Need help from some fellow 6f55 owners PLEASE!

[magneticsport]

Hello everyone I do not own a SHO but I own a 2017 fusion sport with the 6f55. I have the sonnax zip kit, and raybestos clutch pack as well as a couple other things on the way right now. I live in Michigan but haven't found a shop that will touch the 6f55s at all. Just curious who you guys used? Heard you guys have been doing a lot of work for these as far as getting stuff made for them. I do not care if it is out of state I will ship to them to have stuff done. I appreciate any help just out of ideas of where to take it to have it worked on. Sorry about my rant again thank you all so much in advance.

 

[SHOdded]

he's pretty busy but you can schedule with brian at bsg automotive in IL, you can see his videos on yt fordtechmakuloco. i think a good option if time is not a crunch. that way you can have him look over the transmission as well while he has it out. and maybe he will make a video on it too!

should be plenty of performance shops in MI surprised you r having such a hard time

 

[magneticsport]

he's pretty busy but you can schedule with brian at bsg automotive in IL, you can see his videos on yt fordtechmakuloco. i think a good option if time is not a crunch. that way you can have him look over the transmission as well while he has it out. and maybe he will make a video on it too!

should be plenty of performance shops in MI surprised you r having such a hard time

Honestly found a used trans with 1/3rd of the miles of the one in the car. Was thinking about buying that one and driving it/shipping it to where ever is needed. Thank you so much for the suggestion. Yeah me too most of the places I've called that I know of all focus on GM transmissions. Just trying to find any/all options closest to home atp lol.

 

[802SHO]

Kevin Quinlan built mine, he’s a drivetrain specialist at VSC (Vermont Sports Car). I can ask him if he would do another. You’d have to ship it.

Sonnax is great for renewing a lot of the shift qualities of a used transmissions valve body but it doesn’t renew all of it, better to remove the valve body and solenoid assembly and bring to Ford as cores, replace with brand new units. I called and spoke with a Sonnax dealer and from our conversation about what my goals were, he said it’s better to have it all new instead of some of it new. He told me the kits don’t replace everything worn out and all new is better so just get new units from Ford.

I think replacing the valve body and solenoid assembly should be added to preventative maintenance. The valve body is heavily flawed and nearly all the points of failure contribute to burnt clutches….so it’s only a matter of when not if.

I did kind of the same thing I bought a used 6F55 and RDU off of a 2014 SHO non PP with the 2.77 final drive. 61k miles. I used my original transmission with 76k miles from my 2010 for a little R&D. I sent the clutch packs to Helix AutoSport and they made a small batch of prototype friction clutches, capable of well over 1,000ft lbs of torque, second gear can handle over 2,000 ft lbs…..dry and wet tested, made from a mixture of copper and kevlar.
Kevin told me it’s not just as simple as installing better clutches, in regards to expecting to let’s say, handle 1,000 ft lbs….the trans will need more line pressure to increase clamping force….so there could be an instance that you could still feel a slip….but not bc of the material, from not enough clamping force due to lack of pressure. However through tuning I believe this can be adjusted….like how Livernois used to make your car have a dash smashing thud on 1-2 gear shift (increased line pressure) from tuning. But basically these clutches are designed to take all of the abuse we can throw at them. Intentionally over engineered.

Something else to consider if the trans is open is weld the pins on the planetary gears (Kevin said the Diesel guys have seen planetary pins walk and cause catastrophic failures, so they will weld them)
I think there’s 3 sets of planets, why not have the pins welded while you’re in there?

Must often this unit, forget the name but it spins freely in one direction and locks in place in the other, it will probably have heat cracks….that you’re previous OEM vave body helped burn up…..you’ll want to find a new one, I found one used and without cracks
That was the cracked one.

You’re going to want a set of molded pistons
A set of Durabond seamless bushings. Replace all the seals get a rebuild kit with all the seals off EBay. New trans filter, new sensors. Then you might want to grab a LSD conversion from Traction Concepts
And an upgraded torque converter from GearHead, and billet flex plate from reactor products.
And @aaron240 made a billet PTU cover and heat shield for the non PP PTU from sending him the cover of my original PTU

This should make quite a difference in terms of handling more power and handling more power reliably over just a normal stock 6F55. In a lot of other platforms just upgrading clutches gets ppl much farther ahead performance wise so let’s hope we fall in the same category.

