6L80E-HD thread

[MOBS]

Got a wild idea and figured I'd start a thread for this trans in case anyone wanted to ask a question or volunteer some info about the 6L80E-HD or any variations of the 6L80E's.

I was looking at ordering a truck, but slammed on brakes when I noticed there wasn't a manual trans available(I prefer to be able to control when/if I engine brake)....then I did a bit more reading and noticed the above-mentioned trans has the ability to engine brake assist, and figured Hell, if I can get an adjustable/tuneable standalone for it, then it might work for a previous body style. Thanks to devs, I'm now searching for a crewcab nbs roller to do some swapping around on. I'm looking at the detroit or duramax 6.6L+ hooked to a 6L80E-HD....not gonna flood this post in everything I'm planning to put in it, that's for another thread later on. First off, does anyone happen to know what generation 6L80E's were best or are they still in their first gen....and are they 2pc or single case? etc. what will they bolt up to....all the fun facts.

Hopefully rhino will chime in with some intelligent info like usual.

-Mike.

 

[Tempted]

Some of the delivery trucks I maintain have them, I'll see if I can get some specs. I'll tell you that I really don't like them, especially with a heavy load. I've put 2 in a 2500HD with 120k on it. It just isn't holding up to what our old 4L80s do. The 6L80 has a little up/down button on the gear selector that allows you to choose what gear you want it to stop shifting at. The shifts are sluggish and far too late on the stock setting. And I really, really hate the 6.0 in the 2500 when used to tow heavy loads. Feels like a loose rubber band. I have to confess that the loads are far more than most will ever use, they are live fish bait delivery trucks that are loaded with water for minnows and dirt for worms. We have 2 with flat beds and 2 with standard beds, all have water tanks. We had a 95 F150 with a 351/E4OD that was spectacular. 240k before I had to replace the trans, engine was never more than a quart low at 3k. We sold it, it is still on the road delivering bait for another company now.

 

[MOBS]

Hmmmm, thanks for the info man, I definitely would need a tranny that lasted atleast 100k under strenuous use haha. I guess the bad outweighs the good on them, was mainly looking at it for the granny gear so I wouldn't have to run a Hi/Lo box behind trans like with a 4L80E. When it comes to fords, I've always used the C6-HD behind the Big-6 diesel of their's.

 

[454SSguy]

I checked into this when I started putting together pieces for my build. There is no way to do a stand alone for the new 6l80's. They are awesome trannys but they require an 08+ ECM that requires lots of variables from the engine itself to actually run the tranny. There is a guy who puts them in TBSS's and it's sick! but they can only go in the 08+ and when I checked in ~Oct there was no fix and not one in sight. That's why I decided on either the T-56 or TH-400 w/ Gearvendor, I eventually decided on the T-56.

 

[Butch]

At one time there was a rumor of GM putting out a Standalone for the 6L80e in Spring of '12 but I haven't heard anything about it in a while.

 

[454SSguy]

That would be freakin sweet. I wonder wat it would cost?

 

[Butch]

probably ~$800

 

[454SSguy]

Yea but then what would the tranny cost? and would it bolt up to a BBC?

 

[MOBS]

If it were a separate bellhousing trans, then the possibilities would be endless....a standalone would definitely open up the market for aftermarket bellhousings for different engines.

 

[rhino]

We haven't seen many of these, just a few. One was a bad converter, two of them blew out the reverse piston which is common. The 3 year hundred thousand mile warranty GM put on them is just rolling out so I'm sure they will start rolling in. I called GM about 3 weeks ago for a guy that wanted a GM serta unit I think it was around $2100.00 with a $900 core charge.