D&D Performance / T56 tail seal
 

I know this should possibly be in the feedback or Trans section section but hopefully someone out there may be able to help but its a bit of a vent...

I posted a part of the problem in the transmission section but I had an issue with my tail shaft seal popping out on my T56 Magnum. I googled the issue and found that there might be an upgraded seal for it and from what I read D&D Performance has it, I bought the trans through Hurst Drivelines but they were sure about an upgraded seal so no biggy I thought I would call D&D buy the "upgraded seal" well apparently that wasn't what I was supposed to do..

Called D&D guy answers the phone and told him my issue and he asks if I bought my trans from them, I say no he immediately says call whoever you bought the trans from and can't help and hangs up giving me no chance to tell him I just want to buy a seal.

Then I call him back and tell him I just want to buy the upgraded seal he asks where I bought my trans I tell him Hurst he says I call them and demand a new seal and as they are an Elite Dealer again I tell him I just read that D&D had some sort of upgraded seal and he says "we are here to sell transmissions not tail seals" and ends the conversation.

Anyone heard of an upgraded seal? and sorry for the vent!

Sorry to hear Raj, talk about sh*tty customer service I would have told the guy at D&D to go **** himself before he had a chance to hang up on you!!

I should have Ryan but he didn't eve give me a chance to do that!

On a good note Jim from Hurst called me and gave me the new seal part number and Tremec is sending me a Viper seal which is the upgrade.

Tremec might know. 1-800-401-9866. The tail shaft seal problem popped up a few years ago and I would think new ones are now shipping with it(metal perimeter versus all rubber), so if Tremec is installing them, they should have the part number.

Thanks Chris you are correct the viper version has a metal perimeter. Jim at hurst put me in touch with Rob at Tremec -- new seal is on its way.

Hope you've got your problem solved, Raj. Thanks for also letting me know about D&D. They may be in the business of selling transmission, but they won't be selling one to me, ever.

And here in lies the problem with poor customer service. The funny part to me is that I do business consulting for a living and I tell all my clients that you need to treat every phone call like your business depends on it. What I actually tell my clients is "treat every customer like it was your grandmother on the other end but like you are paying the bill".

I'm not going to judge DD as I have never dealt with them but stories like this have a way of planting seeds in people's minds and later lead to a business owner trying to understand why their phone has stopped ringing. With the Internet today a business really has to be on their best behaviour, all the time, with every customer.

It's a tough market place out there and unless you have a captive market and not dealing with the general public, business owners need to get dialled into their business and their customers.

Glad to hear you got your seal and the true cost to DD will never really be known in lost opportunity and future sales. It really is sad,but hey, as long as businesses keep messing up I will always have a full time job.

Funny thing is when you go on their site they have parts section and imagine that they list output shaft seals!

Very well said, I had no dealings with them nor had I even heard about them until I searched for the seal issue but like you said we will never know what affect this will have on their business especially since I don't know if anyone on lat-g would have purchased from them as they aren't on here as a vendor here.

I was just dumbfounded by his comments and attitude and the fact that he hung up the phone as fast as he possible could!

The new seal has a metal outer ring and doesn't have a dust cap like the original on the T56.

Just got home and checked my Hurst Drivelines T56 Magnum that I purchased from Summit Racing only 3 months ago and arrived about 45 days ago and it's difficult to tell if mine is the full rubber seal or the metal rimmed seal, but I think it's the full rubber seal. I guess Tremec has yet to ship Magnums with the better seal with the metal rim. It figures.

Canrc, do you have the part number you obtained for the upgraded/Viper-spec seal and ordered from Rob at Tremec? I think I found it but I'd just like to be sure.

Thanks!
Chris

That sucks but I can relate. I have been trying to buy a 6 speed from 2 vendors with no call backs or assistance. I wanted to buy from a dealer so I can maybe establish a professional relation ship but that failed. I ended up buying from Atech and had the trans in the shop with in 6 days and no drama.

