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torque converter

aknight_sa

aknight_sa

1/2 ton status
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Oct 14, 2005
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Saudi Arabia
whats a good torque converter to be used with a 454 engine and a th350?

i need something that will help accelerate quickly from 0...
 
Picking a good converter has to be one of the toughest decisions to make...right up there with picking a cam.

I can't recomend one (only ones I've bought aftermarket were for my cars), but I suggest calling the converter companies. Have the vehicle weight, gear ratio, engine displacement, cam info (duration at .050", ADV duration, and lift), and your intended useage ready. They will help you decide. A converter that works well for someone might be toatly wrong for you.
 
Like toomany said, there's too many (no pun intended) choices depending on the usage and the vehicle. If it's for a truck then just a stock stall convertor should be used. The more stall a convertor has the more slippage there is before the vehicle wants to move. If you have a huge cam and try to run a stock stall convertor the engine will never idle under 1000rpms or so depending on how much cam you have.
 
how can i make the right choice here.. i dont really understand torque converters..

i am currently running a stock engine.. but i feel that the converter is keeping me back as other trucks can beat me when going from zero.. they are running stock 350s with manual trannys...

i need something that will allow me to go faster....
 
Torque converters are a fluid coupling between the engine and trans. In basic terms, it's a fan driving another fan. By varing the pitch of the fins and ammount of fins the stall speed can be adjusted. There is a ton more to it than that...I'll see if I can dig up a link as to how they work.

But like I said, give some of the companies a call. They will be more than willing to help.

What are you running for gears right now? Tire size? That could have a big effect on acceleration. 3.08's and 38'' tires will be slow off the line no matter what you put infront of it.
 
Manual transmissions are more efficient than autos and hence generally put more power to the ground and produce better mileage.

With a stock motor, changing converters will only make the truck slower.

If you change the intake/heads/cam to make more top end power then a higher stall converter will make the vehicle quicker because it will keep the RPM's up higher in the powerband.



Seriously, with a stock motor, you'll actually be slower with any aftermarket higher-stall converter.
 
If 350 trucks are beating your big block truck off the line, there is something else thats causing your problem. whether it be gear ratio, tuning or your engine is just too tired to keep up, I cant say, but the torque of the 454 should give you an advantage.
 
aknight_sa said:
how can i make the right choice here.. i dont really understand torque converters..

i am currently running a stock engine.. but i feel that the converter is keeping me back as other trucks can beat me when going from zero.. they are running stock 350s with manual trannys...

i need something that will allow me to go faster....
Click to expand...

Tire size and gear ratio play a HUGE factor in what you are describing. Lets say your truck came stock with 31" tires and 3.08 gears, if you step up in tire size that is like making your gear ratio even numerically lower (less than 3.08) on the other hand if you stepped down in tire size it would be like making your gear ratio numerically higher (more than 3.08). The same concept goes for gear swaps except that a numerically higher gear would make the truck excellerate quicker with the same size tire and a numerically lower gear would make the truck excellerate slower with the same tire size.
 
I went with a 200 rpm higher stall than stock for my burb and got it from here. They had the best price and free shipping too when I bought mine. They are featured on extreme 4x4 a lot.
http://www.eatmyshift.com/
Places around where I live wanted over 300 bucks to build me the same thing. If you have any questions just call them.
Tarey
 
4X4HIGH said:
Tire size and gear ratio play a HUGE factor in what you are describing. Lets say your truck came stock with 31" tires and 3.08 gears, if you step up in tire size that is like making your gear ratio even numerically lower (less than 3.08) on the other hand if you stepped down in tire size it would be like making your gear ratio numerically higher (more than 3.08). The same concept goes for gear swaps except that a numerically higher gear would make the truck excellerate quicker with the same size tire and a numerically lower gear would make the truck excellerate slower with the same tire size.
Click to expand...


i thought that having a numerically lower gear ratio (closer to 1:1) would make higher speeds because your getting a one spin from the engine make one spin at the axle.. which is faster than going more than one spin from the engine to one spin at the axle...

my engine is at good condition so i dont think its the issue.. i am sure that i do need some tuning specially with the carb...
 
A numerically lower gear will give more top end MPH while a numerically higher gear will give quicker low end excelleration but less top end mph.
 
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