High Horsepower Handling Transmission.

[soccer13]

Hi, I'm new to this and I had a few questions. I am planning on making a few modifications in the engine compartment which will add 500+ HP. What I want to know is what would be the best solution for a tranny to handle that power because I'm pretty sure a standard 4l60e won't be able to handle it. Much thanks.

[shadowsniper3006]

Hi, I'm new to this and I had a few questions. I am planning on making a few modifications in the engine compartment which will add 500+ HP. What I want to know is what would be the best solution for a tranny to handle that power because I'm pretty sure a standard 4l60e won't be able to handle it. Much thanks.

 

Are you talking 500 to the wheels or crank? Last time i dyno'd i put down 504 to the rear wheels through my built 65. One of the moderators here is running high 10's on his built 65. Both of us use finish line transmission out of IL, but there are other shops like rossler.

[BlueAKSSS]

Hi, I'm new to this and I had a few questions. I am planning on making a few modifications in the engine compartment which will add 500+ HP. What I want to know is what would be the best solution for a tranny to handle that power because I'm pretty sure a standard 4l60e won't be able to handle it. Much thanks .

 

First off welcome to the site from another guy from Anchorage! (Well your first post) lol

 

The 4L80E swap is another option but as shadowsniper said you can get a built 4L65E from FLT......

[8hnpSS]

if your gonna push serious power through the 65e i would say FLT all the way. ive had mine for 2 years now with probably 20~ 1/4 mile passes and lots of street fun. read my modification list in my signature if thats anywhere near what your doing id go with the FLT

[2bfast]

Save yourself the trouble....4L80E

[silverado777]

I think I'd be leaning to go with the 4l80e. I've already busted one built 65e with my set up.

[Sik-rod-yo]

Save yourself the trouble....4L80E

 

X2

[Dmarian907]

yeah well finding a 4l80e up in anchorage is kinda a problem

[Sik-rod-yo]

yeah well finding a 4l80e up in anchorage is kinda a problem

 

 

it shouldn't be the hard some places do ship u know

[BlueAKSSS]

yeah well finding a 4l80e up in anchorage is kinda a problem

 

Hmmm IDK about that... Options are to get a built one shipped up, or go to northwest auto parts and buy a used one. They have them in stock.

[2bfast]

yeah well finding a 4l80e up in anchorage is kinda a problem

 

yeah well looks like someone hasnt put much effort into it

 

There has been and still are members on here from Alaska that have heavily moddified trucks. If they can do all of that, you surely can find an 80E unit to use.

[shadowsniper3006]

Not that going to a 4l80 is a bad thing, i may go that route at some time in the distant future(but i hope not), but there are also draw backs to using one.

 

The 4l80 is going to suck more power out of your motor then a 4l60 will. Of coarse it handles more but that comes at a cost to your set up.

 

The 80 also has a numercally lower first and second gear compared to the 60. The 80 has 2.48 first and 1.48 second, the 60 has a 3.06 first and 1.63 second. This can have up and down sides. Your truck is going to come out of the hole slower then a 60 trans will with less torque to the wheels. So if you want to maintain your 60 foot time your going to have to either gear up the front and/or rear ends, or use a higher stall converter. If you choose to gear up the diffs in order to make up for it, third and forth gear are almost the same between the two so your rpms on the highway will be higher.

 

On the flip side of the coin, these higher gears of the 80(numerically lower) can help the guys making ungodly amounts of torque on the launch get traction. I would imagine this would help the possitive displacement guys. And the 80 has closer ratio gears so your going to drop less rpm during the shifts and stay in your power band better.

 

And on the flip side of the flip side you can regear your 60 to act more like an 80. This info is a little less then half way down the page of the link

