how long should a bus box last

[nelson979]

i had a new bus box built buy a business/guy, that claims he builds good stuff blah blah blah. he knew the application was for racing . well 300 race miles later there is something wrong with it. not sure what it is yet, but i guess my question is. how long should one last? i have had people tell me there is no gaurantee in racing and others tell me i should contact the builder and he should stand behind his work. it is an 091 bus box, with a very tame 1835cc engine racing in sportsman, and the car was not wrecked or in no way pushed hard at all.

[co pilot mclovin]

you should not have any problems with it for a long long time. we have our trans in the 1600 car and change the oil after every race and have it looked at after two races and like new. your not putting that much of a beating on it. call and ask him. what parts went bad?

[Ramsey_ElWardani]

There are Bus Boxes and there are Bus Boxes. If you paid anything less than $3,500 for it, it is not going to hold up to much racing, even in Sportsman behind a 1835. Without knowing what is broken it could be as simple as a reverse gear (they are made of glass) to a broken stock carrier or stock gear. Get it to a race trany builder like PowerBox, JG Transwerks, Folts or any of the others that know what they are doing.

[D-rek]

A lot depends on the driver as well. Some fast guys are easy on equip some aren't same goes for the slow guys. Bottom line though go to a reputable off road trans builder because some guy can build street trans doesn't mean they can build a desert trans they are a totally different animal. I use JG and have had great luck with Joe.

-Derek

[Rory]

There are Bus Boxes and there are Bus Boxes. If you paid anything less than $3,500 for it, it is not going to hold up to much racing, even in Sportsman behind a 1835. Without knowing what is broken it could be as simple as a reverse gear (they are made of glass) to a broken stock carrier or stock gear. Get it to a race trany builder like PowerBox, JG Transwerks, Folts or any of the others that know what they are doing.

What he said!!

[mrmatt]

I am very pleased with Folts's work and they are up front with you on any questions you may have.

[nelson979]

all i know so far is that it was making a wierd noise when in the upper rpms in 3rd and 4th., so we put it on the trailer. when we drained the oil we found metal, i think it was aluminum in the oil. then we lost reverse. the guy mostly builds for sand toys but claimed he would be what we needed. and it was in the 3k range

[hammer down racing]

It all depends on what parts he used and how nice you were to it.

We use J&S Transaxles in Lake Havasu. We change the oil after every race and Jason goes through it after two races.

J&S Transaxles- (928) 208-6385

[harleys dad]

If you use a stock VW clutch disc with the springs in the disc, the tranny will last years. I run that disk in my 1600 car and have found nothing wrong with the tranny to the point it does not come apart anymore for 10 races or more. I have another box, an 002 with the stock diff in it, and it has not been apart in 15 years with 0 concern it will break It has the 542 RP and has at least 35 races on the RP running the stock clutch. The RP I have in my 1600 car has at least 30 races on it or more. I changed to a differint RP last year for better gear ratios, but would have no problem racing with that RP again. It has not had a easy life,besides me driving it, PAB, Danimal Martin, Jake Batulis, Paul Keller and Justin Smith to name some that have abused it, and race after race we would not even pay attention to it. That RP was a 486. I now have a 457 which should last even longer. . The clutch disk is the best kept secret a tranny builder will keep from you. IT WORKS. I call it a poor mans questeck. I have only had 1 clutch disc fail, and that was because the engine studs broke and broke the clutch. PAB was destroying RP in as little as 10 miles, and busted 10 or more folts trannys untell he changed the disk, his tranny problems went away overnight. It will save you bigtime money. 4 puck disks just tear trannys up.

[Perfect Race]

Like they said go to a reputable builder. I had 2500 pre run miles on my 091 with no problems. It had a diff and close ratio 3rd and 4th. I had it rebuilt after robbing the gears out of it when I needed one, and it broke the stock 2nd gear after 75 miles. No matter who builds it sometimes they just break.

[AZ1000]

If you use a stock VW clutch disc with the springs in the disc, the tranny will last years. I run that disk in my 1600 car and have found nothing wrong with the tranny to the point it does not come apart anymore for 10 races or more. I have another box, an 002 with the stock diff in it, and it has not been apart in 15 years with 0 concern it will break It has the 542 RP and has at least 35 races on the RP running the stock clutch. The RP I have in my 1600 car has at least 30 races on it or more. I changed to a differint RP last year for better gear ratios, but would have no problem racing with that RP again. It has not had a easy life,besides me driving it, PAB, Danimal Martin, Jake Batulis, Paul Keller and Justin Smith to name some that have abused it, and race after race we would not even pay attention to it. That RP was a 486. I now have a 457 which should last even longer. . The clutch disk is the best kept secret a tranny builder will keep from you. IT WORKS. I call it a poor mans questeck. I have only had 1 clutch disc fail, and that was because the engine studs broke and broke the clutch. PAB was destroying RP in as little as 10 miles, and busted 10 or more folts trannys untell he changed the disk, his tranny problems went away overnight. It will save you bigtime money. 4 puck disks just tear trannys up.

How often do you change the clutch disk?

