Traditionally, transmission baffles have been manufactured using multiple stampings and weldments, along with an over - molded seal. These intricate assemblies entail various manufacturing processes, special tooling, and often encounter quality issues. Moreover, due to their immersion in working fluids at high temperatures, the application of polymers for these parts has been limited, leading to the over - molded seal becoming brittle and prone to failure over time.
In response to a request to convert this product from mostly metal to plastic, GTP's engineering and materials teams collaborated with OEM engineers and specialty resin suppliers to develop a component meeting all performance requirements while reducing labor build costs and enhancing chemical resistance and creep resistance. GTP engineered a s ingle piece molded baffle featuring thin wipers to replace the over - molded seal, effectively scavenging transmission oil from the main transmission shaft. Additionally, GTP developed and introduced lightweight, high - tensile aluminum captured fasteners to further reduce mass and streamline assembly operations, resulting in significant savings in weight of 85% plus cost savings of 35%.