Hey everyone, I have a 96 c1500 and the the tranny went out. I plan on swapping in an lq9 in the future and want the tranny to hold. This will be my DD and will do everything a truck is meant for (specially shredding in the mud). I got a quote for a rebuild with transgo shift kit and corvette servo. Should I upgrade the accumulators, if so which brand or type? Should I go with the sennox servo instead? Any help, don’t want to be here again or at least anytime soon!
Future lq9 swap
- Thread starter sal09
- Start date
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4L60E? If so, don't waste your money. Get that garbage out of there and swap to a 4L80E. Seriously.
EDIT - To elaborate, I've killed two 4L60Es with a bone stock 4.3L V6 in my '97 C1500. One was the original, the next was a $2700 rebuild complete with beast sunshell, billet servos, HD2 shift kit, upgraded band, etc. After blowing up the built 4L60E I finally bit the bullet and recently completed a 4L80E swap in that truck. Wish I would have done it after the first...
Here's a link to my swap thread if you want to check it out, procedure and parts should be pretty much identical for you as my truck is a '97 C1500. Mine's a V6, but they use the same computer so the wiring info and everything is the same.
http://www.gmt400.com/threads/97-c1500-4l60e-to-4l80e-swap.38819/
EDIT - To elaborate, I've killed two 4L60Es with a bone stock 4.3L V6 in my '97 C1500. One was the original, the next was a $2700 rebuild complete with beast sunshell, billet servos, HD2 shift kit, upgraded band, etc. After blowing up the built 4L60E I finally bit the bullet and recently completed a 4L80E swap in that truck. Wish I would have done it after the first...
Here's a link to my swap thread if you want to check it out, procedure and parts should be pretty much identical for you as my truck is a '97 C1500. Mine's a V6, but they use the same computer so the wiring info and everything is the same.
http://www.gmt400.com/threads/97-c1500-4l60e-to-4l80e-swap.38819/
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I picked mine up from a salvage yard for $500 with 250K miles on it and swapped it straight in, no rebuild necessary. Proceeded to beat on it immediately and it's doing just fine.
The 4L80E is heavier, longer and does have a taller first gear, but is also much more durable than a 4L60E.
Was just reading your thread, seems like you ran it hard. Donuts and all that good stuff. Most likely what I might be doing.... are u happy with the performance of the 80 or would u rather have a bullet proof 60??
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I definitely drive it hard!
My only issue after the 80E swap is that my truck is much slower off the line, but being a V6 I knew that was coming. It will not break the tires loose from a stop on dry pavement any more. However overall I'm very satisfied with the results and I got exactly what I wanted. It drives great and still has plenty of power to get out of its own way if needed. I do not miss the 60E. I actually have another tuned PCM from Black Bear Performance with a 91 octane performance version of my 80E tune that I'm going to throw in once I run this tank of 87 out. Hopefully that might put a little pep back in its step.
I plan on LS swapping this truck at some point, most likely an LQ4. I wanted an automatic transmission that would keep the original appearance and function of the column shifter but stand up to whatever abuse I threw at it. In my experience, there is no such thing as a bulletproof 4L60E. My 60E rebuild was done by a very reputable local builder and I put just about every upgrade possible into it. It lived less than 10K miles behind my 4.3L V6. I definitely helped kill it by zeroing out the torque management in my PCM tune, but needless to say that's a little shorter life than I would have preferred to see. About halfway through it's life I put all the factory torque management back into the tune but I guess by then the damage was done.
I know there are lots of people out there with fast cars and trucks running built 60Es who say they have no issues, but personally I would not feel comfortable putting a 60E behind an LQ4/LQ9 in one of these trucks. If the 4L60E in my Suburban ever gives me any trouble I'm swapping it out for a 4L80E for sure.
I agree.
If you really need the 4L60E now to get you by, then just get it freshened up to get you down the road. I wouldn't do anything more than necessary. Maybe a corvette servo since it's only $20.
Then find the LS engine you want to run and keep an eye out for a 4L80E. The more you plan now the less work later.
The bad thing about a low powered engine with a 4l60e is the constant up/down shifting.
Another bad thing is the large gear splits, lots of stress to bring the rpms down that much.
If you plan on beating the crap out of it in the mud, I'd deff look at the 4L80E and a large cooler for it. Lastly the right torque Converter makes a huge difference in the 4L80E. I'm running a Circle D in my 91 with a 5.3/4L80E. You would never know it had an 80e.
The stock BU52 torque converter is something crazy like 80#. That's alot of weight to spin up. The converter I'm using looks like a stock 60E converter with a 80e hub to engage the pump and it was only 32# I think.
The 4L60E gear ratios are 3.06 1.62 1 0.7.
The 4L80E gear ratios are 2.47 1.47 1 0.75
Rpm drop from 1-2 is really nice compared to the 60e. And the lower 4th gear helps a little cruising and towing. You gain about 150-200rpms in 4th gear.
I broke about 20 4L60E's in a year and half. Said forget this and bought a 80e from my buddy and figured out how to make it work. It's been the most reliable auto trans I've ever had. Towed, raced, daily drove it for 10 years and put 275k+ miles on it.
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If you really need the 4L60E now to get you by, then just get it freshened up to get you down the road. I wouldn't do anything more than necessary. Maybe a corvette servo since it's only $20.
Then find the LS engine you want to run and keep an eye out for a 4L80E. The more you plan now the less work later.
The bad thing about a low powered engine with a 4l60e is the constant up/down shifting.
Another bad thing is the large gear splits, lots of stress to bring the rpms down that much.
If you plan on beating the crap out of it in the mud, I'd deff look at the 4L80E and a large cooler for it. Lastly the right torque Converter makes a huge difference in the 4L80E. I'm running a Circle D in my 91 with a 5.3/4L80E. You would never know it had an 80e.
The stock BU52 torque converter is something crazy like 80#. That's alot of weight to spin up. The converter I'm using looks like a stock 60E converter with a 80e hub to engage the pump and it was only 32# I think.
The 4L60E gear ratios are 3.06 1.62 1 0.7.
The 4L80E gear ratios are 2.47 1.47 1 0.75
Rpm drop from 1-2 is really nice compared to the 60e. And the lower 4th gear helps a little cruising and towing. You gain about 150-200rpms in 4th gear.
I broke about 20 4L60E's in a year and half. Said forget this and bought a 80e from my buddy and figured out how to make it work. It's been the most reliable auto trans I've ever had. Towed, raced, daily drove it for 10 years and put 275k+ miles on it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
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NightRunner
Resident Junkman
You could always carb the LQ9 and grab a built TH400...
Don't listen to me though, I like bad ideas.
Don't listen to me though, I like bad ideas.
Hahaha. That's always a option. I like gas mileage so I always go with a 4 speed.
I've only fooled with one carb LS swap and it was horrible haha. It made me miss the EFI bad.
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I've only fooled with one carb LS swap and it was horrible haha. It made me miss the EFI bad.
You could always carb the LQ9 and grab a built TH400...
Don't listen to me though, I like bad ideas.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
Y’all are very convincing wth this 4l80. Is there a certain year I should look for? Also is a straight swap as far the housing goes, and should I just take the drive shaft front the donor (plan on going to the junkyard)? The biggest question is what are the chances on getting a bad tranny?? Don’t won’t to put it in and that one be bad
