Have a Fuddle and has run great! Nothing to complain about, make more of a custom based on your specs, saves you a lot of money, all the big companies jack up the prices because of the name.

 

Look at this thread https://ls1tech.com/forums/automatic-transmission/862534-torque-converter-education.html

Your fuddle starts out as the first converter pictured, and ends up pretty much the same with a Sonnax adapter ring, crank pilot, and pump drive welded onto it.
Now look at the Circle D converter. Price based on the name?
Now go a step further and search converter related problems, who's name comes up the most? Fuddle, and why? most of the complaints are about getting ahold of the guy.

Is that true? how do you know?
Going by anything posted on this website fuddle is about the most failed converter for ls1tech users, or is it because fuddle never answers the warranty hotline leaving customers with no choice than to vent here? HMMM

Research is key, but past customers experiences is a huge part of research.
For example if I type converter into the search here and I see problems with brand F on the first two pages then brand F gets scratched off my list and I research other brands.

 

I want evidence that VIG and Yank added together have even HALF of the failures the fuddle does in low hp cars. You can't provide it because it doesn't exist. They are incredibly different products and you can't honestly say that there is none better than another.

 

Actually it was a TCI that failed in your car....

 

For all of you defending your cheap 4cyl hackjob converters, Don't try to tell those of us who have been there, done that, and learned an expensive lesson that a $450 dollar 'budget' converter can even hold a candle to a Vig, Yank, or Circle D converter. You can see the difference plain as day.

But in the end, it's your money, so spend it as you see fit. Maybe you've got a fat wallet and money to burn! That's cool. Maybe you'll gamble with it and your cheap *** converter will hold up for a season or two. Hey, I understand! I did it too! I bought that turd Fuddle converter thinking I got a killer deal! I ended up with a Vig in the end anyway.

I paid the price for my ignorance. It was an expensive lesson.

Say, so where is John from Fuddle anyway? Don't you find it interesting/irritating that he can't even be bothered to show up in here and defend his product? I'll bet he's on this board, and I'll bet he even reads these posts, but he won't even answer his phone, much less defend his junk converters here, because there's nothing worth defending.

So no, Gearhed, at least from where I stand it isn't opinion, it's fact, direct from experience, and I KNOW i'm not the only one.

 

As mentioned numorous times already In this post I will say what needs saying. Fuddle converters are garbage. End of discussion. I have seen 4 of them cut open. All had converter clutch failures. Yes the $450 special is a special case alright.

Cheap *** Paper converter clutch reline
Stock 4cylinder 6 cylinder 250ft lb converter clutch.
Stock 4cylinder clutch apply piston
No fin brazing or welding Leads to incosistnet RT and Stall speeds
Crappy machining. IE poor clearances and inconsistent performance
No billet cover or anit balloning plates in the 10 units I have seen

If I got a converter like this from Yank or Precision I would be more then glad to call them and let them know exactly what I thought about there product.

Sure everyone builds a lemon once in a while. The problem is that fuddle builds 10x the number of lemons as everyone else. It is fiarly obvious as to why. they use cheap part,pisspoor QC,pisspoor assembly techniques and even worse customer service.

Even if you gave me a fuddle for free I would throw it in the garbage.

 

LS1 curious is sensible about it. I was thinking today that I WOULD NOT take a free Fuddle converter knowing their high rate of failures and that those failures are prone to take the tranny out too. It comes down to a simple fact of which is the cheaper route and a $750 converter < $2000 transmission. That $450 stall will cost you at least another $2450 when you have to replace it and the tranny. Spending more for a good stall is much cheaper. I have been nutswinging VIG, but Yank is proven as well and to be honest I think my next converter might be a CircleD

 

So why hasnt he been sued yet? Clearly there is false advertising involved if the internals are that shitty. Look at what claims are made on the site vs what you just said...Simple....if the converter is NOT what it says below...than he IS open for legal trouble am I wrong?...

