MAP's "beast mode" Transfer case upgrade
 

I searched all over the forums and couldn't find any information about MAPerformance's "Beast mode" transfer case upgrade other then their initial advertisement, but after talking to Nate at MAPerformance, I was sold. The "Beast Mode", coming in at a lofty 2,400 dollars total is the god of all transfer case upgrades. Directly taken from MAP's website, this is what the Beast contains: "This upgrade service starts with a basic rebuild (tear down, inspection, cleaning, new bearings, new seals) and goes several steps further for the hardcore enthusiast. It includes an aftermarket ring and pinion that is made from the highest quality steel hardened to Rockwell 60 for the utmost in durability and longevity (great for replacing worn OEM parts or as an upgrade in and of itself). It also features upgraded case bolts from 8mm to 10mm and tighter bearing tolerances which have proven to be weak points from the factory."

"The Wavetrac diff is the strongest unit made for the EVO t-case. This is a part you will never have to worry about breaking or replacing again. These units utilize an added cam inside to allow for LSD action even in a straight line!"

For those of you who are not acquainted with MAP's transfer case upgrade process, it goes like this: You select from the different levels of transfer case rebuild you desire, then you ship your transfer case off to Jack's transmissions in Colorado, where they work their magic and then send back your transfer case. It took about 4 days for Jack's to service my transfer case after it arrived at their facilities, which was quite impressive. Their shipping back took only 3 more days, outstanding service!{thumbup}


At this moment I have only had the car back two days and driven about 200 miles on the rebuilt transfer case, but wow, what a difference. Along with my Perrin rear sway bar/stout mounts and previously installed Eibach springs, it's a HUGE difference from stock. Going from a stock open front diff on my 2003 Evo 8 to the Wavetrac is astounding. I can maintain a much higher entry speed into corners then previously and the way that the car remains planted in it's intended line is quite impressive. The Wavetrac allows me to throw my car into a corner and know that the front wheels will not be squeeling for life anymore. It really is that noticeable during corner entry and exit- just the same. I can get on throttle quite a bit more quickly into a corner preparing for exit, knowing that the car will no longer understeer, and very slightly oversteer coming out if throttle'd properly.

There is virtually no increase in noise; the wavetrac is ghostly quiet. I am running the OEM Diaqueen fluid because the car is daily driven, and I can't hear a thing- even when pushing the car a bit around tight corners. It's quite amazing, I was half expecting to hear the infamous "crunch" of most aftermarket diffs, but this is not the case.

I have not had the opportunity to do any real high speed driving or auto-x on it yet, but when I have the chance, I will report back with the results. So far, I am quite pleased, MAPerformance is one hell of a company- excellent service, prices, and products. Those who are misfortunate enough to get the infamous death whine should consult MAP about the Beast as soon as possible! :)

nice review.... thanks {thumbup}

So, its actually Jacks doing the service, just MAP is your middle man. Either way its good to know there is differences you "can feel" and its not a bunch of big words. Now go launch that bad boy!

Yes indeed. Jacks is doing the actual servicing of it from what I understand. MAP has an outstanding offer for the Beast though, the steel gears, Wavetrac and all the other work that is included would cost more then 3,000 if you were to go through Jack's just looking through their website.

On the feel- no doubt. It isn't very noticeable just daily driving it, until you try to plow through a corner, and find that the front actually turns in, does not understeer through it.

which one do you think may be a better choice with a transfer case build?
sheperd or MAP??

Im also using MAPs Beast transfer case. Love the outside coating they use.

I just had mine done by Shep (Stage II, WaveTrac, ISF treated gears, Hardened Ring & Pinion, etc,etc..) The Case came back painted Silver... I'm ok with.

Now I have only one concern... The original Dif was done and the ring and pinion was chipped to hell and back... made one hell of a sound. When I changed the fluid in the old diff it would turn black very quickly.
So now I have the WaveTrac and fresh Tcase... Shep recomends filling it with a full quart of fluid by the bottle neck (drive shaft side) before installing, then drain after rotating or driving lite for less than a mile so the seals and gears get lubed correctly. Did this... and today I went to drain the Fluid down to correct level and it looks like this...
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a...n/P3090426.jpg

Is this Normal? Did your Fluid look this dirty, this fast?

BTW, I love the WaveTrac.

-Mitzi

Actually, the packet that came back from Jacks did not have anything about that to my knowledge. I'm approaching my first 1,000 miles on it and just ordered fluid to swap it out, so I'll update with how it looks after being drained. What fluid did you decide to use? I'm going to swap out the OEM fluid to Redline ShockProof Heavy Weight as per recommendation of Jacks.

Umm....I have the exact same tcase you spec'd from shep and I changed the fluids out after 3k. It did not look like that. It looked as fresh as the new fluid. Even on my stock tcase after 35kmiles it still didn't turn black.


The wavetrac is a great diff. IMO it is even an improvement over the stock lsd that came in my car. Its just able to find traction and pull the nose of the car around. I do notice that when its frigid cold (-4* F) it will make a howling sound that goes away with like 1 mile of driving. But otherwise its absolutely quiet as stock.

Do Not use ShockProof or High Pressure Fluids on the WaveTrac!! It will void the WT Waranty.... its funny because Shep suggest it, but WT specifically calls it out as Bad!! I will take pics of both paperworks for proof!!

I used Amsoil 80w-90 as may people on here have trusted as the only synthetic without all the anti slip additives that WT says not to use!!

-Mitzi

Nice review, thank you

I just read up more about wavetrac fluid recommendations. Apparently they recommend against all redline products? I run diaqueen lsd and redline mt-85 in the trans but only the trans makes contact with the LSD.... At least its not shockproof. :crap:

In my previous post when I drained my fluids at 3k miles it was all OEM stuff, btw. I'm going to contact Autotech tomorrow and see what they say about redline mt-85 trans oil. Might have to drain and refill the trans too. That would suck, mt-85 feels spectacular compared to OEM.

WaveTrac document only calls out the ShockProof, and mentions the rest are OK.
So your OK.

I have an unsprung twin plate and it produces a good bit of driveline chatter. The Amsoil helped alot in keeping the noise down.

BTW... I have nothing against MAP, in fact, I remember these guys from when they started out!!

I think this is the link you guys are referring to: http://www.coordsport.com/blog/2010/...commendations/

Thanks for the heads up, that is very valuable information. So if changing the transfer case oil, what would you recommend? I'm also running a Redline "cocktail" in my tranny right now: 2 MT-90, 1 MTL. It's awesome how smooth and tight the gearbox is compared to using the factory fluids.

The transfer case fluid never touches the LSD. The trans fluid does. We're all stressing over the trans fluid here.