http://www.transmissioncenter.org/4L60E_Parts_List.htm#Gears

""The Next Big Thing". PATC has developed a new 6 pinion planet gear set for 700R4 / 4L60E transmissions. This will be the biggest thing in 700R4 advancements in years. These will have a 2.84 to 1 first gear, 1.56 to 1 second gear, 1 to 1 third gear and .70 to 1 overdrive ratio. This close ratio 700R4 gear set will have a 11.72% less RPM drop between 1st and 2nd than the wide (stock) ratio gear set. In other words the close ratio gear set will only have 88.28% as much RPM drop as the wide ratio gear set. This is what people have been asking for, for years. These will work on any 4L60E type transmission without a gear ratio error code, if the PCM is modified. The carrier is made from E4340 billet steel and the pinion gears are 9310 steel. With the billet sun gear made from 9310M steel. This gear set is used to reduce torque multiplication / rotating speed in the transmission in first gear. This improves track applications that overpower the rear tires upon launch. This is common with numerically high final drive ratios. Now you will have a choice between the wide ratio or the new close ratio gear sets. In first gear this close ratio gear set has a 7.2% numerically lower final drive ratio. It has been reported that the 2.84 gear set could lower your quarter mile time as much as 4/10 of a second over the 3.06 gear set. This gear set has been in research and development for over one year. You might ask why 6 pinion gears. The answer is because high horse power motors can eat the small needle bearings up in the pinion gears. The solution is to spread the load over 50% more needle bearings and at the same time building the planet gear set out of a higher grade steel. The first 50 are in production now and the approximate release date is May 2009. We have finished the testing in our test truck with the following findings. The gear noise in manual low is reduced by at least 50% compared to a stock OEM planet gear and at full throttle there was no noticeable power drop on the 1st to 2nd shift.

[2bfast]

That is great info Bradley.

 

At the end of the day, you can do what you want with a 60 but it was never designed to take the abuse of high horsepower AND the load of these heavy trucks. Sure some have had good luck with theirs, but its a crap shoot. You talk of regearing a 60 to act like an 80, in my opinion if you make enough to power to overcome the perasitic loss from a bulky 80 you can regear an 80 to accomodate the lower gear ratio of a 60. It will cost you, but if you have the money to regear a 60 you def have the money to tailer an 80 to you're needs.

 

I will admit, the builder will either make or break your unit with it be a 60 or 80. On the other side, as I mentioned its still a 60 that was never intended to take the abuse hydraulicly and mechanicly

 

You're choice

Edited February 19, 2012 by 2BFAST (see edit history)

[f1ss]

Very well said Shadow and 2BFast. Hopefully he will let us know if he wants 500hp to the wheels or crank, should help on decision making.

[shadowsniper3006]

That is great info Bradley.

 

At the end of the day, you can do what you want with a 60 but it was never designed to take the abuse of high horsepower AND the load of these heavy trucks. Sure some have had good luck with theirs, but its a crap shoot. You talk of regearing a 60 to act like an 80, in my opinion if you make enough to power to overcome the perasitic loss from a bulky 80 you can regear an 80 to accomodate the lower gear ratio of a 60. It will cost you, but if you have the money to regear a 60 you def have the money to tailer an 80 to you're needs.

 

I will admit, the builder will either make or break your unit with it be a 60 or 80. On the other side, as I mentioned its still a 60 that was never intended to take the abuse hydraulicly and mechanicly

 

You're choice

 

WOW, my full name! Am I in trouble mom?

 

Your kinda right Brian(if i knew your middle name, I'd use it), the 65 is not really intended to put up with the abuse that the high HP guys give it in our weight of trucks. But Professional builders have made great progress in getting them to last. Of coarse there is still a limit, but not a lot of guys will hit it. I remember Ray(supersub) telling me his 65 didn't last though one dyno pull, but how many guys are going to make 750 to the wheels. Most of the guys don't need to upgrade because a couple of the higher hp guys, or guys with bad luck, had bad results so they say 80 is the only way to go. I mean 500 to wheels isn't bad, but your already telling him to get a trans that will rob him of his total hp to the wheels and his 60 foot times. The point is, the 80 is an overkill for most guys, or guys that have not experienced a 60 from shops like FLT.

 

And i know it doesn't apply to most guys either, but guys like me looking to find every single HP to the rear wheels, can benefit from the 65. At this point, i don't know how i could remain stock cubes and NA and make up for the power loss of the 80.

 

I also did think of regearing a 80 to the ratio's of a 60, and if it was possible you would have the 60 foot time of the 60 but you would still have the power train loss, and you would loose the benefit of the close ratio. I did do a little looking into it though, and couldn't find the option to do such a thing. But if you can please post up a link.

 

by the way, my flt level 5 lasted 45,000 miles of 12 second passes before the converter actually took it out. I hope the level 7 will be as good to me

Edited February 19, 2012 by shadowsniper3006 (see edit history)