What cost to prepare for

[Dixietruck]

I have a 98 with nearing a 150,000 miles I feel like my transmission is on its way out. I’ve had 35’s and a hard pedal foot on it so it makes sense. I want to upgrade the transmission to handle future upgrades I don’t know exactly what I would look for. What should I get put in it and expect to pay for a built transmission

 

[df2x4]

All depends on what transmission you're talking about... What's in the truck?

EDIT - Just found your thread where you mention it's a 1500, which means if it's an automatic then you probably have the 4L60E, which is a huge hunk of garbage. I spent $2700 on a 4L60E rebuild with a reputable local builder and then killed it behind the 4.3L V6 in my red '97 after about 10K miles. IMO if you have a 4L60E truck and you like to drive it hard at all, you would be much better off swapping in a 4L80E. Personally I would not waste any money trying to make a 4L60E any better, and a 4L80E is strong enough from the factory to handle a lot of abuse.

 

[delta_p]

How much cost to prepare for the 4L80e vs. the 60e rebuild? I thought about swapping my 60e on my '96 V8 C1500.

I had 60e rebuilt at around 130,000mi when it lost reverse. at 162,000 mi now but i don't really drive it that hard. I think I paid about the same for the 60e rebuild.

 

[df2x4]

How much cost to prepare for the 4L80e vs. the 60e rebuild?

I was just shy of $4K total invested in my '97 C1500 4L80E swap but I used some really nice parts and did none of the labor myself. The transmission and torque converter were junkyard units with around 250K miles on them, they worked just fine. I'm sure you could get it done for much cheaper if you did some of the labor yourself and used different parts than I did. Here's a link to the thread.

http://www.gmt400.com/threads/97-c1500-4l60e-to-4l80e-swap.38819/

 

[brianmcb]

I just did an 80e swap in my 2005. Put a junk yard trans in it. After all the little parts to make it work, I'm in it for less than a grand. Then i also sold my blown 60e as a core for 200 bucks to.

95 rcsb, L33 5.3, hot cam, hp tuners, 4/6 drop

 

[R422b]

I just installed a 4l60e in my 2002 tahoe it cost about 3000$ with all the parts i needed. I got a level 2 unit from bowtie overdrives. I cant make any mileage cleams because i anly have a few hundred miles on it so far. I love the way it shifts and the torque converter that chris garner picked for me feels perfect.
The only thing that i would mention is their customer service is best over the phone. And they do have you jump through the hoops for warranty setup so review there install guid before you buy. I was fine with the terms my self but you may not be.
Also i have heard that a 4l80 takes roughly 40 parasitic hp and the 4l60e only 20 so keep that in mind.

 

[upper_tanker]

I had mine rebuilt by a shop in Detroit. He's actually the supplier for a ton of other trans shops in metro Detroit. He has a guy come in after hours to do the rebuilds on the side. I paid $900 (took him only the trans). The receipt says 5 pinion R planet, shift kit, vette' servo, kevlar band, beast sunshell, H.D. Z pack 8 clutch 3-4 upgrade, 2000 stall. (Hard to read writing, but this is what it says). I thought about swapping to an 80E, and still might do it when/if this one takes a ****. I've been beating on this for the past 5k ish miles with no complaints.

There is a local trans shop who charges out of the ass. Funny thing is, he gets his parts from the shop that rebuilt mine. The shop in Detroit charges $800-$900 to rebuild and beef up an 80E, while the other guy charges $1800-$2000.

 

[R422b]

A wise older friend told me whatever i do replace the radiator with the one with the biggest trans heat exchanger you can get so i replaced the radiator with a new ac delco unit. Its cheap insurance whatever trans you go with. Rock auto has all the acdelco lines and such to upgrade to the stock auxiliary cooler also if you don't already have it.
The same friend has a 1999 tahoe 4x4 with slightly oversize tires and still on the original trans after 240000 miles

 

[R422b]

You know the saying do it right or do it again.☺

 

[df2x4]

The 4L80E definitely does take more power to get moving than the 4L60E but the extra durability is worth it in my opinion. My red '97 that I swapped the 80E into has a stock 4.3L V6 and it still drives just fine. Won't spin the tires on dry pavement at all now, but it doesn't seem under-powered for what it is. The Express vans were actually available new from GM with the 4.3L/4L80E.

Cooling is a valid concern no matter what transmission you're running. I run the exchanger that's built into the radiator plus an upgraded oversize AUX cooler on my red truck. It's possible to modify the stock AUX cooler brackets to fit a much larger plate style cooler, there's a good how-to thread stickied at the top of this subforum. Here's a link to it.

https://www.gmt400.com/threads/how-to-factory-auxiliary-trans-cooler-upgrade.18104/

I mentioned this near the end of that thread too, but if you want to save some money go with a Tru-Cool M7B instead of the B&M 70266 mentioned there. Exact same part made by the exact same parent company for half the price.