**FROM FUDDLE'S SITE**
The Hub-

Our hub is machined from medium carbon (AISI 1035) steel. The hub is fully hardened and tempered (heat treated) and uses the maximum possible thickness for added strength.

The Ballooning Plates-

Using ballooning plates that measure nearly ½”, you can rest assured that this converter will hold to big power.

Brazed Fins-

Rather than relying on the much cheaper alternative of simply brazing in a furnace, we spend the time to hand braze every fin inside the converter. This ensures that you are getting a much stronger converter.

Torrington Bearings-

With our dedication to bring you the best possible product, we only use Genuine Torrington Bearings in our Performance Series.

The Stator-

Our stators are heavily modified to bring you both superior street feel and superior strength.

-To improve throttle response and feel, we modify the accordion springs on our stator assemblies. The resulting improvement in roller reaction not only helps street feel, but throttle reaction at the track as well.

-Using a Fuddle exclusive design on the stator race, we are able to provide .200 more engagement to considerably add to the strength of the converter.

The Clutch-

Fuddle Racing has always been dedicated to bringing you the best possible clutch. The clutch in the Performance Series is built of the strongest material available. You simply can’t beat Carbon Metallic clutch linings. They are the best and are in every Performance Series converter.

 

for the record.. my fuddle converter looked nothing like the first couple pictures, this is my 2nd year with it and I have had no problems.

my exp, the fuddle converter was alot smaller than the stockish converter pulled from my trans, and looked clean. it has never skipped a beat, and was cheap to boot.

but there is definitly nothing wrong with a vig or yank and they have definitly proved themselves on this board throughout the years, and the circle d converters look amazing

 

This is my 2nd **** Fuddle ! The first one blew up in under 300 miles
and keep in mind the verter is a HP/Street $650 converter ! The bearings
completly failed sending metal and chunks of bearings into my BRAND
NEW CPT Pro Race 4L60E Got the verter back from Fuddle and
not even 50 miles so far and I think the lock up clutch is failing !!!!!!!!!!!
I am so ******* ENRAGED I could do something stupid !!!! **** FUDDLE
CONVERTERS !!!!!! Do a search under Horrible experience with Fuddle
racing and you will see where this bullshit started and Im still dealing
with this bullshit inferior product !!!!!

 

Do a search, there are a ton of good and bad threads on them.

They told me mine would ship that day or next day, a week end by and never got it, called a bunch and PM'd and never heard, back. Got it finnaly and guess what, it shipped two weeks or a little mroe then two weeks later then what they told me.

In the begining Fuddle was having quality problems, now days from what I see its customer service (the admitted this was a problem), mostly its bad after they get your money and I have not been paying much attention since to know if they are failing again.


The told me it was a problem and then hosed another guy so I sold mine before I put it in the car.


I have a COAN in my car, Coans, have broke and I am sure they have sent out the wrong ones before but nobody is perfect but for the most part everyone is happy with them.

Every company someone will find something to complain about, you just have to find the lesser of two eivels.

Would I ever buy from them again? NO!, Would I recomend them? NO!!!!!!. I even told them I would tell everyone that asked me that and would tell them to steer clear and they said nothing....

Depends what stalls you are talking about and what power levels, most will not have any problems with a mild to moderate built car when it comes to reliability of the stall.

Now build the car up with a lot of power and not take care of it and do your preventive maintenace and you wil have even Neil Chance stalls failing, granted I am sure most of the time with big power cars its something in the tranny that goes and gets sent threw the stall that hurts the stall.

If you have a QUALITY stall and a GOOD built tranny and you know what you are doing then you dramaticly secrease your chances of failure, when you try and do things on a budget you screw yourself most of the time.

When the stall fails and not the tranny then more often then not the parts are no good or it was not built to handle the power your are throwing at it if you ask me......

P.S., Mods, fell free to remove names on non sponsers in my post if need be, just used them as examples but could see how it might be an issue.

 

Hey man, I thought your ride was sportin' a Precision Industries 2800 stall? Now i KNOW you wouldn't have swapped it out for a Fuddle... Would ya?

