[gonefirefighting]

ok ok, first of all i should introduce myself, my name is brett miller and i am currenlty serving my 4th (i know its crazy) consecutive tour in iraq with the 82nd cavalry. i just recently bought a 97 tahoe 4 door with the 5.7 liter off ebay motors for a rig to drive when i get out of this dump. i am planning to lift it and change the gearing down 25% but i dont know wht the stock ratios are for this year. i also dont know what transmission is stock for this rig either. considering i dont have the normal resources to figure it out here in insurgent land i thought i would tap into the mental collective of this forum. feel free to drop me an email or reply on the board. [email protected]

keep on rocking in the free world

 

[ChevyFan]

Welcome aboard. Thanks for going over there into the desert, but I know it must stink.

 

[gonefirefighting]

i forgot to add it is a 1500 series tahoe, i suppose that might help a bit eh? , thanks steve, it does stink, in fact it smells like burnt oil and curry. weird combo but i think it has grown on me.

 

[ChevyFan]

Yeah, I know some people who've come back from there. One guy was a gunner in an M1A1 ... no AC in those babies! Just drink lots of water he says.

Where is home for you when you get back?

 

[imported_Anonymous]

Welcome, and thanks for the wonderful job you guys and gals are doing. Please stay safe!!!

That tranny is a 4L60E, or the old 700-R4 if you are familiar with that. The rear end is probably a 10 bolt, 3.42. A rear end that works real well in that truck is the 14 bolt (1 ton) with say a 4.56 gear. Let us know what you come up with!

 

[gonefirefighting]

steve; my home used to be sisters oregon, before i was deployed i was married with a house and new truck and within twp weeks of me being here she moved in with a boyfreind and sold the goods. so technicaly i am looking for new start in a new place. i know i am going to be traveling around the world for about 3 and a half months once i get out of here. i now a container ship company that accepts passengers for a very small fare. i will be gone for over three months and hit north america southamerica, australia, new zealand, fiji, europe, then africa and back. and beleive it or not travel food and lodging is all under one grand a month. i think it should be a good time to get back into the "civilian" mode. by the way, i am as well a gunner but on a up armored hummer. we have ac but it is still pretty lame so the army is shipping us these monstrous airconditioned armor suits that resemble that of a bomb squad suit. they are only for the gunners due to the large amount of limbs we are losing in the blasts.

arnie; great news on the tranny and thanks for the help on the rear. do think i will be fine with just changing the ratio on the front rather than changing out the whole front end? i will end up running 35 inch tires.

 

[ChevyFan]

Sorry to hear about that. I had a cousin in the Washington State national guard that had a smiliar thing happen to him. Except it was after he hit the SeaTac Airport, he called home and she said she'd see him when he go there...but she and the three kids were gone when he got home with a note left on the bare floor.

 

[imported_Anonymous]

Yeah. Whatever you do in the back you can just re-gear the front. Just get a good ratio for those tires. That transmission does not like to be hot at all, make sure you have a good tranny cooler.

 

[kamikos]

Some additional information here:

The 4L60E is not quite the 700r4. True, the 700r4 was renamed in 1991, but to "4L60". The transmission the OP has is the 4L60E (the electronic shift version) which does have some issues. The main issue is that the isolater valve or the regulator valve sleeve slowly worked its way loose and caused slippage. This occured on my 96 at about 100,000 miles or so. If this happens DO NOT take it to a Chevy dealer to get fixed unless its under warranty. They will just to a rebuild to OEM specs with the same flaw that will cause it to fail again in the future. Take it to a reputable independent shop that knows how to install "fixed" sleeve and as long as you maintain it normally (i.e. regular fluid/filter maintenance, good tranny cooler if doing any kind of load or towing) you should probably never have trouble with it again.

Weren't the stock gear ratios on those 3.73 or 4.10 (depending on option when ordered)? The OP will want to compare the RPO codes listed on the bottom of the glove box to the list on the site below to see what all the vehicle is equipped with. I don't think I've heard of them coming with a 3.42 though.

http://www.wiu.edu/users/muwtj1/rpocodes.htm

For quick reference: (there are many others but these are of main concern here)

GT4 AXLE REAR,3.73 RATIO
GT5 AXLE REAR,4.10 RATIO
GT8 AXLE REAR,4.10 RATIO
GU6 AXLE REAR,3.42 RATIO

Those are for stock gear ratios, but as Arnie said, with the 35" tires, you may want to get something that will work a bit better and make sure to do the front as well as the back at the same time.

 

[ChevyFan]

For quick reference: (there are many others but these are of main concern here)

GT4 AXLE REAR,3.73 RATIO
GT5 AXLE REAR,4.10 RATIO
GT8 AXLE REAR,4.10 RATIO
GU6 AXLE REAR,3.42 RATIO

Those are for stock gear ratios, but as Arnie said, with the 35" tires, you may want to get something that will work a bit better and make sure to do the front as well as the back at the same time.

 

[army dude]

Hey, where you at?

Hey there!! I just joined this club as well and I am finishing my 2nd tour here in wonderful Iraq!! YEA!!! NOT!! I am up at Taji and have seen a bunch of ya'll come rollin in lately. I used to be down in Mahmudiyah in the heart of the triangle, what fun!! I play madic but usually just hide as long as I can and play on the computer. Have fun on this tour and shout back!

Ian in Iraq...Again

 

[Coach24]

Welcome to GMTC! Pull up a tailgate and sit a spell