4L60e vs 4L65e

[Parentnoia]

Alright folks, I finally got my burb up and running and in decent condition. Now it seems like the transmission is on it's way out. I've considered a 4L80e, and still kinda am, but right now the amount of work that would be required to do that swap isnt in my schedule. Now it's my understanding that the 4L65e is a direct bolt up to the 4L60e just beefier, rather than computer retune and such for the 4L80e. Is that true? Also, would the effort of the 4L80e be more worth the effort? I need a transmission that would be good for everyday use as well as long road trips and occasional (incredibly infrequent) towing.

 

[99'Subourbon]

Pretty sure 99 Suburbans and Tahoes came with the 4L65E, or at least an upgraded 4L60E with the 5 pinion planetary. But yes, the 4l65e will bolt directly in place of a 4l60e.

 

[96C1500]

You can rebuild the 60e to a 65e spec iirc, if you want to save a little money and already have a 60e

Sent from my Vortec powered HTC One M8

 

[Parentnoia]

Pretty sure 99 Suburbans and Tahoes came with the 4L65E, or at least an upgraded 4L60E with the 5 pinion planetary. But yes, the 4l65e will bolt directly in place of a 4l60e.

Well my RPO codes say 4L60e.

You can rebuild the 60e to a 65e spec iirc, if you want to save a little money and already have a 60e

Sent from my Vortec powered HTC One M8

That was my plan. But how do I find out the parts to make it 65 spec? Looking at specs of a crate transmission only shows a $100 price difference. Same gear ratio, torque limit, etc. So that's not a good reference.

 

[96C1500]

Well my RPO codes say 4L60e.
That was my plan. But how do I find out the parts to make it 65 spec? Looking at specs of a crate transmission only shows a $100 price difference. Same gear ratio, torque limit, etc. So that's not a good reference.

Another member could help you better here. Mine was rebuilt to a 65e spec before I got it. I'd imagine just heavier duty everything

Sent from my Vortec powered HTC One M8

 

[Parentnoia]

Well I found a guide, of sorts, for converting a 60 to a 65 and and seems like just beefing up the trans, not changing ratios and such. I'm not looking for a performance boost, just a reliability increase. So Like instead of the high-intensity band, I'm gonna get the wide band. And I dunno if they servo they use is similar to the corvette or not, so I'll look into that. Also in the guide, they combine two clutch kits for performance but I'll just look into the two and see which one has a better overall all rather than combining the two. I want decent power, not high power.

 

[metaljunkie]

There is a stronger sun shell and more clutches in the 3/4 clutch pack. The corvette servo will firm up the 1/2 shift. With the wide band and corvette servo the 1-2 shift may be to harsh for your needs. Are you planning on rebuilding it yourself?

 

[Parentnoia]

There is a stronger sun shell and more clutches in the 3/4 clutch pack. The corvette servo will firm up the 1/2 shift. With the wide band and corvette servo the 1-2 shift may be to harsh for your needs. Are you planning on rebuilding it yourself?

Yeah, if it'll save me money. I do have access to the equipment to do it. Not 100% on if I have access to all the tools, but all I gotta do is ask. As far as I know all I'll need to do is supply the parts and the trans.

EDIT: The guide says Sonnax billet 4th gear super hold servo, so I dont think it's a vette servo. As well as Z-pack 3-4 clutches with Red Oxide 1-2 clutches.

 

[metaljunkie]

The Sonnax servo has a bigger piston to apply the band in 4th gear. Here is link about the Z-pack http://ls1tech.com/forums/automatic-transmission/338618-raybestos-z-pak-3-4-clutches-opinions.html. I used to switch different thickness steels, frictions and pressure plates to add extra clutches with good results similar to post #9 in the above link.

 

[Parentnoia]

Well so far, I need to know what parts I'll need to replace/upgrade. Not necessarily what brands, just the parts. I'm not expecting high horsepower, I'm just expecting reliability. This is my DD and I drive a lot. Right now I put about 500 on it every two weeks. It would just 1 for 1 rebuild it with stock-ish parts, but while I have it apart, I might as well upgrade what I can. But I'm not expecting to be able to handle big horsepower. I want it for long driving, not fast driving.
The overall driveability has not diminished. Occasionally it likes to pretend to be a manual and make me ease into the throttle from a start at a light. Also, at highway speed and with cruise set, it likes to jerk infrequently. It has always had a bit of a metallic grinding sound at low-ish RPM that goes away when it shifts into what I'm assuming is 2nd gear. After it sat for a few months, the sound is now more pronounced. I think it lost a bit of fluid, so I was considering putting some slip stop in it, but I wanted to look around at whether or not adding the slip stop will do more harm than good.
Parking my burb and pulling the trans until further notice is not an option. So in the mean time, I might as well collect all the parts together so that I can pull the trans, rebuild, and re-install in as short a time as possible, preferably within a 9-hour period since that's the maximum I have access to the facilities at a time.