[wstephens]

I run an 1835cc in 2000lb sportsman/12 car. The best I EVER hope for is 500 miles. Any more than that and I'm TOTALLY pushing my luck. (I have put more than 600 race miles on it though) Mostly it is R & P, Gear Carrier, occasional mid section and output shafts. Reverse is ONLY for backing it off the trailer. Driving style has TONS to do with longevity, most of the time I shift like a granny. Try to avoid reverse shock load to the drive train as much as possible, it will help. As I have become smoother as a racer I am finding less damage at each rebuild. We have recently upgraded the R&P and a reinforced mid section hoping to get more miles out of it. Some of the best advice has already been given, find a reputable RACE Trans builder. I personally use RC TRANS here in vegas and have been completely satisfied. The only trans failures I have experienced is from me being stupid and dumping the clutch in reverse. BAD IDEA.:eek::mad:

[harleys dad]

Hardly ever, I never have problems with them, and if you dont get stuck and slip it a bunch you have nothing to wory about. It works, the center that the input shaft goes into is spring loaded, it gives enough to save RPs and everything else. I got to thinking about the ring and pinion after posting, the ring and pinion that was in the box up tell last year was put in in 1986, and raced every race that I have raced my 1600 car at and every race that PAB and I have raced 1600 together including 5 or 6 races in 5/1600. The same with the FTC gear sets, 1-4th gear. I am still running the same diff that was first put in in 1986. I am very easy on transmissions(Ring and pinions) BUT!!! Cameron Steele(PAB) is not!!! When he ventured out with Clyde Stout in that Lothringer car Clyde bought, after I stepped away, they went to Folts(mine are JG transwerks) and began loosing boxes each and everytime they drove the car, weather it was short testing or racing, you could bet the house it was going to brake!!! Fair or unfair, I talked to both FAT, who was going threw Clydes engine everyday it seemed and convinced Clyde to go Stock clutch disk, just like came on every VW in 1969 or so.(Unfair part) After breaking more folts trans than anybody in history, Clyde and Cam switched to JG transworks at the exact time FAT installed the stock disk, over nite, trannys lived long and healthy lifes with out ANY ring and pinion failur. Joe builds fantastic trannys, but I also know Dave folts does also.. The arrow points directly at the clutch disk. I can tell you I very very rarly buy new clutch disks, dont have to, they dont go bad. If you have tranny issues, this is your answer to save thousands and thousands of dollors on tranny bills, I tell you, I have no worry about trannys ever, wheather its going to the Baja 1000 or laughlin. Tranny builders will not tell you about this, because it will destroy their bottom line if everybody used it!!!

[AZ1000]

Hardly ever, I never have problems with them, and if you dont get stuck and slip it a bunch you have nothing to wory about. It works, the center that the input shaft goes into is spring loaded, it gives enough to save RPs and everything else. I got to thinking about the ring and pinion after posting, the ring and pinion that was in the box up tell last year was put in in 1986, and raced every race that I have raced my 1600 car at and every race that PAB and I have raced 1600 together including 5 or 6 races in 5/1600. The same with the FTC gear sets, 1-4th gear. I am still running the same diff that was first put in in 1986. I am very easy on transmissions(Ring and pinions) BUT!!! Cameron Steele(PAB) is not!!! When he ventured out with Clyde Stout in that Lothringer car Clyde bought, after I stepped away, they went to Folts(mine are JG transwerks) and began loosing boxes each and everytime they drove the car, weather it was short testing or racing, you could bet the house it was going to brake!!! Fair or unfair, I talked to both FAT, who was going threw Clydes engine everyday it seemed and convinced Clyde to go Stock clutch disk, just like came on every VW in 1969 or so.(Unfair part) After breaking more folts trans than anybody in history, Clyde and Cam switched to JG transworks at the exact time FAT installed the stock disk, over nite, trannys lived long and healthy lifes with out ANY ring and pinion failur. Joe builds fantastic trannys, but I also know Dave folts does also.. The arrow points directly at the clutch disk. I can tell you I very very rarly buy new clutch disks, dont have to, they dont go bad. If you have tranny issues, this is your answer to save thousands and thousands of dollors on tranny bills, I tell you, I have no worry about trannys ever, wheather its going to the Baja 1000 or laughlin. Tranny builders will not tell you about this, because it will destroy their bottom line if everybody used it!!!

Thanks, Lorenzo built and maintains my 091, and I have never broke it, but I would like the R&P's to last longer.

[Co-Dog]

all i know so far is that it was making a wierd noise when in the upper rpms in 3rd and 4th., so we put it on the trailer. when we drained the oil we found metal, i think it was aluminum in the oil. then we lost reverse. the guy mostly builds for sand toys but claimed he would be what we needed. and it was in the 3k range

It's been almost 20 years since I've rebuilt a VW tranny, but it used to be common to weld 3rd and 4th gears together. The assembly then has to be clearanced because it warps a little from the welding. Your problem may be associated with that or the lack of.

[cogbox]

it almost sounds like the mainshaft bearing is going bad. this is something you could replace yourself if need be. if it has failed then the gear box will have to come apart to see how bad the damage is. the thing that makes me worry is that you said that you lost reverse. that is a whole new set of problems. i say get it out take it to the builder and have it torn apart in front of you. that way you know what happened just as he does. always remember some times parts just break no ones fault but the manufactures