What cost to prepare for

[R422b]

So if you want durability go 4l80 if you want mileage and durability go manual or built 4l60e.
Leastaways thats my way of thinking.

 

[df2x4]

After my experience with a built 4L60E in one of these trucks I would not say anything about it was durable. To each their own, though. My '97 K1500 Suburban still has the stock 4L60E and I pay a lot more attention to how I drive it after my bad luck in the red '97. At the first sign of trouble I'm going to start gathering parts to 4L80E swap the Suburban as well.

 

[upper_tanker]

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.

My truck had the aux trans cooler, as well as the one in the radiator. I added a second aux cooler after the trans was done. My temps don't get above 140-145 no matter what the outside temperature is, what I'm towing, or how hard I'm beating on it.


How hard is the actual 80e swap? I imagine it's just like every other non-stock swap... You buy all of the parts that you THINK you will need, and then you end up having to buy a lot of small detail parts that you didn't even think of. I'd love to do an 80e swap, but between doing my engine and gears, I need a few year break from headaches.

 

[df2x4]

How hard is the actual 80e swap? I imagine it's just like every other non-stock swap... You buy all of the parts that you THINK you will need, and then you end up having to buy a lot of small detail parts that you didn't even think of. I'd love to do an 80e swap, but between doing my engine and gears, I need a few year break from headaches.

Like I said earlier I paid my mechanic to do all the labor so I can't comment personally on how hard it is. He had it done in about three days though, and one of those was just driving it and checking for leaks. He said everything went together very well. No one in the shop commented or said anything was difficult, which they are not shy about.

My parts list in my swap thread I linked actually turned out to be like 95% complete. There were a few odds and ends that my mechanic had to figure out (like the driveshaft) but I knew about them before I brought everything in. I did a ton of research as it took me months to collect everything, but it paid off because every part that I brought in worked flawlessly and I didn't end up needing much else.

 

[upper_tanker]

Like I said earlier I paid my mechanic to do all the labor so I can't comment personally on how hard it is. He had it done in about three days though, and one of those was just driving it and checking for leaks. He said everything went together very well. No one in the shop commented or said anything was difficult, which they are not shy about.

My parts list in my swap thread I linked actually turned out to be like 95% complete. There were a few odds and ends that my mechanic had to figure out (like the driveshaft) but I knew about them before I brought everything in. I did a ton of research as it took me months to collect everything, but it paid off because every part that I brought in worked flawlessly and I didn't end up needing much else.

Apparently I can't read today! I totally missed that part, lol. I know there's a ton of swap info on these, just like everything else. I may have to start researching this so I can do it in a year or so, along with the 0411 swap. Thanks for your input!

 

[Rock Hard Concrete]

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.

What did you do to that poor transmission? Lots of neutral drops? My 4l60 (non e) is stock, behind a very strong tbi 350 and has been abused all to hell and has no issues at 90k miles. Burnouts with wide tires, lots and lots of manual shifting, offroad abuse, towing, etc. What did you do with a v6 to ruin one so quickly?

 

[df2x4]

What did you do to that poor transmission? Lots of neutral drops? My 4l60 (non e) is stock, behind a very strong tbi 350 and has been abused all to hell and has no issues at 90k miles. Burnouts with wide tires, lots and lots of manual shifting, offroad abuse, towing, etc. What did you do with a v6 to ruin one so quickly?

No neutral drops ever, I'm not that silly.

Lots of burnouts, lots of donuts, and LOTS of WOT shifts. I think the biggest reason it died to quickly was that I ran it with reduced torque management in the PCM tune for a few thousand miles. I definitely would've killed it eventually anyway, but I believe the reduced TM is the reason it only lasted about 10K miles. I only ran it that way for about 4K of those at the beginning, but by then I think the damage was probably done.

 

[David Barry]

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.

I hear you df2x4! My '93 Sierra 350 has had 3 tranny rebuilds over the last 20 years. None of them got rid of the "clunk" going into 2nd gear. After spending $1700 about a year ago, I took it to another shop and told them that the clunk has got to go! I told them that my funds were limited by the recent poor rebuild. They brought down the clunk but 'added' some slippage going into 3rd gear. They said that they would have to dig in deeper (remove the tranny) to fully correct. All in all, the $600 spent has made the truck so much more fun to drive.
Are there adjustments that have to be made to replace my 4L60E with the 4L80E?

 

[df2x4]

Are there adjustments that have to be made to replace my 4L60E with the 4L80E?

Yes, quite a few. You need to move the trans crossmember backwards on the frame, install a shorter driveshaft (and longer front driveshaft if it's a 4WD), different cooler lines, a few small wiring modifications, and lots of other little things. The hardest part in regards to your '93 will probably be finding someone who can tune the computer to control the 4L80E. You could always install a stand alone controller for it but that's a lot of money, and I know the older TBI PCMs are capable of controlling a 4L80E. I bet someone on the Gearhead EFI forums could help you further with that.

I posted this link on the last page, but here it is again. This is my thread documenting the swap in my red '97 C1500. It has newer electronics than what can be found in your '93 so most of that info will be irrelevant, but reading though the thread should at least give you an idea of what's necessary.

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

 

[alpinecrick]

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

Don't get sucked in too far to the dark side of the 4L60 vs the 4L80.........
Yeah, the 4L80 is as robust trans as one will find in the gas pickups--just like it predecessor the TH400, but it's important to note that factory 4l60E's tend to last roughly 150K, probably depending on service intervals, how much weight it tows and how often it tows. It seems rebuilds--including a lot of the alleged upgraded/Stage 1 trans have a short lifespan. Makes me wonder about the quality of the rebuild--been there.

I currently have 5 trucks/vans with 4L60E's in them. The ones with over 150K have been rebuilt when the trans gave up the ghost. My 97 K1500 has 140K on it, bought 5 years ago with 95K on it from the original owner who claims--and it appears--he took very good care of the the truck. My 01 GMC has 90K on it and it was well maintained too. Both still have the factory 4L60E's.

Near as I can tell, a quality rebuild with the upgraded parts, changing the filter and ALL the fluid at half the recommended service interval (like at 25K) and keeping the fluid cool (big cooler out front) goes a long ways towards extending the lifespan of the much maligned 4L60E's.

My 96 Express cargo van has 100K on the rebuild with a largish aftermarket cooler on it since the rebuild, and it's everyday payload is maxed out. It gets a workout every time I drive it, but it's still hanging in there. It's had it's fluid changed out 5 times. I shall see how long the trans lasts.......