CB, you can bolt a 4L80E on, but they’re a bit longer, if I recall correctly. That may mean swapping the driveshaft. Can’t speak to what programming you might need, it any.

 

There is also a 4L65 you might want to look at

 

There's nothing inherently wrong with the 4L60E. When there are 6 billion vehicles sold with the same part, you're going to hear of some failures (or even experience it yourself), but on average it's reliable when properly cared for. It doesn't sound like you'll be towing, so find a used one that wasn't used for towing and had it's fluid changed on schedule and you'll be fine.

 

The 4l60e can be rebuilt as strong as you want it to be. Want to crawl rock mountains? The 4l60e can be built to do anything. It is the transmission behind almost all racecars and many super cars as well. However it is built for the job. Just like the one I have in my burb, it's a stage 3 HEAVY DUTY and it is indeed a race tranny in a family truck. Built to last forever.

Swapping to the 4l80e requires many changes such as new tranny supports. Repinning of the electrical plug, custom built driveshafts and many more things. It will however bolt up to the motor just fine, but that's the only easy thing in this swap. It is without a doubt cheaper to have the 4l60e rebuilt stronger.

And yup the 4l60e is a darn good tranny when cared for properly and never allowed to over heat. So many of these vehicles with hd tow packages means it comes equipped with the parts, not hooked up. These things such as the 7 way plug and the transmission cooler need to be hooked up after the fact by a dealer, a technician or yourself. The hd tow package dosent mean it is ready to work.

Al

Okay, I'll bite... maybe. Is it true that the 4L60E, in stock form, has nylon gears?

If yes, WTH?!?!

Rebuilding it as strong as I'd want it to be - what parts get strengthened so that it will "last forever" or at least be able to handle so much torque that it can reasonably be expected to last a really long time under the power output of a stock 5.3L engine?

And is the 4L65E a direct bolt-in swap with stronger internals?

 

The 4l60e can be rebuilt as strong as you want it to be. Want to crawl rock mountains? The 4l60e can be built to do anything. It is the transmission behind almost all racecars and many super cars as well. However it is built for the job. Just like the one I have in my burb, it's a stage 3 HEAVY DUTY and it is indeed a race tranny in a family truck. Built to last forever.

Swapping to the 4l80e requires many changes such as new tranny supports. Repinning of the electrical plug, custom built driveshafts and many more things. It will however bolt up to the motor just fine, but that's the only easy thing in this swap. It is without a doubt cheaper to have the 4l60e rebuilt stronger.

And yup the 4l60e is a darn good tranny when cared for properly and never allowed to over heat. So many of these vehicles with hd tow packages means it comes equipped with the parts, not hooked up. These things such as the 7 way plug and the transmission cooler need to be hooked up after the fact by a dealer, a technician or yourself. The hd tow package dosent mean it is ready to work.

Al

 

Hers my thread from blowing my last tranny and having it rebuilt HD. this quote has a link that goes into great detail as to what exactly need to be done to complete the swap.

Al

I was just googling a 4L60E to 4L80E conversion and just came across this step by step guide to completing it complete with a parts list... hope its ok to post this link as it was very informative. a bunch of stuff has to be changed. not impossible i think ill be looking for a HD rebuilt 60 this time around though.

when I figure something out I'll get back to you all.

thanks guys.

Al

http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/front-page-news/14163-how-4l60e-4l80e-trans-swap.html

 

It would seem that all the pics are gone but all the info is still there. This was the most comprehensive guide I could find to complete the swap but this is for a RWD truck so some things would have to be modified for the transfer case otherwise this info is the same.

 

I'm not a transmission expert, I just wish I was. I really want the ability to be able to rebuild my own transmissions as it is expensive to have it done right. I spent $3000 Canadian to have it done.

So I truly dont know all the parts that are upgraded but most of the internals are replaced with aftermarket beefed up parts, hardly any gm OEM components are used if any at all because they are made as cheaply as possible. I could do an internet search to come up with a list but I'm not guna do that. Every single wear or prone to failure part is severely upgraded. Take a look at OEM sun shell gears for example and then take a look at Monster Transmissions The Beast sunshell gear.... Theres a huge difference not only in the size and thickness of the part but also the material it's made of.

Iv learned that the 4L65E may not be a direct swap because the internals are different, they have a different internal wiring harness due to having a couple more sensors inside. They are however a more beefed up 4l60e but there is a bit more to the story, some with the other variants besides the 4l80e which has it's own variants.

The best way to get these answers is to find a reputable transmission shop and give them a call or walk in and simply ask them. The shop I used has been doing transmissions for race cars for over 50 years, being a performance shop they will rebuild any tranny but they will not build one to oem specs, they simply won't and will not warranty one even if they did. They should talk your ear off because they know it inside and out and can give you all the details your looking for without having to look up a damn thing. The guys who worked on my truck also tuned my wifes car for free and stood behind there work well after the year warranty expired, turned out i had a bad ignition switch tho and the tranny was fine.

One other thing I have learned is that the more gears a tranny has, such as these 6 or 8 speeds, the more possible failure points it has and the more expensive they are to fix.

There is more detailed info in the powertrain section on technician diagnose and rebuild guides but I couldn't find this info easily amongst the hundreds of pages contained in the pdfs but I did look. I'm sure I have posted something that goes into great details of the 4l60e and its variants along with what changes were made throughout the years but I can't find it. It would have most of these answers.

Anyways taker easy.

Al