Home built 4L60E beast

[BentleyArnage]

@BentleyArnage
How do you know so much about these transmisions? Are you a rebuilder?

What I am is a little different. I owned shops for many years. Between A/C and transmissions, seems I could cover the bases on jobs that most techs are ignorant of. Then there's my Rolls-Royce and Bentley certifications. I've stayed on the edge of the business. Then the dynamic changed. Transmission shops then had to do brakes and tuneups to survive. I rolled a lot of shops into the repair end. It was fun, but times have changed. The new stuff isn't fun anymore. Too expensive and complex. We're seeing a declining number of techs in the business. It's not good.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

What I am is a little different. I owned shops for many years. Between A/C and transmissions, seems I could cover the bases on jobs that most techs are ignorant of. Then there's my Rolls-Royce and Bentley certifications. I've stayed on the edge of the business. Then the dynamic changed. Transmission shops then had to do brakes and tuneups to survive. I rolled a lot of shops into the repair end. It was fun, but times have changed. The new stuff isn't fun anymore. Too expensive and complex. We're seeing a declining number of techs in the business. It's not good.

Oh no... Yeah my buddy retired from the heavy duty C/K production line in Michigan. He and I speak a lot of how the new stuff is built to not be serviced, but replaced. It is built to be disposible. I think there was a good time before the industry got to this point. The 2nd gen Tahoe is on the declining edge of that period. The drivetrain, suspension, chassis, is AWESOME but body, wiring, electeonics, etc are not built well... few parts in tranny suck too. otherwise 4L60e could have been made to run forever. I am tinkering around, building the truck I think the Tahoe should have been.

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[BentleyArnage]

Oh no... Yeah my buddy retired from the heavy duty C/K production line in Michigan. He and I speak a lot of how the new stuff is built to not be serviced, but replaced. It is built to be disposible. I think there was a good time before the industry got to this point. The 2nd gen Tahoe is on the declining edge of that period. The drivetrain, suspension, chassis, is AWESOME but body, wiring, electeonics, etc are not built well... few parts in tranny suck too. otherwise 4L60e could have been made to run forever. I am tinkering around, building the truck I think the Tahoe should have been.

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I tend to agree with you. There are so many things that have changed for the worse. My Arnage just isn't as solid as the cars even 2 years previous. It's faster, handles better and the fuel economy is insane. But things have to be replaced, not repaired.

You might like my project. 1998 Suburban. Install a motor and trans from a 97 Bentley TurboR. Since it has a 4L80E, just change the output shaft to fit the transfer case. I though of even using the dash and console, along with the amazing seats. Would solve a bunch of wiring problems. Then I might hang the front clip from the Bentley on the Sub. This could be cool, but the thought of 850 lbft torque gets me all excited! You aren't getting that out of big block!

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

That sounds insane. Any project pics?

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[BentleyArnage]

That sounds insane. Any project pics?

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Just getting started. Will post as things progress.

 

[kenabi]

been watching the precision transmission channel on youtube do do much the same thing. lots of good tips those guys give.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

been watching the precision transmission channel on youtube do do much the same thing. lots of good tips those guys give.

I have too. Great channel. I have had to shelf my projwct though. things picked up at work.

Will be back once things settle down tho..
on an interesting note, swapping trades with a guy for work. going to work on his jeep in exchange for marketing my business.

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[Mechanic421]

Don’t know if anyone said anything about disabling pulse width modulation. But sonnax valve is way better than any other way.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

Couple things to confess (1) I'm getting busy at work - I run my own business, so maybe a while before I can work on my transmission project (2) I am cheap. I've been ordering parts from Amazon returns haha Litterally half my parts come from Amazon returns, my dirty little secret. I got the pump rotor, whatever you call it, from amazon returns. It looks solid. The others parts from from salvage yard. I'm 99% sure the part from Amazon returns is good, just not sure what exactly is supposed to be in the box? Did I get the whole thing? Just surprised to see a little of the finish warn off on it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gCbx9sUEhIPfyiY2h8ZDirB5OubwSdJk/view?usp=sharing

 

[Mechanic421]

You have a lot of parts to go! Yes more parts, banner kit , I recommend you do lot’s of studying! YouTube Percision transmission videos all Pertaining to 4L 60 E’s

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

You have a lot of parts to go! Yes more parts, banner kit , I recommend you do lot’s of studying! YouTube Percision transmission videos all Pertaining to 4L 60 E’s

I have taken lots of notes from the precision transmission guys Really like their videos. He just lays the secret build tips out there for all to know.

