Rocket Man's 02 Denali Build Thread AKA "THE BEAST"

Guess what time it is? Surprisingly I managed to put 2000 miles on it since the trans was installed, 5 miles at a time. And now it’s supposed to rain for a week so it might be a minute before this happens. I got a Lubelocker gasket this time so there will be ZERO use of RTV. I hope the trans lasts this time around and according to Performabuilt it will, as long as I don’t clog the damn servo passages with silicone.

Just watched an informative video on some 4l60/65/70 basics that covers installation, coolers, flex plate, converter spacing, etc from Performabuilt. Ryan, the guy in the video, is the one who figured out my issue with breaking parts including the output shaft due to my use of RTV on the pan gasket which caused the servos to not release and he talked to me on the phone for quite awhile after my second failure. These guys are the best in the industry and in fact covered my rebuild under warranty even though it was a year past it AND it was my fault. It’s an hour long but there’s some good info including why the dipstick is wrong on almost every one of these transmissions and you might be running 2 quarts low and don’t even know it, plus how to mark it correctly the next time you have the pan off to replace the filter.

https://fb.watch/42QfVsqNTm/

Rocket Man said:

Just watched an informative video on some 4l60/65/70 basics that covers installation, coolers, flex plate, converter spacing, etc from Performabuilt. Ryan, the guy in the video, is the one who figured out my issue with breaking parts including the output shaft due to my use of RTV on the pan gasket which caused the servos to not release and he talked to me on the phone for quite awhile after my second failure. These guys are the best in the industry and in fact covered my rebuild under warranty even though it was a year past it AND it was my fault. It’s an hour long but there’s some good info including why the dipstick is wrong on almost every one of these transmissions and you might be running 2 quarts low and don’t even know it, plus how to mark it correctly the next time you have the pan off to replace the filter.

https://fb.watch/42QfVsqNTm/

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Any chance you could give the time stamp of when he talks about the dipstick ?; an hour + video is more time than I can watch when my to-do list is so long. Thanks.

NoReverseYukon said:

Any chance you could give the time stamp of when he talks about the dipstick ?; an hour + video is more time than I can watch when my to-do list is so long. Thanks.

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It’s at 37 minutes in.

Replaced the trans filter today. It wasn’t too bad, luckily the ARH midpipes come off easy and I just bent the shifter bracket a little bit so the pan could drop down. The magnet looked pretty good, just a bit of fine material but nothing to be concerned with. I’ll cut the filter open tomorrow to check for friction material but I don’t expect much. It’s just broken in with 2000 miles on it. I checked the dipstick to see if the crosshatch was at the pan gasket line as per Performabuilt’s instructions and as far as I can tell it’s good. It’s kinda hard to tell for sure since the seal hangs down but it looked close. The pan has been on and off a few times and it wasn’t flat around the bolt holes anymore so I ran to Oreilly and bought a Dorman one that has a drain plug because it sucks dropping a pan without one. Plus the OEM ones are 3x as much and don’t have a drain. There’s not many Dorman parts I’ll use but a stamped steel pan can’t be ****** up I don’t think.

Opened up the trans filter. Nothing to worry about, just a couple of tiny pieces of metal which interestingly were on the interior of the filter media, sandwiched inside. It does only have 2000 miles on it but I’m not seeing any frictions that I can distinguish. I was expecting some. The black plastic shavings are from me drilling out a plastic rivet thing in the center.

Made a dump run today and found out again how heavy this thing is. And some idiot in a Kia Soul tried to take me from a light to cut in front of me. Which he did cut in after I let up, figuring he gave up since I whooped him but instead he kept going past where his lane ended and made an ******* last ditch effort, almost hitting my front bumper. At the next light he tried the same thing, it was 2 lanes both turning right then right again into a freeway on-ramp. I didn’t give him a chance this time and hit 90 by the bottom of the ramp and saw him in my rear view way back there. I hate those little ugly things lol.

Rocket Man said:

Made a dump run today and found out again how heavy this thing is. And some idiot in a Kia Soul tried to take me from a light to cut in front of me. Which he did cut in after I let up, figuring he gave up since I whooped him but instead he kept going past where his lane ended and made an ******* last ditch effort, almost hitting my front bumper. At the next light he tried the same thing, it was 2 lanes both turning right then right again into a freeway on-ramp. I didn’t give him a chance this time and hit 90 by the bottom of the ramp and saw him in my rear view way back there. I hate those little ugly things lol.

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Douchebaggery! I had a day like that yesterday. Then when the ******* had to wedge behind me, after losing, he had the balls to flip like 15 gestures at me. It’s probably a good thing I carry. Keeps me from reacting to these morons.

Rocket Man said:

Made a dump run today and found out again how heavy this thing is. And some idiot in a Kia Soul tried to take me from a light to cut in front of me. Which he did cut in after I let up, figuring he gave up since I whooped him but instead he kept going past where his lane ended and made an ******* last ditch effort, almost hitting my front bumper. At the next light he tried the same thing, it was 2 lanes both turning right then right again into a freeway on-ramp. I didn’t give him a chance this time and hit 90 by the bottom of the ramp and saw him in my rear view way back there. I hate those little ugly things lol.

View attachment 273195

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I would've just ran his ass into the ditch--meaning I'd keep going straight and maintain my speed-- and kept moving--that's just me tho.

Tonyrodz said:

I would've just ran his ass into the ditch--meaning I'd keep going straight and maintain my speed-- and kept moving--that's just me tho.

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^^^^This^^^^