JRider Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 I am very interested in installing a ratchet shifter in my Avalanche. I talked to B&M and asked if it was possible on the electronic controled Avalanche tranny and he said no. I have a hard time accepting this when on their website it says that it will work on the 4L60E with an aftermarket controller...what does that mean? I plan on installing a Transgo kit and elimanating torque management by means of Predator with a custom tune. Will most likely go with a vette servo also. Any info appreciated. JRider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 it'd be way more difficult since the factory set up is for a column shifter. it will still work on a 4L60/65E. they don't make sell them for the newer transmissions just like for the 4th gen f-bodies since the 4L60E is just too easy to program your own shift points and not have to manually shift it. as for manually shifting, you can manually shift an 04' right off the showroom floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRider Posted March 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 I find (atleast with a Hypertech) that the programmed shifting really only takes effect at WOT. Otherwise it seems to shift too early at any other throttle position, and it also seems to hunt for gears...I want to be able to put it in the gear I want when I want and not have to screw around with the clumsy column shift...never have liked them. Not a big fan of foot controlled shifting. Anybody else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellbents10 Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 Sounds like you are a manual trans guy to me. I think they shift good with a shift kit and servos. They shift early under part throttle cause of fuel econimy and many other factors. Also you don't need the power if you are under partial throttle. So why would you want it to shift later or higher in the power band? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRider Posted March 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 OK, its like this...lets say I am stopping at a stop sign and then takine a 90* right turn. I push the throttle easy take the corner and when I want to get into it shifts up on its own so then I push a little more and it shifts down. Shift shift shift...sick of it. I am not concerned about economy. Does the shift kit keep the tranny from this early shifting crap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdss Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 If you install the billet servos, you will still have the "always shifting problem" but the up and down shifts the tranny makes will be way more crisp. It will defanitely suprise you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRider Posted March 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 Thanks for the info on the billet servos. I may just end up doing some experimenting on my own with a ratchet shifter. If I am correct??? the LED dash indicator in sensed in the transmission so therefore the gearshift just holds the mechanical position. Can anybody verify this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deezel Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 There is an electronic sensor on the side of the tranny that detects the gear select position. If you want a full manual trans - you would probably need to disable a few things in the PCM... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 there is alot of programming room for that as far as i know in LS1 edit. i assume some guys can comment on that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XGMTech Posted April 1, 2004 Report Share Posted April 1, 2004 JRider, I don't know which ratchet shifter you are planning on using... but I used to have a B&M Megashifter in my El Camino SS and I wore it out in about a year. The linkages inside of it were badly designed and cheaply made - they used rivets to connect things, which wore out and got loose. Then one day it didn't work at all, and I had to disconnect the cable and reach under the car to put it in drive until my new non-ratchet shifter arrived. I don't know if they are made better these days... just thought I'd share that. Good luck, let us know how it works in your Av! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deezel Posted April 1, 2004 Report Share Posted April 1, 2004 there is alot of programming room for that as far as i know in LS1 edit. i assume some guys can comment on that? There is a switch in Edit to activate the "PRNDL" function in the PCM. This is supposed to allow the PCM to work in custom applications with different transmissions or gear selectors. I have no experience with using this function, so cannot comment further on how it works. I think several guys over on ls1tech.com have done tranny swaps and such - you might check there for more details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy Posted April 1, 2004 Report Share Posted April 1, 2004 what i meant by programming in LS1 edit is the shifting problems he's talking about. it'd be pretty easy to program it to not upshift so quickly and to downshift more easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deezel Posted April 1, 2004 Report Share Posted April 1, 2004 what i meant by programming in LS1 edit is the shifting problems he's talking about. it'd be pretty easy to program it to not upshift so quickly and to downshift more easily. duh ... I was half asleep with that PRNDL post... YES to what zippy said. You can adjust all of the part-throttle shift points in Edit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRider Posted April 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 Thanks for the info guys. I have a diablo predator on its way and will get a custom tune for it. I think I will add transgo shift kit and corvette or Billet servos...anybody know what is the best bang for the buck on the servos? Is the transgo kit the best? I may also put in a Trailblazer converter. If I still am not happy I will be spending a little money experimenting with a Hurst or B&M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmtruc Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 My truck is different, but it's possible to run a ratchet shifter in your truck. I run the BM mega shifter, with the ls1 and 4l60e. I LOVE IT!! Like stated before, the trans has a gear selector on the side of the trans, that's all you need. You will have to wire your reverse light to the ratchet shifter also. It's fun to drive with. I like to slam the gears when racing, but also keep it in drive when i'm in traffic. Best of both worlds, my truck acts just like a standard. You'll want a servo and shiftkit to compliment the fun,heheh, plus the kit will let you hold each gear as long as you want. allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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