No I was hoity is all I'm saying. To be frank, (and I'm sure he won't mind me saying this) it's just a bit of a language thing. I only chipped in because it sounded like you were less than impressed and I think he's on the level.
I’ve had no work done by him. People I know who have; rate his work. The scare mongering gets my goat as there is absolutely no need for it.
I don't like it if anyone's "goat is got" Fair enough though. If that's what you see going on there's nothing I can add except that it doesn't read as that to me. The main point that keeps resurfacing seems to be that the nature of the beast is that boxes don't give as many clues of wear as engines do, so it's worth knowing what those clues could mean when they do show themselves. As for higher bhp most seem to be saying "fine" so a bit of balance can't do any harm. PS ....
I'd imagine that the Bhp is pretty irrelevant.....it's engine torque, weight of van, aerodynamic load and tyre adhesion to road that influences the stresses at any single moment in time. Are campers near the weight limit of one of these vans when they are at the top of their axle load weight? I.e. If these vans are designed to take a 1 ton load, does a westy interior and roof weigh less than this? If a camper is 50% of the designed weight of a van for example I imagine a well maintained gearbox is with tolerances.
there is no magic bhp number that they'll take (how do you measure it? when something breaks? at what load? slowly moving off or sidestepping the clutch?) there are three different designs for 3 rib and they all have different weak points but in all of them the wear is proportional to load - weight, power, style of driving etc. You could have years of use from worn one with 300bhp if you gentle and lucky and equally brand new one could fail in 5seconds with a wheel hop. But lets face it most who fit powerful engine don’t do it to baby it, they'll drive it hard, I've heard countless stories where the happiness is accelerating up the hill in 4th. (and if you have old transmission that's pushing your luck)
My brothers 450 bhp scooby drag bug done ok for the 2 years or so he had it in, bear in mind this was spanked up and down motorways and drag strips, it's currently in a scooby bay at the min i think
I think in general though, if you drive a bus with a more powerful engine on public roads, you do not need more than 50HP of that 100HP+ you paid for.. to drive at 100kph/4000 rpm on a flat road. The gearbox cant tell. But engage reverse and dump the clutch at 4000rpm with a stock engine and apart from headbutting the steering wheel you will trash the tiny reverse gears ..
