My current project

[THEFERMANATOR]

Originally Posted by cterrebonne

yeah thats what it looks like i need to get, is there anyway to build a 4l60e to handle what a 80 can?

A max build on a 4L60E can take just about the same as a stock 4L80E. A shift kit in the 80 though and you are WAY ahead of what a 60 can even think about. The 60E can be a decent tranny for a small block, but requires some work to get it there. A TRANSGO HD-2 shift kit, HUGE tranny cooler, ALTO clutches except for the 3-4 pack(the Z-pack is the way to go there), heavy sprag and one way clutch stator, 10 or 13 vane pump, corvette servo or SONNAX billet servo's(even better, but shift HARD!), SONNAX 1-2 shift valve, deep tranny pan, and a SUNCOAST billet converter will get you a stout 4L60E. You'll be looking at around $1300-1500 worth the parts alone though. Depending upon the year of your truck, an 80 will most likely be easier to swap and be less money.

[cterrebonne]

yeah thats what its looking like, im findind 80's for about 600-700 on the net from the parts finder site i got my 60 from. i sure i can unload one of te 60's at least half the cost of the 80.

[THEFERMANATOR]

What exactly is the truck your having problems with?

[cterrebonne]

no problems anymore since i put the new trans in. but its a 97 k1500 w/ the 5.7
how it all started was the truck was for the dealership where i work that the boss would drive to and from his house and we would use it sometimes to pull boats to the launch to run. at 90k miles the transmission went, i think the sun shell broke at where the splined collar is welded to it or so what the trans guy said. well he rebuilt it and 30k later it was making noise in just rev/1st then on the way to work i lost OD and then i lost all forward gears and reverse would work but go out. when i tow the v-20 its 80 miles one way.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Sun shell failure is unfortunately common, but the BEAST sun shell takes care of that. ANY 4L60E build(and 700R's) should include a BEAST, it's the best $60 you can spend on one. If your running a stock 97 with even a 350 in it, a 4L60E should be plenty. Put a bigger cooler on it, TRANSGO HD-2 shift kit, 1-2 shift valve in the valve body while your there, and swap out the 2nd servo with a corvette servo while doing the kit as well. That will get you ALOT more holding power. Also reducing tranny temps and keeping them under 200 will make it live a happy life, anything higher and they don't last.

[cterrebonne]

you would have thought that the guy would have at least installed the beast, but after i spoke with him he seems a little shady. i bought the dvd and atsg's manual for the 4l60e. thanks for the tips on beefing up rebuild. this summer i'll probably rebuild the one i removed with all the mods and wait for the new one to go out but i definately need to install and temp guage. also ferm i have a trans cooler and its kinda big, but how big of one should i run?

[THEFERMANATOR]

The factory one is pretty good if it has the optional towing one. GM ran the 11" wide by 4" tall one on some and a 6" tall on others. The problem I have seen though is the way GM mounted it. The inlet and outlet are both on the bottom, and I have seen them get slightly plugged and not flow through but the bottom 2 or 3 rows on the cooler. I rotate em 90 degrees and feed it through the bottom and out through the top, this way you know that you are using all of the coolers passages. I like this cooler as an easy add on one as it comes with line and adapters to hook right to the radiator. You could even hook it up along with your current one for extra cooling.
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku