GM & Allison Transmissions File For Divorce

[kscarbel2]

Reminds me of the Ford/Navistar divorce.

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[Red Horse]

On 11/1/2025 at 7:42 PM, kscarbel2 said:

Reminds me of the Ford/Navistar divorce.

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Not really...the Ford Navistar "divorce" was over real issues...were the failure issues due to Fords actions or Navistars.

This "divorce" is over what I consider the fraudulent claim that GM had an Allison transmission in their trucks when it fact it had NOTHING to do with Allison.  It in reality was a transmissioin designed/ developed in a JV between Ford and Allison with certain differences between some models.  In fact some components have the same part numbers.

I'm so old that I go back to the early days of Allisons in class 8 trucks and I formed the opinion they should have been installed with Velcro fasteners to shorten replacement times😀...Not the case today, If I were buying a class 8 and did not want an /eaton manual, I would chose an Allison.

I have to believe GM paid Allison a nice royalty fee to use their name.  I can't tell you how many times I have heard some guy explaining his truck was better than a Ford Super because..."it has an Allison-just like the big trucks"!

Interesting that FLT-forgot his name- in  his somber announcement made no mention the transmission in fact was NOT an Allison but rather did a lot of tap dancing around the issue and never once mentioned the transmissions roots!

[Red Horse]

Opps..I ment to say developed between "Ford and GM", not Ford and Allison

[RoadwayR]

That's not quite correct.  The light duty 10 speed automatics (GM 10L80, Ford 10R80 and 10R100) are indeed very similar and do share some parts, though each is manufactured by their respective companies.  Some parts actually have both GM and Ford part numbers on them.  Those transmission were jointly developed by GM and Ford.  An insider told me, FWIW, that those transmissions are actually derivitives of GM's 8 speed 8L90 with an extra gear!  Maybe so...

The heavy duty 10 speed automatics are where things get a bit different.  The Ford 10R140 is basically a simple scale-up of the GM/Ford JV light duty transmission.  Though very few parts interchange, it works exactly the same way.  GM originally considered doing the same thing with their HD 10 speed, but instead decided to go their own way with the 10L1000.  The 10L1000 was done by Hydra-Matic.  While there are some similarities between the 10R140 and 10L1000, there are many differences.  Gear ratios are different, the 10L1000 usually doesn't start in 1st., no internal parts interchange, and some internal components are in different locations.  In addition, the torque converters are completely different, and for some reason while the GM transmission fluid temp. typically runs at around 160-180 degrees even when towing, the Ford will top 220 degrees in normal driving!  The 10L1000 is a Hydra-Matic, but Allison did some design consultation and verification on it, and GM paid Allison a royalty to stick their badge on it.  The royalty agreement runs until 2026, and my understanding is GM doesn't want to pay Allison anymore for a transmission that is their own.

Now we can argue which one is better, the GM 10L1000 or Ford 10R140!  

     

Edited 11 hours ago by RoadwayR