I have a 1990 Dodge w150 5.2lt truck that I purchased about 5 years ago.  the engine has been solid but so far I have replaced many many parts and I just salvaged it from a accident that cracked my transfer case in half (all the way through one side) and diamond out the frame.  I replaced the transfercase with a rebuilt one. so far it seems ok.

My torque converter just bit the big one and I want to upgrade it since I am going to have to drop my exhaust and tranny.  I currently drive 40+ miles each way to work mostly highway but also carry offroad vehicles on the weekends.  does anyone have recommendations?

I guess its also worth mentioning I was going to update my suspension since my front leafsprings are shot.  the truck had a factory 2.5" lift so I was going to match that with a 3 or 4 probably skyjacker kit.  as far as tires go it is currently using tires identical to the original but I dont remember size and when I bought it the owner had a second set of fatter tires/rims installed.

I dont offroad with my truck but I do use it for loading boats in water and hauling my offroad gear.

anyways, first thing is first.  what should I look for in a replacement torque converter and are there any recommendations out there?


here are some specs off my trucks equipment ID:

5.2 liter
LCR5.9T5HGF8
LCRTE

Rear axle- chrysler 9.5
3.9 axle ratio
3500 front axle
transfercase 241 (replaced)
4spd auto trans A518
std duty 4spd auto tran


thats all the info I have offhand.
any advice is appreciated.
thanks.  

i've never heard any reason for not going back with a stock converter. for what your doing with it, an OE or remanned unit should serve you fine.  

I agree stock converter is fine. My concern is why it failed. Torque converters are pretty relaible and the only thing that can kill them is excessive heat and bad fluid. I would be looking at cause of failure. If you have big tires and tall gears and you are riding stall a lot it is not healthy for it.  

yeah I am looking at getting a stock replacement but I am not sure where to get one from.  I am not running with any modified gearing/larger tires.  (I may go slightly larger than stock tires later.)

as for the cause of failure there are two likely reasons:  

1) a few months ago I droped the trans pan and noticed the fluid was brown (burnt).  turns out the filter was completely gunked up and was not letting the fluid circulate properly.

2) a van ran a red light and smashed my front passenger wheel well which sent all the force through the front differential/driveshaft and cracked my transfer case completely in half.  may have been some forces applied to the converter during this that cracked a weld.

in either case I am doing a full trans rebuild right now.  I dropped the trans yesterday and its sitting in my garage.  so once the rebuild is complete and I get this replacement converter everything should be gravy.

do I just need to contact chrysler for a replacement OE covnerter?  I was also looking at transtar converters because it looks like they replace stock but I cant find a distributor.

let me know what you think, thanks!  

There is not a lot of science involved in stock converter replacement. No need to go to dealer and pay through nose for it. A generic one will work fine here. I would suggest that when you are done that to add a small aux tranny cooler in series with radiator tank cooler (dark fluid is from it overheating)and you want to route it through tank cooler then aux cooler and then back to tranny.