What to replace 4L60E with?

[mistaake]

ok, so, i posted before about trans trouble in my 97 suburban k1500.

since the issue really only happened if i drove a long highway trip and would go away if i pulled over and reset the check engine light i decided not to fix it.

but the way i drive this truck, i'm sure i'm not going to get much more life out of a 4l60e with 214k miles on it.

trying to decide what trans should go in it after that. new rebuilt 4l60e? junkyard 4l60e? or something more ridiculous, th400, sm465, nv3500? i want to be as cheap as possible but i don't want to have to do it again despite the fact that i beat the $%&* out of this truck.

 

[RDF1]

SM465 or NV4500 sounds like something fun!
We did a NV4500 in my buddys 2 door tahoe with a fresh vortec 350 and it was a fun ride after that.

 

[jdla140]

Whatever you can find that is cheap and fits the bill. Some things to keep in mine is that a th400 will need a different Tcase, you'll have to get the computer re flashed for any of those trannys, and you'll probably need new driveshafts.

The stock 4l60e made it 214k. replacing it with another one has my vote. If it were my truck I'd have it rebuilt and a shift kit put in.

 

[jkeaton]

Agree. Rebuild hat you have. My original trans made to 200k. I rebuilt it with upgraded parts. It will outlast the truck.

 

[df2x4]

Resident 4L60E hater chiming in...

Based on my experiences I'd rather shoot myself in the foot than put another 60E into either of my trucks. If you want to stick with an automatic I'd 4L80E swap it with no hesitation.

 

[mistaake]

Resident 4L60E hater chiming in...

Based on my experiences I'd rather shoot myself in the foot than put another 60E into either of my trucks. If you want to stick with an automatic I'd 4L80E swap it with no hesitation.

That's my issue, I've killed four 4L60Es in four different trucks in my three years of driving, I don't know how long a stock replacement would last. It's not because I do any towing (though I plan to maybe do some in the future) but because I drive very aggressively. I priced out a replacement tranny and after new transmission + professional installation + fluid and other misc stuff I'm looking about $2000-2500. And that's using the employee price for a rebuilt tranny at work. If I had to pay retail, wanted something upgraded, or went to the Chevy dealer it would cost way more.

 

[df2x4]

That's my issue, I've killed four 4L60Es in four different trucks in my three years of driving, I don't know how long a stock replacement would last. It's not because I do any towing (though I plan to maybe do some in the future) but because I drive very aggressively. I priced out a replacement tranny and after new transmission + professional installation + fluid and other misc stuff I'm looking about $2000-2500. And that's using the employee price for a rebuilt tranny at work. If I had to pay retail, wanted something upgraded, or went to the Chevy dealer it would cost way more.

I get where you're coming from for sure. You've probably read this before because I post it like a broken record around here but I killed two 60Es behind my stock V6, one of which was about as beefed up as humanly possible. All said and done my 4L80E swap was somewhere in the neighborhood of $4K, but I bought some parts that were completely unnecessary and some that were entirely too nice. The junkyard 80E only cost me $500 of that, and I swapped it straight in with no rebuild or refresh of any kind other than fluid. As some people told me in my thread, it can be done for much cheaper.

Here's my thread on the swap if you want to check it out, procedure should be really similar. My truck is a '97 as well, but a C1500. So you'll have the transfer case and front driveshaft to deal with in addition to what I did.

http://www.gmt400.com/threads/97-c1500-4l60e-to-4l80e-swap.38819/

 

[leakers]

I don't really understand what you mean by driving aggressively, is it just fast or ?????
Put a new transmission in and go and take some driving lessons! There is no need to drive aggressively to the point where you break a perfectly good transmission. What are you doing? manual shifting into low gears at high speed instead of using the brakes? or manually holding the gears until the engine won't rev any further? ???

 

[Curt]

That's my issue, I've killed four 4L60Es in four different trucks in my three years of driving, I don't know how long a stock replacement would last. It's not because I do any towing (though I plan to maybe do some in the future) but because I drive very aggressively. I priced out a replacement tranny and after new transmission + professional installation + fluid and other misc stuff I'm looking about $2000-2500. And that's using the employee price for a rebuilt tranny at work. If I had to pay retail, wanted something upgraded, or went to the Chevy dealer it would cost way more.

Swap in a 4L65e. My 4L65e replacement IIRC set me back $2000 installed after tax. If you want transmission recommendations, talk to my buddy at Kwik Shift Transmission in Pleasanton. His name is Alan, he is very knowledgeable when it comes to transmissions. If you're interested in getting a transmission from him, tell him Curt with the '96 Suburban sent you, he'll help you out.

 

[mistaake]

I don't really understand what you mean by driving aggressively, is it just fast or ?????
Put a new transmission in and go and take some driving lessons! There is no need to drive aggressively to the point where you break a perfectly good transmission. What are you doing? manual shifting into low gears at high speed instead of using the brakes? or manually holding the gears until the engine won't rev any further? ???

Nah, I just put it in Drive and basically floor it every possible opportunity because I love how my exhaust sounds. I never shift it manually. I also plan to do some towing and off-roading in the future, as well as maybe a mild lift. All stuff hard on the trans.

Swap in a 4L65e. My 4L65e replacement IIRC set me back $2000 installed after tax. If you want transmission recommendations, talk to my buddy at Kwik Shift Transmission in Pleasanton. His name is Alan, he is very knowledgeable when it comes to transmissions. If you're interested in getting a transmission from him, tell him Curt with the '96 Suburban sent you, he'll help you out.

Thank you for the recommendation, Pleasanton is only like an hour from me... I'm so tempted to buy the $1200 or so transmission through work but I'm hesitant because it is a stock rebuilt unit by a company that does thousands of trannies a day so they don't really actually care if it works out long term.

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