ATS Transmission Rebuild - 2003 Ford F350 Super Duty - 5R110 - Off-Road Tech

Ats Transmission Installed 2003 Ford F350 Super Duty Ats Transmission

Ats Transmission Installed 2003 Ford F350 Super Duty Transmission

If there's one thing that I've always been able to smoke on any truck, it has to be the automatic transmission. In fact, I don't own a single vehicle that isn't already on its second, third, or seventh transmission. I believe that just makes every truck that I drive the ultimate test mule for true tranny testing. That being said, I was sort of amazed that the 5R110 transmission had not yet gone out on our F-350 Super Duty project, the Super Turd Diesel. Ours is a first-year 6.0L PowerStroke that has seen three times its fair share of trouble. The lemon of a truck, combined with the fact that it runs 40-inch tires with 4.56 gears, made me wonder when the transmission's luck was going to be up.

During a recent excursion to some dunes with a Polaris RZR in the bed, I noticed a considerable amount of slip on the highway as I stuck the throttle while the truck's speed held steady. The time was near.

Once certain that impending transmission doom was unavoidable, I decided to be proactive and made a call to ATS in Arvada, Colorado. Not only does it honor a five-year, 500,000-mile transmission warranty, ATS has been building heavy-duty truck transmissions in-house since the '90s, and the company's own transmission dynamometer guarantees that every transmission ATS ships out performs exactly as ordered.

While having a transmission shipped to my doorstep certainly would make life easy, I wanted a firsthand look at how our Super Duty's transmission was going together. And driving all the way out to ATS in Colorado (from California) with a transmission that was on its way out sounded risky enough to be exciting.

1. Riding on the wings of hope and prayer, I pulled into the facilities to rebuild the F-350's transmission. ATS not only manufactures its products at the headquarters, they also have multiple service bays to install products on customers' vehicles. After a couple hours of transmission removal, our '03 Super Duty's 5R110 4WD auto transmission was out of truck and on the bench so it could be pulled apart for inspection.
1. Riding on the wings of hope and prayer, I pulled into the facilities to rebuild the F-3
2. The wear grooves on the pump gear and pump are not supposed to be there. Those are telltale signs that debris was in the transmission fluid, and that this tranny was ready to fail soon.
2. The wear grooves on the pump gear and pump are not supposed to be there. Those are tell
3. See the leopard spotting on the steel plates of the clutches? That is not supposed to be there either. In fact, once the leopard spotting shows up, the transmission will slip until they're replaced. And unfortunately you can't see this until you pull your transmission apart.
3. See the leopard spotting on the steel plates of the clutches? That is not supposed to b

4. After the transmission is inspected, the reason for failure (or potential failure, since we caught ours in time) is diagnosed and noted, and the disassembled transmission heads to the parts washer. Out of the parts washer, the tranny goes in line on a cart, ready to be rebuilt with either a Stage 1, 2, 3, or 4 transmission package. We opted for a Stage 2 transmission build. The next package would add the electronic Co-Pilot pressure control box, but we didn't think that was necessary for our basically stock PowerStroke 6.0L engine.
4. After the transmission is inspected, the reason for failure (or potential failure, sinc
5. The ATS 5-Star Viscous Clutch Drive torque converter hold multiple patents. It's one of ATS's specialties that helped start the business and helps make the transmission packages so effective for diesel draggers and heavy load haulers. Everything for the torque converter is built in-house, right down to the laser cutting to make the veins that are furnace-brazed and reinforced in the impellor and turbine section. Note the thicker ATS stator, held in the left hand, compared to the stock stator (held in the right hand). The stator redirects fluid into the turbine, and the ATS unit creates better torque multiplication. The window size between the veins, along with the shape of the stator's veins, determines the stall speed of the torque converter.
5. The ATS 5-Star Viscous Clutch Drive torque converter hold multiple patents. It's one of
6. The ATS lockup has aggressive teeth in the cover that help give a complete lockup in the torque converter. The factory Ford converter relies solely on clutch friction from material bonded to the stock piston, and has no teeth like the ATS unit. Not only that, but ATS's converter lockup piston has a damper in it, just like the factory Ford parts.
6. The ATS lockup has aggressive teeth in the cover that help give a complete lockup in th

