Video: Transmission Carnage And Cure With Cleetus McFarland

When we want to let off some steam (and smoke), there’s really only one way to do it: burnouts. Cleetus McFarland was doing some in his white Ram dually, a.k.a White Buffalo, near the SunCoast Transmission headquarters not too long ago.

But the burnouts weren’t just for fun. They also helped accelerate the already dying 68RFE transmission on its way to the scrap pile. The action starts at the 3:09 mark, as White Buffalo reluctantly appeases her masters with an excellent white-smoke display.

The White Buffalo didn’t want to, but she did a killer burnout!

“I could feel it slipping from inside the truck,” says Cleetus just after the burnout. “Tranny temps spiked… oh, man.” Sure enough, transmission fluid was leaking, and the truck was taking several seconds to switch between Reverse and Drive.

Next, we’re taken inside the Suncoast facility to check out the disassembly of the 68RFE and see what all happened. As it turns out, some of the clutches were welded together by the excessive heat built up inside the gearbox. The nasty black, cooked clutches really didn’t want to do their job anymore.

The old (left) and new Suncoast (right) transmissions.

Thankfully, the Suncoast mega competition transmission is more than up to the task. A billet input shaft, billet flex plate, and suped-up torque converter are part of the package going into White Buffalo.

Back on the road, the truck is back to being happy. Smooth shifts from gear to gear happen with no delay or weird noises. It’s all in a day’s work for Cleetus, Suncoast, and the White Buffalo!

Yep… those clutches aren’t going to un-weld themselves…

About the author

David Chick

David Chick comes to us ready for adventure. With passions that span clean and fast Corvettes all the way to down and dirty off-road vehicles (just ask him about his dream Jurassic Park Explorer), David's eclectic tastes lend well to his multiple automotive writing passions.
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