Someone clarify shift kits for me?

[ridiqls]

My friend just bought a truck and the previous owner said he had a shift kit and torque converter put into it. The truck will chirp the tires and shift very hard when going from 1st to 2nd. Like from a stop if you take off and accelerate hard it will go up to a high RPM and then slam into 2nd and chirp the tires. Is this normal? I dont know what kind of shift kit but do shift kits do this? Is it possible that the guy said this to hide a bad tranny?
Is there a way to distinguish if there really is a shift kit installed or if it's a tranny that's slipping or having problems? It does shift a little hard from 2-3 but all these hard shifts are when under heavy gas or acceleration. Around town and smooth driving you never notice any hard shifts and going into Drive or Reverse doesn't clunk either.

 

[West Mi Mudder]

Hard shifts are actually better for a transmission than a soft shift. Chances are that there has actually been work done to that trans, if its able to chirp tires going into second.

 

[ridiqls]

Yeah I mean i have no reason to doubt the previous owner cause he races and the truck had a locker put in with regear in the back and he did the engine swap himself. The truck has things like a beefed up suspension and custom A-arms and push bumpers but it's always a possibility that someone is lying by saying a slipping tranny or a bad one actually has a shift kit in it.

Why do you say hard shifts are better than soft ones? I know factory makes it smooth and engages 2 gears at once or something for comfort to the masses but usually when you're driving a car or truck and it clunks into gear and starts to slip people start to say the tranny is going. A shift kit seems to mimic a tranny in trouble no?

 

[MSCustoms]

Yeah I mean i have no reason to doubt the previous owner cause he races and the truck had a locker put in with regear in the back and he did the engine swap himself. The truck has things like a beefed up suspension and custom A-arms and push bumpers but it's always a possibility that someone is lying by saying a slipping tranny or a bad one actually has a shift kit in it.

Why do you say hard shifts are better than soft ones? I know factory makes it smooth and engages 2 gears at once or something for comfort to the masses but usually when you're driving a car or truck and it clunks into gear and starts to slip people start to say the tranny is going. A shift kit seems to mimic a tranny in trouble no?

A harder shift is better because it doesnt ride the clutches as long. It takes less time to go between gears

 

[HIGH BOWTIE]

Harder shifts are better becuz there's little to none slippage while changing gears. More slippage=more wear. And yes shift kits will make u scratch 2nd. Wouldn't suprise me it has vette servo also.

 

[ridiqls]

Oh okay. Is there a way to know if it's slipping and slamming into gear (sign of a bad tranny) or if it is really a shift kit? I guess the tire chirp might explain it but then it could be because the rear has a detroit locker.

 

[Horns]

Hard shifts are actually better for a transmission than a soft shift. Chances are that there has actually been work done to that trans, if its able to chirp tires going into second.

While what Saucy is saying is true, let me just clarify that he means "Firm" shifts, not "hard" shifts. A nice firm shift is good, but a clunky hard shift really isn't.

 

[ridiqls]

While what Saucy is saying is true, let me just clarify that he means "Firm" shifts, not "hard" shifts. A nice firm shift is good, but a clunky hard shift really isn't.

The kind of "hard shift" the truck has is a hard clunk. As it clunks the rear tire chirps due to the transfer of power to the wheels. Only does it under very hard acceleration. As it reaches the redline it will hover high and then BAM! shift into second, truck will shake somewhat and tires will chirp and will continue into 2nd.

 

[JollyGreen]

It doesn't sound like a slip to me. I had a TransGo shift kit installed along with other upgraded parts in my '97 K1500. I also put a Vette servo in it too. It took me a while to get used to the way it felt after the rebuild. I wouldn't call mine a "clunk", but you definitely knew when it shifted. I also found that it much harder when it was cold than after it was warmed up, say after 5-10 miles of driving.

Normally when the transmission is slipping there will be a brief pause before the gear actually "catches". As long as the shifts are quick and not delayed, you should be fine.

 

[HIGH BOWTIE]

And also I would think If it's slipping then it wouldn't do it 10/10 times but I could be wrong. Someone will correct me if I am.