psrivats' 2005 TJ Rubicon mild build

The things I do for this TJ 🙄🙄

Picked up this supposedly 130k mile 42RLE for $350 yesterday. Had to drive 2 hours each way for it though. Will be rebuilding this and keep mine as a spare. My research/reading says ATS diesel is a decent choice but still thinking through and talking to people. This is for the winter though.

After talking to local shops and pricing out a replacement valve body and torque converter parts+ labor costs, rebuilding is not that much out and I get warranty. I'm just frustrated that all this is happening with only 65k miles. I really seem to have drawn the short straw with this transmission.

PXL_20210509_032616524.jpg
 
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zebra12 said:
What were your thoughts on Bullripper? Seem to get good reviews and local.

https://www.bullripper.com/HEAVY-DUTY-JEEP-42RLE-p/b56.htm
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Hard to get much information on what they do. There was one member here who shared a pretty terrible experience recently so I'm a bit wary. I did reach out to them but haven't heard back. ATS diesel isn't 100% perfect either if you read the diesel truck forums, but they are atleast responsive on email and willing to give answers. I'll share the information here once I collect everything I'm looking for. There are atleast 2-3 members here that have installed ATS ones but they seem inactive. I've reached out to them as well.
 
I did the ATS diesel tran and torque converter on a Black Friday sale a couple of years ago. They sent the transmission with a liberty tail housing and I didn't realize it until it was installed under the Jeep. Fast turn around on the replacement. I didn't have a shop install it so I voided the warranty but it has been running fine.
 
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Grover728 said:
I did the ATS diesel tran and torque converter on a Black Friday sale a couple of years ago. They sent the transmission with a liberty tail housing and I didn't realize it until it was installed under the Jeep. Fast turn around on the replacement. I didn't have a shop install it so I voided the warranty but it has been running fine.
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Thanks for sharing. Good to hear it's been running without issues. If I go with them, I'll definitely post my experiences here.

That said ... I'm taking a break from the Jeep forums for a while.
 
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psrivats said:
Hard to get much information on what they do. There was one member here who shared a pretty terrible experience recently so I'm a bit wary. I did reach out to them but haven't heard back. ATS diesel isn't 100% perfect either if you read the diesel truck forums, but they are atleast responsive on email and willing to give answers. I'll share the information here once I collect everything I'm looking for. There are atleast 2-3 members here that have installed ATS ones but they seem inactive. I've reached out to them as well.
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@NashvilleTJ had a ATS tranny in his LJ behind his supercharged 4.0 for a while so he might be able to offer some thoughts. He's sort of hooked on purple so he has one behind his Hemi also.
 
Wildman said:
@NashvilleTJ had a ATS tranny in his LJ behind his supercharged 4.0 for a while so he might be able to offer some thoughts. He's sort of hooked on purple so he has one behind his Hemi also.
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That's correct. I have been very happy with the work from ATS. The SC I6 was making about 300 power and 400 torque, and I hammered it pretty hard. I originally had the 42RLE rebuilt by ATS because it was starting to slip behind the SC, with only about 10,000 miles on it. Their work corrected that 100%, tightened up the shifts, and I never had another problem - despite continuing to bang on it.

The 545RFE I run now is also an ATS build - it's their stage 3 or 4 (don't recall which off the top of my head) built for 700 horse power (that I do remember :) ). Always reliable, shifts very smoothly and quick - it's actually a big reason the rig drives so well.

In terms of what they do, I know they do some milling on the case to allow adding more friction disks, and also some work to the valve body. Other things as well, but I don't recall all the detail as it has been a few years. Regardless, I've thrown some serious power and a lead foot at these things, and have never had a problem.

(...and my wife's favorite color is purple, so that helps)
 
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After a good break this summer .. I am back on the forum :) I did a lot of very good hiking this summer. I also took a break from most forums in general and it has been great for my mental health. Since beginning of the year, I had also moved to a new role within my company internally that is giving me a lot of new learning and I am at a good spot overall.

Time to catch up on all the builds here, I see that @Mike_H has been busy and @jjvw has been posting a lot :)

The most I look forward to is to learn more from reading @mrblaine's posts.

Forum peeps, please point me to good threads (and builds) that I have missed this summer. No drama threads like the geo correction please .. have -0- interest in those type of threads going fwd).

@Grover728 we should meet up before the rains fully start ...
 
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psrivats said:
After a good break this summer .. I am back on the forum :) I did a lot of very good hiking this summer. I also took a break from most forums in general and it has been great for my mental health. Since beginning of the year, I had also moved to a new role within my company internally that is giving me a lot of new learning and I am at a good spot overall.

Time to catch up on all the builds here, see that @Mike_H has been busy and @jjvw has been posting a lot :)

The most I look forward to is to learn more from reading @mrblaine's posts.

Forum peeps, please point me to good threads (and builds) that I have missed this summer. No drama threads like the geo correction please .. have -0- interest in those type of threads going fwd).
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Oh man!! He is back.

Well, a lot has changed. I’m deputy administrator and second shift content monitor now.

We have pretty much banned everyone that is running anything smaller than 31’s, and Chris is taking us all to DisneyWorld next year.

As far as mental health, that term is muttered around me a lot....what does that mean. I know it’s something good.
 
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psrivats said:
After a good break this summer .. I am back on the forum :) I did a lot of very good hiking this summer. I also took a break from most forums in general and it has been great for my mental health. Since beginning of the year, I had also moved to a new role within my company internally that is giving me a lot of new learning and I am at a good spot overall.

Time to catch up on all the builds here, I see that @Mike_H has been busy and @jjvw has been posting a lot :)

The most I look forward to is to learn more from reading @mrblaine's posts.

Forum peeps, please point me to good threads (and builds) that I have missed this summer. No drama threads like the geo correction please .. have -0- interest in those type of threads going fwd).

@Grover728 we should meet up before the rains fully start ...
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Oh man, some of the drama posts can be the BEST, if you come at them with the right attitude. Check out the Savvy customer service one... You'll learn that Mr Blain owns Savvy (I found it on the internet!) Jerry B is Rough Countries brand ambassador or something and Chris owns the rights to TJ so anytime anyone types it, he gets a nickle. OK...I made that last one up, but that is the way the thread went.

Check out @Irun Light and nimble thread, if you haven't already. Rich has another one started too... I expect great things!

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/it-just-happened.55698/unread
 
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psrivats said:
Thanks, will take a look.

Glad to see you got another jeep @JMT. I put your spider webshade to good use this summer.
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Good, great trade on the Spidershade. Worked for me too. I got a teensy Spidershade for mine from @jjvw and the Twins got my full shade that you sent. 😎
 
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