Frictions.... What to use?

[McHaggis]

I've just been researching what frictions to use in a trans rebuild (AOD) and have been told on more than 1 occasion not to use Red Metallic's as they wear and fill the oil with metal. This in turn destroys the VB in time. I can't see this being a good thing.
One of the frictions I've come across is the Raybestos Stage-1.
Anyone tried these?
Are these as good as they sound?
Where can they be sourced from?

I have the metallic's in my direct (TH 2004-R... still in pieces) and I'm now not sure I want to use them.
If anyone can supply these and steels for the TH2004-R and/or the AOD/AODE/4R70W then I'd love to hear from you.

EDIT: The other frictions I've been told about are Dynax.
EDIT: Still surfing the net and now I'm thinking the Raybestos Stage-1's are metallic. Is this the case?

 

[SHADOWII]

Give a call to Lonnie at extreme automatics or Chris at ckperformance and they can better help you, plus they are supporting vendors.

 

[JimP]

You might also want to look at Lentech automatics for reference. My cousin has a lentech AOD, one of the first ones they did with an electric brake, dual shaft where you could lock up o/d with the flick of a switch. Lentech is local to me and they are very well known here. Some of their AOD's are in 9 second heavy cars here. See if it mentions what frictions they use on their site.

 

[McHaggis]

Most of the AOD guys seem to use Alto Red Eagle, which I'm not keen to use, and the TH2004 guys seem to use Red Metallic's. Pulled my direct drum apart last night and found it full of the Raybestos Stage 1's. Are these the Red Metallic's that are listed on many of the vendor's site's or not? Lentech, like some others, also use High Energy. Are these the Raybestos version of the Dynax?
Trying to get parts from WIT Trans but their descriptions are vauge at best so it's almost impossible to know what you're ordering.

 

[GBGN1]

Red alto's and be done. Or see if Exedy Dynax grey are available.

 

[McHaggis]

I'm going out on a limb here. I've asked around and read alot BUT this is just MY opinion.
Paper frictions like BW Tan's are actually fairly good and will last well in many clutch packs. Some transmissions with lager diameter fictions can use these happily for mild to semi serious street/strip use. ie TH350/400. They also work well in non-shifting clutches ie TH2004R Low/Rev and Over run clutches.
Anytime you have a clutch pack that needs everything done to help it live then the Alto Red Eagle's seem to get used a lot but I'm not a fan of them or kolene steels.
In something like the TH2004R directs in a street/strip application the Raybestos High Energy will live well and the Raybestos Stage 1's will live even better. If I have this correct, and please do chip in if I'm wrong, the High Energy are Black and are very similar to the Dynax frictions and the Stage 1's are Red. The Blues are great in a high HP strip trans but wouldn't normally be needed in a dual duty trans of moderate HP. Most of you guys here are high end HP so this may not be so relavant??

I'm putting this here as I've spent many hours trying to sort this out and wanted to put it here for the benefit of others. Use it as you will, correct it if needed.