98 4l60E gave up looking for options.

[SAATR]

Hey all, I know I don't post here much but I do quite a bit of lurking. December 23rd as I was doing some last minute christmas shopping, I put it in reverse, heard a bang, and lost reverse and second gear. best quotes I have found have been in the 1700 range. I know that 95 was an odd ball year, but if i need it, i was given the complete truck since the body is shot. I figured since my motor is an oil pump anyway, I'd check to see about a motor and trans swap. the 95 is a 350 tbi, 4l60e and manual transfercase and my 98 is a 350 vortec with an electronic shift transfer case. Would I require a full wiring harness swap to do this? My other idea, if I can find a good deal on it, would be a 5 speed swap. However I think i would need a manual transfer case for that. Any input is welcome.

Yeah I was thinking about putting the good running motor and trans from the 95 into my 98. Sorry for any confusion. Wrecking yards around here don't have any transmissions left for the 98s, That's why i was thinking about using the transmission out of the 95. Is it just electronics that would cause issues? Because if so I could always put a manual valve body in to get rid of that problem. And yeah, I know 1700 is high, they were saying I could save 700$ if I pull it myself, but honestly, considering I only paid 1000 for the truck, and it lasted me a year, I'm not about to drop 1000 into the transmission.

You could possible swap valve bodies between the 95 and 98 trans and make it all jive with the 98 truck's electronics, but I'm not certain. Honestly, I would sell the 95 for parts and invest the money into a rebuild for the 98's trans. Sell the engine and trans locally ( they fetch decent prices, especially if one can hear/see it run) and sell the body for scrap. That way you have a good, freshly built trans that should last several years, rather than a used unit that may or may not last, with a good chunk of your time invested in it. If you consider it good to have spent $1000 on a vehicle that ran for a year, why not spend another $1000 on it and drive it for several more years?

Negative, ghostrider.

I wouldn't call one more reliable than the other. Many here and elsewhere have hundreds of thousands of miles on both with very few issues.