Scottiac

This is just a recap of my experiences in (almost) finishing up my S/C project. After getting the S/C in and the URD kit installed, pretty much the only major operation I still had to do was the valve body upgrade.

I accept that it is totally necessary, but be warned that it is an expensive proposition before all is said and done.

I called IPT on monday, to get an idea of what all I needed to know, and what all they needed to know. After talking to them, they said it was a cut and dried operation, they didn't need to know anything more, they knew exactly what to do. Cool.

I had a local shop remove and reinstall the valve body, because I didn't want to deal with it myself. Mixed opinions on the board led me to that decision, plus I'm fundamentally lazy. The shop used was Sacramento Valley Transmission Exchange. I worked with a fellow named Ron there; very helpful, pleasant guy.

I had called around to get prices for that part of the game. The stealer wanted $500 (!!) just to uninstall/reinstall, quoting 5 hours of work, plus parts, blah, blah, blah. Another (Toyota) stealer wanted nothing whatsover to do with the whole operation. I can understand it, but I was surprised. I called a few other transmission shops. Most of them ALSO wanted nothing to do with it. Finally, I was referred to Sac Valley, and they quoted me 3 hours plus blah, blah; around $300.

I dropped the truck off Tuesday afternoon, early-ish. Wednesday morning it was ready to ship. Ron had initially said he would not pack it up for shipping, much less do the shipping. Molly, my wife, ran over to pick it up, pack it up, and ship it off, and was pleasantly surprised to find that Ron had actually packed it up very nicely for us after all.

I wanted this done relatively quickly, so I was willing to eat some healthy shipping charges. Shipping charges for UPS next day (10:00 am arrival) with insurance was around $130.

I called IPT Thursday morning to verify they had received it, and make sure that they didn't need anything, and I got a change to talk to John. He indicated that they would be setting it to a firmness of about "7" on the 1 to 10 scale. Not knowing any better, I said sure. I'd seen that number on the boards before; I was willing to go with it.

They actually had NOT received it by that point. UPS had a plane problem overnight, and didn't actually make delivery until about 1:30PM Eastern.
Somewhere around 5:00PM Eastern, I get a call from John at IPT. All is ready to go, and he had actually made it back onto the UPS truck. Apparently there had been some gruesome traffic snafu with multiple fatalities that had delayed the UPS pickup time enough for them to ship back the completed valve body. Since John had promised a 24 hour turn, I was pretty darn impressed with this! Granted, there was some freakish circumstances involved, but he must have had the whole operation done in about two hours, at the very most.

The valve body work plus the return shipping was just over $600.

I received the valve body at work friday morning, and delivered it over to Ron at Sac Valley. He wasn't too sure he could get it done on Friday, but it'd be Friday or Monday. The end of the day came and went on Friday, no big deal.

On Monday, I dropped in on his shop, it's on my way home, just to check on things. I asked him how things were going. He said they were working on it, and it'd be done either Monday or Tuesday morning. Something about the way he said it made me a little uneasy, so I asked what was up.
Apparently, and according to him, IPT neglected to send back all of the pistons with the valve body. One of them was missing. He called IPT twice, and they insisted that it MUST be in the box. I delivered the sealed box from IPT to Sac Valley, so I knew it wasn't me... After getting no joy on the two calls, he just scavenged a piston from another valve body he had in the shop. I have no way of knowing where the failure actually occurred, but I give IPT a small minus for not being willing to consider it was their fault, and I give Ron at Sac Valley a big plus for just getting it taken care of (and not charging me!!!).

So today, I got my truck back. Ron chatted with me a bit, told me where the truck was, and made a parting comment about "it sure is firm now!". This left me with a little dread, but I picked it up, and drove out of his shop.

It *is* firm now. The shifts jolt a bit. Not enough to make me want to do anything about it, but enough to make me wish I had forced the issue a little with John and ask for something a little bit softer. For my money, 7 of 10 is a bit too much for a comfortable operation. If you are just looking for a "safe" transmission upgrade after installing the S/C + URD combo, I'd say go a little softer, maybe 5 of 10, I dunno.

Overall, I'm pleased with both parties.

I am damnably curious, however, what it is that IPT can do to a valve body in under 2 hours that makes it worth over $1000 when all is said and done. I respect their reputation, and my dealings with them were certainly impressive, but I just have to think it is something that can be done by any competent performance transmission shop. I guess we'll never know, since most of us are like me; afraid to the guniea pig to find out.

