[grizzstang]

OK here is what I noticed when I put my Factory Tech plate in Thursday. Let me first say that I am not a Transmission Tech or a Mechanic by trade but I have been working on my own and friends vehicles for almost 25 years now so I know what a wrench looks like. I did not get pictures as the camera battery was dead and I was in a time crunch to get this done before I left camping for the long weekend we just had.

Both the Factory Tech plate and the one from Madenterprise looked the same. They had all the same holes and the same sizes for those holes. The only difference was that the Factory Tech plate was marked as such and was a more polished metal. The metal on the FT plate appeared to be harder. When I put the bolt in the plate that holds the plate to the top of the valve body it did not scratch the plate as it did on the ME plate. The holes on both aftermarket plates are Laser cut. They are for the most part clean but not perfect as the stamped OEM plate I took out. The difference between the two processes is really quite minimal visually. Both aftermarket plates looked every bit as flat and even as the OEM one to me. I could only see that two holes had been enlarged on the aftermarket plates so there really is not much change there from the OEM plate.

I added back all the factory springs when I changed to the FT plate as I did not want the extra firm shifts that I had when I installed the ME plate. It does shift into gear with less delay than the OEM set up.

Knowing everything I know now I would have gone with the valve body from Troyer as that is what I originally looked at before I read up on the FT plate. I read that FT claimed he could make the same difference with his separator plate as he could with his valve body which is why he did not offer the valve body any more for the newer transmissions. I am not an expert but I can't see how two enlarged holes in a separator plate can give you the same performance as a reworked valve body. Call me crazy. I may even still go to the Troyer valve body in the future but for now I am tired of tranny work as I have also had to do some on another of my rides. For $85 (for the FT) or $100 (for the ME) I guess you get what you pay for and for the money they do make a difference.

These are just my views and experience with the 3 plates I have had in my truck. Take them for what you will.