KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

I'm just coming back to the thread now. 1CleanSC, I understand your hesitation to ship out a whole transmission to have a shop work on yours out of state but I do think it is worth it to have a reputable shop do the work. Locally there is a very highly regarded transmission shop that I know has at least had experience on R150/R150F gearboxes which are nearly the same thing as an R154. I still wanted a shop that specifically advertises they do R154 rebuilds because doing so involves some non-standard parts over a few poor OEM parts (such as the garbage factory thrust washer or thin OEM front bearing retainer plate).

The R154 isn't a really complicated transmission internally compared to some others with more speeds and newer designs but my understanding is the longevity and torque-holding has a lot to do with getting everything installed just the right way. And also how it's driven at 700whp but that's beside the point.

With engines or transmissions of this nature I personally think it's better to go to people who specialize and know the ins and outs of a specific engine or transmission design. Why? Because many of us as owners are going to take these contraptions into horsepower territory far beyond stock and with all the money invested it would be awful to find out something had been installed, tuned or rebuilt by a novice.

Now all that said... this thinking doesn't give a fair shake to a truly good transmission shop that just happens not to specialize but could do top notch work anyway. But this is how some of us think when we're dropping a lot of money on speed parts :/

I nearly shipped mine but I decided to make a trip out of it because an old friend lived within 45 minutes of the shop I used.

Barring that, I'd recommend a "Tough-Tote" or similar name from someplace like Lowes. Measure the dimensions of the transmission while allowing for padding. It should be around $60 but it's VERY strong. Add a wood form to the bottom to strap the R154 onto (at the center with a ratchet strap) and wrap the R154 in cellophane liberally (with a handheld roll of it from an office supply/packing place). Then secure the rest of that heavy duty box as needed. I just shipped a W58 this way (minus the indestructible bin) and it suffered no issues in transit.

Shipping isn't so bad both ways-- cheaper than two inexpensive hotel rooms were you to drive it to a shop out of state.

As to wait time... yes, you will have wait times that are a bit long depending on the shop and their workload. That goes with anything of this nature and is totally dependent on the shop itself and how much they want to take on. The Transmission takes only about a day to rebuild comfortably but rushing that transmission job for whatever reason won't help make sure each and every thing is paid attention to.

For instance, the Toyota manual states just to torque down the bolt that engages reverse without the need for red Loctite but as these transmission are VERY old now it's a good rule of thumb to exceed the manual's specification and use the red Loctite for that bolt so that it doesn't back out. In VERY rare occurrences not doing that one step can cause reverse to lose function-- because the rod isn't engaging anything. Better to just add the extra step beyond what the rebuild manual states so as to further bulletproof the gearbox.

1CleanSC

Read it as you want. I value every opinion and Im just putting my two cents in. NOT TRYING TO REFUTE THE INFO. Just figuring everything out.