In retrospect, I can't even begin to tell you how jealous I am of the folks who live within driving distance of IPT. $500 dollars cheaper, and you can probably even get it fine tuned... *sigh*.

montypower

It sounds like you chose a poor trans shop. I paid my shop $80 for removal/install and about $40 for "fluid change & filter".

I shipped it overnight both ways... cost $200 total.

IPT work cost ~ $500. Those guys do a very good job. I felt the shifts were a bit hard, but now I enjoy it. It especially feels good when you floor it.

I had my truck back in 3 days. Find a good shop to do your VB install!!! It's a very easy job (with the correct tools) but messy (which is why I had a shop do it).

rimpainter.com

My guess is they have some VB's ready to go and just kept yours as a core (that's just a guess, I might be completely wrong). You also have to factor in R&D, supply and demand, and the fact that people do pay the price.

But let's get to the real question here: can you chirp 2nd gear now?

mastacox

Hmm, I definitely appreciate hearing about your experiences. I'm going to be doing the VB in Feb-March next year... I need to decide if I want a 7 out of 10 Maybe a 6?

I'm REALLY curious to see the before and after measurements on some of the major features of the VB, but I don't want to piss IPT off as I do respect their need to recoup their investments in R&D.

Anyone with an IPT VB have input on where in the 1-10 scale they got their VB done, and what they think?

Scottiac

I did actually call no less than 10 shops before I found one that would even do it; and unfortunately, that price was the lowest I found. I saw that people got it done for way less on the board, and I was pretty bummed. I don't think my shop was "poor" in any way, but it sure wasn't only $120 for their work.

Hopefully others can find one more like yours, and less like mine. Or at least cheaper. I was DARN pleased with them over the handling of the lost piston.

And I'm sure I'll be happier with the hard shifts over time. I'm not *un*happy, but it isn't exactly what I would have wanted if I could have it "perfect" for me.

My IPT work was the same price; they just added the shipping (back) onto the bill. And I guess I'm not really chapped with IPT's price so much, as the fact that the whole thing adds up to so much. If you are willing to do the work yourself, and slow-boat the shipping, I bet this would be a very reasonable cost thing to do. Probably only cost you around $600 total, instead of the over $1,000 I ended up forking over.

But I would have been a lot happier to go into a local shop and have it all done, if wishes were fishes.

CJM

That shop is about an hour and ahalf from me (it was only 20 minutes when I lived closer) we had them completely rebuild the transmission in our 84 c4 vette. They had to make some of the parts!

Overall a very nice outfit, shame about your little problem but there can always be errors when you want fast turn around times.

Scottiac

I don't know yet. I've only picked up the truck and driven it home; I was following my wife, who was driving my Acura, and I did NOT want to have an Acura hood ornament on my 4Runner.

Don't get my wrong, I'm not upset with IPT in any way. I'm just trying to give the whole blow by blow of the experience for future generations. I found them amazingly fast, the work seems to do the trick, and they were very easy for me to deal with.

CJM

Oh yea I know what ya mean, giving the blow by blow is a good thing.

Thank god we didnt care about time witht he vette, it took 4 months to manufacture and fit the parts. I figure they werent working on it diligently, what could they do without having all the parts?

montypower

The VB mod is actually fairly simple for the guys that know what they are doing. Some replacement springs, drill some holes, clean stuff up....

This is the right way to do it tho. Those guys have spent the time to get it right too. I'm not sure what you guys are talking about with this 1 to 10 rating thing. I think it's all the same, unless you want it setup for the track. If you don't want a firm shift... don't do the mod. Or tighten the trans kick down cable for slightly firmer shifts.

mastacox

I have to call B.S. on this... Have you read anything about a VB mod, such as on Gadget's site, or one of the in-depth threads on the subject? I suggest you do before you start throwing out sweeping generalizations about the mod. Oh, and tightening the Trans Kickdown doesn't do the same thing either...

Logisticus

Just a side note, if you shippedthis out less than 2 weeks ago, you are due a refund from UPS for delivering your package late(Unless the delay was weather related)

montypower

Yes. I have read about the VB mod which is why I had it done. Since you are the expert... Tell us all what else is done to the valve body?? Have you ever seen one?

I'm not knocking IPT but highly recommend them. Just don't make the VB mod sound like rocket science because it's not. That being said it should be done by a shop with experience and IPT is tops (in my opinion).

I never said that tightening the trans kickdown was the same either (read my post). It will firm up the shifts slightly tho.