Over the next few months, you’ll notice an increasing emphasis on ATRA+ articles. It’s not so much that we’ve changed article focus, per se, but rather...
Get in, buckle up and hold on is what a friend told me as we went for a drive in his 2021 Corvette. Zora Arkus-Duntov, the father of the Corvette, made a...
Lockup in automatic transmissions has been with us for better than a half-century. However, lockup strategies have significantly evolved. With...
My Apologies
All of us are human. Being able to admit when you made a mistake is an admirable trait. This month I am going to address turbocharged vehicles...
Like many of you, I’m far from a fan of most CVTs. I guess I’m just set in my ways but I often wonder if people really test drive CVT-equipped vehicles...
Manufacturers are under tremendous pressure to improve fuel economy while reducing emissions. In 1975, the government established a standard called CAFE...
Last month, ATRA’s Executive Director, Lance Wiggins, shared some history about ATRA. As a rebuilder, I can go back decades and recall the tech I learned...
I’m often asked, “When are the constant changes in vehicle technology going to slow down?” The answer is quite simple: They won’t! 10 years from now...
Sometimes the simplest things in the world can lead to the biggest of headaches. I’ve known of many people, including myself, that will build ZFs, Mercedes...
The age-old problem of the torque converter clutch killing the engine at a stop in gear seems never to go away. It has been a problem that we’ve been...
I hear it at every seminar, and from most of the shops I visit inside and outside of North America, “this stuff is getting harder and harder to fix!”. It...
The GM 6L series transmission is quickly becoming the most popular attraction in the shop. As we all know, this unit is plagued by a handful of common issues...
We’ve all felt challenged about problems with transmissions we’re unfamiliar with, and CVTs top the list. As different as these transmissions seem, there...
Changing transmission fluid after the vehicle is out of warranty is important for the life of the transmission. The issue of helping the customer understand...
Change is one word that folks in this industry either love or hate. The GM 8-speeds are making their mark in our industry as many shops are seeing more and...
Up Your Business is an exclusive GEARS Magazine feature where I share stories, insights, and reflections about business and life.
Is it just me, or are you...
I have to be honest, swapping a TH-350 from one vehicle to another was easy, nuts and bolts, compared to replacing any modern transmission. Replacing almost...
Most transmission shops purchase their torque converters from one of their local suppliers, while many transmission remanufactures rebuild torque converters in...
In last month’s article we covered the basics of module programming. From this point forward we will delve into individual manufacturers. Each of these...
…Once on the bench and disassembled, all we found was burnt forward clutches, everything else looked ok…
My co-worker recently built a 5R110W...