occur.

Do a video and post on your website a few of the most common transmission rebuilds and cover the details. That may reduce the customer support calls. When they call help them and reference the video saying, you can see here what I'm taking about.

It will either cost you a lot to do this and be a waste of time or you'll build a group of loyal DYI customers.

Good luck and best wishes.

 

When is the last time you've had a pump seal that came out of a transtec kit that leaked? (not counting installer error or a walked bushing, etc)
Never...

When's the last time you've had a pan gasket leak...when installed properly with a good pan...never. Cork, duraprene, molded with steel torque limit inserts, etc. Doesn't matter

I bet these people you'll spend all this time and energy on making sure they get " the best metal clad seal known to the history of man" will be the same people that don't vacuum check a valve body, don't check the pump gear clearances, etc
I appreciate an attention to detail, but I'm not sure this is the best area to focus the efforts.

Good luck tho!

 

LMAO! nice! Try to get me in-trouble as I am not a sponsor. LOL! :-)

 

Thank you :-)