The ATS 42RLE is engineered to hold the power and abuse Jeep owners can throw at it. Substantial increases in clutch pack surface area, line pressure and shift quality provide the reliability Jeep owners demand.
Other design limitations of the 42-RLE plague the ability of the transmission to handle much power over stock. The stock torque converter is manufactured using stamped steel parts that make up the lock-up porting of the converter. The converter cover will deflect under power causing the converter clutch to slip under load creating excessive heat and clutch material to shed from the lock-up piston. The combination of heat and debris from the converter clutch causes transmission failure as the material from the torque converter is flushed into the transmission.
The ATS modified 42-RLE has been redesigned to correct all of these problems and handle increased power levels of larger displacement engines, supercharged or turbocharged engines, larger tires or heavy towing. We understand the real world abuse that this transmission is asked to do in modified applications so we came up with the fixes for it. ATS has developed a combined technology utilizing recalibration of the hydraulic circuits inside the transmission, including revamped accumulator rates, reprogramed clutch to clutch apply and release timings, and line pressure rise rate to perfectly match the torque output of the engine. These enhancements, along with other key hydraulic modifications which ATS makes, must be done to ensure the clutch packs have the correct apply and release rates when commanded on or off. As well, the transmission hard parts have many limiting weaknesses which do not allow for increased power levels over stock. Specifically, the light duty shafts and hubs must be addressed. All of these areas are addressed in our transmission to allow for increased power levels and reliability.