7. Here's a look at the ATS converter's piston (left). Notice the dampener in it, just like the factory Ford (right) ones have. We note this because there are some aftermarket pistons that do not (have this damper). The piston also has stiffer springs, and the hub is hardened. On the other side of the ATS piston, there are tabs that the lockup clutches engage into. The factory piston relies solely upon friction.
7. Here's a look at the ATS converter's piston (left). Notice the dampener in it, just lik
8. ATS stacks more clutch plates in their transmissions than stock transmissions hold. Dave Oliver of ATS used a lathe to cut the forward gear in our 5R110 that has a modified top plate to accept a larger clutch pack. And the piston was cut to fit six clutches instead of the factory's four-plate stack.
8. ATS stacks more clutch plates in their transmissions than stock transmissions hold. Da
9. Clutch packs are increased on the forward, direct, intermediate, and overdrive gears by stacking either one or two more clutches and steel plates. These clutches are always replaced in every ATS transmission build, and are actually produced at ATS. They laser cut the plates and the sheets of friction material before bonding them together to make the clutches that ATS uses.
9. Clutch packs are increased on the forward, direct, intermediate, and overdrive gears by

10. The transmission pump that sits directly below the overdrive/coast clutch assembly in this image has already had a new shift kit installed into it. ATS also includes a new pop-off valve on the pressure regulator that lets go at 300 psi so no damage is done to the pump.
10. The transmission pump that sits directly below the overdrive/coast clutch assembly in
11. After building the forward and direct assemblies, Oliver used a custom clamping tool to lower everything into the case. Before he lowers this assembly into the purple housing, the piston, spring and rear output shaft are installed first.
11. After building the forward and direct assemblies, Oliver used a custom clamping tool t
12. Billet shafts are an option on our Stage 2 5R110 transmission package. We opted for full billet shafts throughout the transmission, including this intermediate shaft being dropped in. The billet material has a different molecular make-up and is a stronger material than the mild steel that the stock shafts are made out of. This just helps further increase the overall strength of the transmission.
12. Billet shafts are an option on our Stage 2 5R110 transmission package. We opted for fu

13. ATS has proprietary valve components that help make a stronger, handbuilt valvebody for every transmission. The line pressure is also raised for increased torque holding capacity. Custom profiles on the valves help to manipulate fluid flow to increase volume to keeps the gear packs applied under increased load.
13. ATS has proprietary valve components that help make a stronger, handbuilt valvebody fo
14. ATS has deep transmission pans that hold an extra five quarts of transmission fluid. The pans come standard with every transmission built at ATS, or you can buy one separately if your transmission is still fresh and you just want to ensure its longevity. Allen bolts are also included to give a nice, finishing touch to a beautiful housing and pan package. The purple paint is a signature ATS feature that not only protects the housing but also immediately signifies the transmission as "ATS built."
14. ATS has deep transmission pans that hold an extra five quarts of transmission fluid. T
15. This in-house transmission dynamometer is how ATS knows that every transmission that leaves their facility is working correctly. The dyno's engine spins the input shaft, and a brake system on the tailshaft creates load with resistance. As the load is applied, Bob Wichman shifts the transmission through each gear and internal pressures are measured at each point. This is done to make sure that the shift valves and gear pack application (on and off) are happening as they should be.
15. This in-house transmission dynamometer is how ATS knows that every transmission that l

16. With the Stage 2 ATS transmission completed, we were ready to raise our 5R110 transmission back into place. Chris Nelson worked until almost midnight to make sure our transmission properly installed and ready to move the truck out of town that night.
16. With the Stage 2 ATS transmission completed, we were ready to raise our 5R110 transmis
17. Even after the ATS-built transmission was back in the truck, there was still a couple hour's worth of work to hook up the wiring harnesses, transmission fluid lines, and reinstall the transfer case and both driveshafts. Nelson tells me the most satisfying part of the job is the very last bolt that he tightens, and here's a shot of him in final relief mode.
17. Even after the ATS-built transmission was back in the truck, there was still a couple

So How Is It Shifting?
Leave it to me to not look back and drive a truck with almost zero testing on it halfway across the country. As soon as I felt that transmission shift into "drive" at ATS, I was out the door and on my way towards California. After about 10 hours of flawless shifting on the highway and town roads, I decided to pull off and find a dirt road, miles away from anywhere and anyone, to do some bombing around. I tested "tow/haul mode," tested manually shifting through the gears, and even tried everything with the transfer case in low range.

The transmission felt fine the entire time I messed around with it and the truck exhibits absolutely no slip in the tranny with the bed loaded down. The shifts, even in tow mode, seem smoother with less slop in them since the build. In tow mode, it really used to bang through the gears if nothing was being towed or hauled, and now it feels much smoother (though still very firm) with and without the truck loaded down.