I have the part number written down at work but this is what the new one will look like:

http://ls1tech.com/forums/attachment...6-img_0747.jpg

and the old:

http://image.gmhightechperformance.c...-glory-024.jpg

Sorry to hear that Vince -- glad you get your trans though!

If you could post the part number when you get back to work tomorrow, it would be much appreciated. :thumbsup:

Strange, that's a lot different than the other pics I've seen on the net. I thought it would look like the one on the right in the following pic(the standard one is on the left):

http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/a...0728121802.jpg

And here's a pic of the rear seal on a Viper-spec T56. You can see the metal lip(red):

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2571/...1210de8a_o.jpg

They look much different than the one you provided a pic of. Are you sure that's the new one?

Raj- Could you post the part number for the metal seal when you get a chance, mine is a leaker also only 700 miles, I checked my vent tube and drive shaft yoke all looks good. Guess is poor design seal.

Thanks Rich

Called Tremec this morning and spoked to Dale and asked him about this issue and if he had the part number for the metal-rimmed version of the seal. He said the following:

"We've heard about this issue with the rear seal and we believe it can be caused by the seal simply not be installed into the tail housing far enough from the factory or that your drivetrain/shaft is too long and it's smacking the seal during suspension travel. Check your seal and see if it seems like it's installed properly. Also, I'll check that part number for you on the metal-rimmed seal and call you back."

He did call me back 15 minutes later and gave me the following part number: 1300-044-017

Raj, is that the same part number you got from them?

Mark Stielow uses D&D for all his transmission builds....

I have used D&D in the past with good success. Not making light of your situation, but you may have just caught ol' buddy on a bad day.

Raj, were you able to find that part number at work that you ordered from Rob at Tremec? Just wanted to compare what they told me just in case 2 different persons at Tremec have different advice on part numbers. I hate ordering the wrong part and losing time/money.

Their site says they are the largest 5/6 speed dealers, I am sure they have allot of people that purchase from them and I may have just caught someone on a bad day. That being said his comment of we sell transmissions and not tail seals is what annoyed me since they clearly have a parts section on their site but it is what it is and I did end up getting the help I needed from where I got the t56.

Sorry for not getting back to you earlier Chris but the part number is the same as you listed above.

Going by memory, my T56 mag was ordered 1stQ last year. It has the metal ring on the OD, rubber seal inside that so I would think you're safe Chris.

I wish that were the case, but mine appears to have the all rubber seal. Where did you buy yours from? I read somewhere that some dealers(like D&D) are replacing the seal before shipping to the customer. I got mine from Summit only 2 months ago.

I admit that I was a bit short with "canrc" on Monday. Thatis not the type of response we give our customers as people who have dealt with us know. A seal leak can be caused by a bad seal, mis-machined extension housing, extension housing porosity or a scored slip yoke. We have seen all of the above. I suggested that he contact his selling dealer(not D&D) for possible warranty coverage. He called me back and said his dealer would not answer his phone. He wanted to buy just the seal and I still did not think it was in his best interests to buy the seal only. Things got a little "hot" and I said some things I shouldn't have and which I apologize to "canrc" at this time. The seal
that we used to correct the initial "blowout" problem several years ago is a
steel cased automatic trans. seal sold by Dacco under part number 34743C
and is available nationwide.
Don Walsh,Sr.
President
D&D Performance

Thanks Don for the explanation and apology.

:thumbsup:

WOW!! New post and new account, huh? I wonder who told you that you upset several members and now all of a sudden the customer service kicks in. As a business man, I understand you have bad days, but if it went down the way it did with you or anyone of your employees hanging up in Raj's face, not once, but twice is totally unacceptable in my book. Had he called and wanted to spend $3k on a new T56 Magnum you wouldn't have hung up in his face twice. Customer service is so dead in many businesses and is a lost art. Totally different seller, but alot of you guys need to call Matt's Classic Bowtie's and take some pointers on what it means to realize that the customer is the most important factor in your business. :disgusted: :disgusted: By the way, welcome to the forum.