 

[yaycandy]

Kevin Quinlan built mine, he’s a drivetrain specialist at VSC (Vermont Sports Car). I can ask him if he would do another. You’d have to ship it.

Sonnax is great for renewing a lot of the shift qualities of a used transmissions valve body but it doesn’t renew all of it, better to remove the valve body and solenoid assembly and bring to Ford as cores, replace with brand new units. I called and spoke with a Sonnax dealer and from our conversation about what my goals were, he said it’s better to have it all new instead of some of it new. He told me the kits don’t replace everything worn out and all new is better so just get new units from Ford.

I think replacing the valve body and solenoid assembly should be added to preventative maintenance. The valve body is heavily flawed and nearly all the points of failure contribute to burnt clutches….so it’s only a matter of when not if. View attachment 90796

I did kind of the same thing I bought a used 6F55 and RDU off of a 2014 SHO non PP with the 2.77 final drive. 61k miles. I used my original transmission with 76k miles from my 2010 for a little R&D. I sent the clutch packs to Helix AutoSport and they made a small batch of prototype friction clutches, capable of well over 1,000ft lbs of torque, second gear can handle over 2,000 ft lbs…..dry and wet tested, made from a mixture of copper and kevlar. View attachment 90797View attachment 90798View attachment 90799
Kevin told me it’s not just as simple as installing better clutches, in regards to expecting to let’s say, handle 1,000 ft lbs….the trans will need more line pressure to increase clamping force….so there could be an instance that you could still feel a slip….but not bc of the material, from not enough clamping force due to lack of pressure. However through tuning I believe this can be adjusted….like how Livernois used to make your car have a dash smashing thud on 1-2 gear shift (increased line pressure) from tuning. But basically these clutches are designed to take all of the abuse we can throw at them. Intentionally over engineered.

Something else to consider if the trans is open is weld the pins on the planetary gears (Kevin said the Diesel guys have seen planetary pins walk and cause catastrophic failures, so they will weld them)View attachment 90800View attachment 90801
I think there’s 3 sets of planets, why not have the pins welded while you’re in there?

Must often this unit, forget the name but it spins freely in one direction and locks in place in the other, it will probably have heat cracks….that you’re previous OEM vave body helped burn up…..you’ll want to find a new one, I found one used and without cracksView attachment 90803View attachment 90804
That was the cracked one.

You’re going to want a set of molded pistons View attachment 90805
A set of Durabond seamless bushings. Replace all the seals get a rebuild kit with all the seals off EBay. New trans filter, new sensors. Then you might want to grab a LSD conversion from Traction Concepts View attachment 90807
And an upgraded torque converter from GearHead, and billet flex plate from reactor products. View attachment 90808
And @aaron240 made a billet PTU cover and heat shield for the non PP PTU from sending him the cover of my original PTUView attachment 90811

This should make quite a difference in terms of handling more power and handling more power reliably over just a normal stock 6F55. In a lot of other platforms just upgrading clutches gets ppl much farther ahead performance wise so let’s hope we fall in the same category.

You’re Amazing

 

[SHO_GoesOn]

My list has just grown from this thread alone…that was a fantastic summary @802SHO. Between you and @Ecoboost_xsport, it’s like my wallet’s on ozempic. Welding the pins is exactly the sort of detail I need to give my builder. That PTU cover is sweet too. I have the helix clutches, Reactor products flex plate, and traction concepts LSD on order. Waiting for a response from GH so I can send my new core TC to them for pampering. Thanks for that excellent checklist…

 

[Mahu24]

My list has just grown from this thread alone…that was a fantastic summary @802SHO. Between you and @Ecoboost_xsport, it’s like my wallet’s on ozempic. Welding the pins is exactly the sort of detail I need to give my builder. That PTU cover is sweet too. I have the helix clutches, Reactor products flex plate, and traction concepts LSD on order. Waiting for a response from GH so I can send my new core TC to them for pampering. Thanks for that excellent checklist…

You can just send Matt a message on Facebook as well, he usually responds quickly on there. Ship it to GH with a note in the box with your contact info, those are the instructions he told me.

 

[SHO_GoesOn]

You can just send Matt a message on Facebook as well, he usually responds quickly on there. Ship it to GH with a note in the box with your contact info, those are the instructions he told me.

Excellent, I appreciate the tip!