rcapone Posted March 21, 2014 Report Share Posted March 21, 2014 As some of you may know, I recently did a 4l80e swap and bought Circle D's best multi-disc converter that was supposed to have a 2800 stall. Before I ordered from Chris at Circle D, he asked me to fill out the "ask Chris" form which was basically vehicle info, current mods, future mods, how you use your vehicle - street, track or both, etc. After I placed my order, Chris told me I would get better performance with a 3000 stall, so I told him to go ahead and build it but to please do his best not to exceed 3k because of the Maggie I would be adding soon - then cam, heads, etc. later this Summer or Fall. Anyway, after some unpleasant city driving and some fine tuning from Zippy, the truck seems to run much "smoother" than it did, BUT I now am finding out that he WAAAY over shot my 3000 stall. Right now, Zippy tells me it's stalling right at 3300, plus I have a brake stall record of 3300 and a flash stall of 3300. After I install all my power adders, I'm being told it will be close to 4000 which is way too much. I was just wondering if anyone else has had this experience from Circle D? Seems like he is a reputable builder but how hard is it to get a stall correct if he's supposed to be so good is my question? Now I'm left with the headache, downtime and especially the added cost of pulling my trans. back out to swap out something that should have been built properly to begin with IMO. Maybe I would understand better if it was his lowest priced converter, but this one set me back $1,200.00! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnss Posted March 21, 2014 Report Share Posted March 21, 2014 I ordered a Multi Disk Circle D converter with a stall of 3200 and mine works great with no issues. What did Chris have to say about it?? My buddy here as two Circle D converters and has had nothing but a great product from Circle D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcapone Posted March 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2014 I ordered a Multi Disk Circle D converter with a stall of 3200 and mine works great with no issues. What did Chris have to say about it?? My buddy here as two Circle D converters and has had nothing but a great product from Circle D. He told me he thought the 258 mm that I ordered would handle the boost with no problems, but others are telling me once the blower goes on the stall will be closer to 4k. The weird thing is when I first did the swap, I have several HPT logs of the converter stalling right around 2500 (where it should be) since then the stall has gradually increased to where it is now at 3300. Chris doesn't think there's a problem though and told me to go ahead and install the blower to because his 258mm handles the boost very well. I'm just pissed I have to absorb the cost of pulling the trans. to send it out for a re-stall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverado777 Posted March 21, 2014 Report Share Posted March 21, 2014 And this is the reason I bought a car that was a manual! I had to pay for the R&R on the trans many times on my Silverado becuase no one could build a converter correctly. Either that or I just had really bad luck with them. At the end of the day I ended up going with a stock 4l80 converter. Gave me the drivability I was looking for but still stalled decently high. 2500-2800. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GI.SS Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 I can't see how after your Maggie the stall speed would increase? That's it flashpoint and won't change unless there's a huge sudden hit over power like spraying out of the hole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcapone Posted March 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 I hope you're right bro because the last thing I want to do is pull that trans. out again - especially since we have it running so well now. Personally, I have no experience and am just going off what Zippy and a few others have told me. Since Mike has tuned countless numbers of our trucks and knows the numbers, I have no reason not to believe him. In fact, just before I put my trans. in he asked me what stall I ordered with the converter and I told him 3000. He told me I better hope it stalls around 2400 - 2500 before the blower because all the low end torque will increase the stall quite a bit. AND it was stalling right at 2500 for my first few HPT logs I recorded which was right on the money - the sudden increase to 3300 is what has me worried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GI.SS Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 Yea that's very strange. I'd be on the phone with Chris as to why it would act that way. I'm sure it's ok, but you want something specific and it's his job to give you just that. Don't feel bad tho, I had 3 different transmissions put in along with 3 different converters until I got the right combo. And my yank converter that just got freshened is still sitting on the shelf waiting to go back in! It's been like 6 months now lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcapone Posted March 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 That sucks! I've already talked to Chris and told him I wasn't happy. He offered to give me a full refund or he would ship out another converter before I pull mine to minimalize the use of my Brother's only truck lift. I can't say that makes me happy since IMO he should have nailed the stall to begin with, although it does make me fell a bit better he's standing behind his product. I'm really leaning toward the full refund option because I'm now concerned the replacement converter he sends me would stall too high as well. Oh well, this is the life of modding it seems like...gotta just suck it up and deal with it AND spend more $$$! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GI.SS Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 I'd get his replacement. He builds a great product and stands behind it 100%. Not many vendors do that anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JC03SS Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 I'd get his replacement. He builds a great product and stands behind it 100%. Not many vendors do that anymore. I'd say the same. He is one of the good guys. It's a good converter too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLOWN SS/T Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 Unless you have a recommended and already proven/tested converter with the combo your going with, I'd go with what Chris can build for you next, if not try the proven converter. He makes a solid product, and seems to be about customer service from what other peoples experience dealing with him. I had a circle d 3k but never installed it in the SS, and I was gonna go with one of his converters but ended up running a yank. Or you can go large turbo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy Posted March 23, 2014 Report Share Posted March 23, 2014 I think after this post is up for a while some others will start chiming in with the same problem. I will say that his truck still drives and the converter still locks so if you weren't looking into it most people would never even notice. On the same hand when you pay that much for a torque converter it should be quite a bit closer to the stall you are looking for than this. I have had a rather large number of guys with this same complaint using a Circle D. Another guy on this site had one that was supposed to be a 2600-2800 for his 4L80E truck and was flash stalling to 3800-4000 instead. It almost seems that if it isn't naturally asperated they are always too high. Most people also won't notice because a higher stalling converter just turns in better track times making the product look better when it is actually just turning in a better time because the stall is higher than asked for. I recommend that everyone when they get a new stall no matter what the brand is check to see where the new converter is stalling to. Once your truck is up to making the power that it should post up the stall speed of your current converter Shawn. I'm not taking a poke at you at all, but more in interest in what yours is doing because you do have the parts to be in the mid 11's on boost alone in the 12psi range. At that level of torque output I'm interested in where your stall goes to. What are you seeing currently on the footbrake? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDS Posted March 25, 2014 Report Share Posted March 25, 2014 Wanted to chime in hear to clear up any confusion. Our goal is to provide you guys with an excellent product that meets all your goals. As you guys know, there are several factors that affect the stall RPM, and sometimes we underestimate your power and go over our target range. Which on the LS motors is not a deal breaker, they typically like the extra RPM. But we are here to help, no worries there. Customer service is very important to us, if you ever have any questions or problems - please let us know. We take a great deal of pride in our converters and we are not happy until you are. And thanks to all the compliments from our other customers, greatly appreciated. Really appreciate your business. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JC03SS Posted March 25, 2014 Report Share Posted March 25, 2014 Gotta say Chris has great customer support and my converter works great. Heck of a product for a great price and you can bet he will make it right he's a nice guy. I'll get another Circle D for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onebadmax Posted March 26, 2014 Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 (edited) Chris builds an awesome converter. I'm very pleased with his product and will purchase from him again. Edited March 26, 2014 by onebadmax (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.