Cummins Swap A518 or E40D

[jltait]

Newbie here and I must say I really love this sight guys. Okay for the question I have a 1st gen intercooled cummins that I plan to swap into a ford F250. I already swapped the front axle to a Dana 60. My question is concerning which tranny to use. If I could afford a NV4500 I would probably go that route but I cannot. So this brings me to my question: the engine came with a a518. Will this hold up at a GCWR of 14000 @ hopefully 500-550 tq? I pull about 8000 with possibly another 1000 in the bed and the truck probably weighs in at just over 5000. I am looking for rock solid reliability (not 100,000 miles but a good 50,000 reliable miles before needing to freshen up the auto) and would prefer a lockup converter, but if the a518 will hold up and I already have it I will save big by utilizing it. Otherwise I will go with the destroked plate to the current E40d, but after adding diesel converter, controller..etc, that will be an expensive proposition as well. What do you guys think?

[SChandler]

You will need two things for the 518 to make it live a long time at that level: 1) A good torque converter. Lots of discussion on this here, but Hughes and TCI seem to be the good "bargains" while Suncoast, DTT, & Goerends are the really good stuff. It depends on how much you can spend right now. 2) An auxiliary trans cooler (in addition to the factory one). The life span of an auto trans is dependent on how hot the fluid gets. Cooler fluid = longer life. A shift kit wouldn't hurt anything and shouldn't be more than $100 or so. Also, look around in this forum section, there are tips for free adjustments to the trans to make it shift firmer and keep it adjusted properly.

Oh yeah, welcome to the site!

[jltait]

Thanks for the feedback Schandler. I do have alot of transmission experience just not with an A518. I have rebuild handfulls of GM Stuff (Th400's,th350's,700's,4l60e's,4l80e's,and 4t60e's) so I am not afraid of 'em, just want to make sure I get good return on my investment. I will probably run a tansgo SK TFOD-Diesel and a Hughs converter. Looks like they run about $425. With the proper fluid pressure (sounds like just under or right at 200psi max) Will the stock cluch pack plate counts hold at the 500-550lb-ft tq levels I will be looking for?

[peobryant]

The stock rating for these trucks is 400ft/lb so I'm not sure how much extra tq it will hold. I think you could probably get away with a stock rebuild and good aftermarket converter, if you're looking for a reliable 50K miles. The 518 should do the job.

[SChandler]

I'm not sure about the clutch packs at 500-550 ft-lbs. I have manuals in both of my trucks. From what I've read, it is a pretty common upgrade to go with an extra clutch in the packs for better holding. I think member BC847 (among others) have discussed this pretty well on here.