What does a heavy duty tow package actually do for a truck?

Summary:

Jaden details the components that go into the shop's heavy duty tow build and explains the purpose of each. The build uses high energy frictions, which handle heat better and provide more clamping power and grip. It also includes a shift kit, which he explains raises line pressure in the transmission. Higher line pressure produces harder, faster shifts, applying more pressure to the clutch packs so there is less slippage between shifts and more holding power behind them. On diesel and heavy duty trucks the shop typically adds a billet torque converter, because billet material handles heat better and will not warp the way stamped steel does. Further options include a multi-disc torque converter for more clamping power and billet internals such as input and intermediate shafts, which he notes can snap under heavy loads or high power.

Answer:

So heavy duty tow package, what we'll do is we'll use what's called high energy frictions. The high energy frictions handle heat better, they have more clamping power or clamping grip, and then we'll usually do a shift kit. A shift kit essentially, at its core, raises the line pressure in the transmission, so you'll get a little bit harder shifts. What that does is more pressure to the clutch packs, harder and faster, and so you have less slippage between the shifts and you have more holding power because there's more pressure behind it. Another thing that we'll do is, if it's a diesel or heavy duty truck, we'll do a billet torque converter. The billet material handles heat better and won't warp like the stamped steel. The other thing is you can do a multi-disc torque converter for more clamping power, and then you can also get as high as doing billet internals. There's times when you're towing a real heavy load or you have a lot of power and you'll snap an input shaft or an intermediate shaft or whatever, and we can replace those with billet materials.