4L60e rebuild, or 4L80e or manual?

[SilveradoGuy85]

Well the 4L60e went out so I'm wondering a few things. Well for one I'm not going to do any of it myself, I don't trust myself with anything this big. So whichever I decide I would ask the opinions of the transmission shop, I'm just getting opinions on here first. It will also be a long time before I'm about to do anything about it. Right now it's stock height with 3.73 gears, but I do plan on putting a 6" lift on it with 35s.

I was just wondering about if I should just have the 4L60e rebuilt, swap it out for a 4L80e or even convert it to a manual.

The transmission shop that I will get to do the work said it would cost $1,600 to rebuild the 4L60e and that includes a minor shift kit. This will probably be the one I do.

I also thought about just replacing it with a 4L80e. Just wondering about if that would take more work or if it takes the same crossmember and would bolt right up to my 350. Also what's the pros and cons of a 4L80e over 4L60e.

I do really want a manual (my 1st truck was a manual), but there's not many GMT400s with a manual so it would be hard to even find a transmission let alone one that someone wasn't asking an arm and a leg for. So the manual option will probably not happen. I'm also wondering about the 4x4 issue since I have push button 4x4 and it seems like all of the manual GMT400s I see has the 4x4 stick in the floor. Would I be able to keep the push button system or would I also need the stick in the floor for the 4x4?

Well thanks in advance.

 

[SilveradoGuy85]

Ok I guess no opinions lol

 

[LordFinesse]

Im just about to get my 4l60e rebuilt, its going to run right about 1200-1350 for everything including a "mild" shift kit but it depends on the quality of parts i can put in there, according to my guy Rene, who works at a chevy dealership and has for like a really long time, or something, the 4l60e will handle up to about 550hp with no issues and he owns a 92 rcsb with the same tranny and a 350 he threw in there with roughly 400hp, its a beast. i was originally gonna get a 4l80e but after i found out how much trouble/time/money it would be to do the swap im just gonna do the rebuild. the 4l80e is the successor to the 60 and can handle more power, its larger though and heavier, and was introduced in 98 as standard(i think) as far as the 4x4 im not sure mines a 2wd and i havent even looked into any of that. now in order to do a 4l80e swap you would need to fab up new tranny mounts, a new cross support bar to hold it in there, and also get a new drive shaft, get a computer to go with it and then get it all working, now yours is a 97 and mines a 93 so im guessing the swap would be a little easier on the computer side of things but after what i found out how much he wanted to do that i cant justify the cost, it gets expensive because its a long process to make the mounts etc and theyre gonna charge you hourly, if i had the time, space and patience not to mention another truck to drive i woulda gone that route. let me know what you want to do and i would shop around a little because 1600 sounds a little much, other prices i have seen run about 900 for a rebuild and like i said 12-1300 with the shift kit and nicer componets. i mean shoot, you can get a brand new one for like 1900 so you may wanna go that route.

 

[SilveradoGuy85]

Im just about to get my 4l60e rebuilt, its going to run right about 1200-1350 for everything including a "mild" shift kit but it depends on the quality of parts i can put in there, according to my guy Rene, who works at a chevy dealership and has for like a really long time, or something, the 4l60e will handle up to about 550hp with no issues and he owns a 92 rcsb with the same tranny and a 350 he threw in there with roughly 400hp, its a beast. i was originally gonna get a 4l80e but after i found out how much trouble/time/money it would be to do the swap im just gonna do the rebuild. the 4l80e is the successor to the 60 and can handle more power, its larger though and heavier, and was introduced in 98 as standard(i think) as far as the 4x4 im not sure mines a 2wd and i havent even looked into any of that. now in order to do a 4l80e swap you would need to fab up new tranny mounts, a new cross support bar to hold it in there, and also get a new drive shaft, get a computer to go with it and then get it all working, now yours is a 97 and mines a 93 so im guessing the swap would be a little easier on the computer side of things but after what i found out how much he wanted to do that i cant justify the cost, it gets expensive because its a long process to make the mounts etc and theyre gonna charge you hourly, if i had the time, space and patience not to mention another truck to drive i woulda gone that route. let me know what you want to do and i would shop around a little because 1600 sounds a little much, other prices i have seen run about 900 for a rebuild and like i said 12-1300 with the shift kit and nicer componets. i mean shoot, you can get a brand new one for like 1900 so you may wanna go that route.

Thanks. My truck is a 98 though and from what I've read, the 4L80e is the transmission they put in the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. I know it has the 4L60e because I looked it up using the RPO code. I might shop around a little, all I did was go to a local transmission shop that I know does great work. I might call another shop that does pretty much everything and I've used them a few times and ask them how much they would do it for.

Really the only reason I considered the 4L80e is because I heard the 4L60e isn't strong enough even for a 1/2 ton. Maybe from the factory they weren't. Now knowing an unmodified 4L60e can handle 500 HP then I'll probably just rebuilt the 4L60e. I'm surprised it lasted this long actually, it had been shifting hard after a long drive and then I would have to cut the truck off for a minute and then it would shift perfect. I was told about 2-3 years ago it needed to be rebuilt and it had been shifting hard for a few years now. Also the reason I considered converting it to manual is because I just really miss having a manual, but it will most likely cost too much since I won't be able to do the work myself and have no donor truck. I was hoping it wouldn't be that much fab for the 4L80e, but now I see it will be more than just the computer and another crossmember.

EDIT: Ok just called that one shop. They said $2,000. He said that's for a "new" transmission that was remanufactured. I then asked how much to just rebuild the one I have and he said the same. So I can only assume they wouldn't do the actual rebuilding that way, they'd just uninstall it and send it off to get rebuilt. So I'll probably get the transmission shop to do it, or call other places that I know I can trust. Just not many places I know I can trust, I won't let just any shop work on my truck. Also being 4x4 the labor is higher and I'm hoping their prices aren't for the cheapest rebuild kit they can find.

I also called the other guy I trust to work on my truck and he said he doesn't do transmission work, he just sends it to the transmission shop that said they'd charge $1,600.