 

One of my many transmissions took a dump taking out my PI So I went
with a Fuddle 3600 HP/Street and I got fucked again So now I am going
on my 8th 4L60E and 5th converter . I am ordering my Yank SS3600 on Monday and sending my trans back out for another run through I have had MANY MANY trans/converter issues so things are always changing
Hopefully this is my last verter and trans

 

Of course it didn't, the first is a core, thats what fuddle, tci, and B&M start with. That small crank pilot gets replaced with one for an LS1, second picture I don't think you cut your fuddle open before you used it, third pic not every company uses a ring. But they all use some sort of small factory converter core.

That could very well be true, the problem is there is not enough of this material in their converters.

 

How are you going to sue them. It is a racing part and is sold as such. It is right in the warranty policy.





again how are you going to sue him. I am sure somewhere in the litterature it says some models may vary.


Its nothing special. the cheapest Hubs made are this way becuase that is all that there is and to that end you have to change it.

I will see If I can find the pictures of these supposed anti balloning plates. 1/2 thick ? where are you going to fit that in a stock cover ? I think he is reffering to the adapter plate.


Yeah the truth about this is that hand brazing is cheaper. You can only braze what you can reach. Furnace brazing is tons better and then a good converter guy will first weld the fins before brazing in the high stress areas.

Comes in the sonax kit. but most companies like fuddle do not upgrade the thrust bearing between the turbine and cover and clutch.



Right the same cheap sonnax stator the 082. Seen it fial a bunch as they use the cheapest ones they can. 1 of the converters I saw opened up had a 4cylinder stator that had a v8 4l60 roller clutch put in it. Not even a good roller clutch just a stock 6 roller.


WTF is he talking about. either the stator is rotating or locked. It needs to lock. You guys should get serious about Mechanical Diode in your converters. roller clutchs are notrorious for slippage.


Again more marketing BS. Is this the exclusive design which allows them to use the cheap and plentiful 4cyl and 6cylinder stators ?

Again Show me where ? the 4 fuddles I had cut open all had paper lock up clutchs or the older kevlar garbage. Junk plain and simple.

Maybe they have cleaned up there act but how many guys know people who rebuild converters that would be able to find this info out ?

 

I also had 2 Fuddles have converter lcutch failure. The second one was the 650 dollar billet race whatever he calls it. He did replace both under warranty but who cares Its no fun swapping these trannys on jackstands in these cars. I now have a PI vig sitting on the bench waiting to go in. I spent a year learning the hard way you get what you pay for with transmissions and torque converters. I price shopped both and got totally screwed out of a whole season of usin my car. Do your research on which trans and verter builders come up with failures frequently and ignore all the nuthuggers and you will see you get what yoou pay for. I am now an expert at swapping 4l60e after puliing it in and out 5 separate times last year. I am on my 5th torque converter and 4th separate transmission. Beware of the guys who rave about their warranty.

 

fuddle are you serious...let alone if they hold up they are inefficient as hell most people lose mph when going to one...

i have gained 1mph at the track with my yank...that alone was the deciding factor even if they were as tough as a yank...

 

22000 plus miles on mine numerous runs at the track and Im upgrading to the HP series, all I have to say why by Nike shoes when new balance will do the same this but better. VIG AND YANK they do just that yank way to much money out of your pocket. $450 who passes that up??? When I was first shopping (2 yrs ago) I called Vig got S*^t on, called YANK got S@%T on again, called Fuddle, was on the phone with John for about 30 min and learned so much about TC it aint even funny, that dude is so down to earth and backs his product, he's so down to earth that he called me while on HIS FRIKEN HONEYMOON who does that. Ill tell ya who: someone who cares about their name and backs their product. THAT IS ALL

 

I don't suppose you have any data to back this up? I've certainly seen all 3 brands fail, but I'd bet that Yank and PI have sold far more units than Fuddle; in part because they have been on the market for many more years.

 

Another factor is surface and friction properties. I've seen kevlar clutches be indestructable, but still loose the friction properties resulting slippage at lock-up.