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[Matthew Jeschke]

I'm keeping my eyes pealed for deals on these parts. Slowly accumulating them. Curious about:

1. Corvette Servos (I think I'll go for one of them as apposed to Sonnax as theirs is SUPER expensive)

It appears there are MANY different ones out there? Which one do I order or are they all created equally?

2. The 5 pinion planetary

Which one here? I see LOTS of different ones on eBay (not much on Amazon). What brand is good? are they all about the same?

I'm finding lots of these parts I have to source off eBay? Amazon doesn't have a good inventory of them. Or where is the best place to order these things?

 

[Rocket Man]

I'm keeping my eyes pealed for deals on these parts. Slowly accumulating them. Curious about:

1. Corvette Servos (I think I'll go for one of them as apposed to Sonnax as theirs is SUPER expensive)

It appears there are MANY different ones out there? Which one do I order or are they all created equally?

2. The 5 pinion planetary

Which one here? I see LOTS of different ones on eBay (not much on Amazon). What brand is good? are they all about the same?

I'm finding lots of these parts I have to source off eBay? Amazon doesn't have a good inventory of them. Or where is the best place to order these things?

The company that I bought my trans from, Performabuilt, told me a couple months ago when they were building it that several of their suppliers closed production down for months because of Covid and aren’t shipping parts still. They said Sonnax won’t even give them a ship date period. It could have changed by now.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

My engine build is getting near completion. Ironing out the kinks now. Wondering about ordering up the supplies to do this build. I think the easiest route I found is this "Monster in a box" linked below:

https://www.monstertransmission.com...ter-In-A-Box-1993-97_p_5242.html#.YJimiR_PwhM

There's a few parts, not entirely sure "high performance clutch kit" what exactly is that. I may have to call them up and look at it... I'm kind of wondering, even if I don't use all these parts, it maybe cheaper to order them together in this kit?

I also see this kit HERE from Sonnax. I tend to lean more towards their servos and shell although includes no clutches, electronics etc.

 

[livingez_123]

Transmission bench has a whole series for rebuilding a 4l60e.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

I need to dive into this transmission build. I think my transmission is on it's way out the door. It slips when output torque exceeds input (aka engine braking in gears 1 through 3). I have a separate thread about this, but think it's what's going on. I believe my overrun clutches are going out. Not too surprised, when tuning the 6.0L I revved to redline and let off quite a few times. Even in 2nd gear. It pulls like a freight train w/ the 6.0L up to 6k RPM. 3rd gear yet to be determined because I'm going too fast at that point haha

I need to figure out what would be a good torque converter. I think I'll start tearing down my spare transmission and seeing what went wrong with it as well as slowly rebuilding stuff for the swap.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

Roger at Vinci cams who built my camshaft said to get a 2400 to 2600 stall torque converter no larger than 10.5" outer shell diameter as the larger they get the less efficient they are. I am going to try to stick to the 2400 stall. Couple questions...

What brands are best? Or good enough? I see summit racing has a generic line which I've always been happy with... are they any good?

Second out of curiosity what is the stall of the factory torque converter? I see it's 12.5" but cannot figure out what the stall rating is... 1800 RPM?

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

Started tearing down the extra 4L60e I bought to see what went wrong, what a I can reuse, and what I need to order. Hit a snag, sigh, seldom do these things give up without a fight.

The last bolt on bellhousing stripped immediately when I went to remive it. Tried welding head on it, tried cutting and hammering it out with screwdriver... tomorrow I have to go buy some of those screw in easyouts *sigh*

Unless you have a better idea to get it out...

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[Matthew Jeschke]

I see there are a lot of companies that custom build torque converters. Seems to be way to go, do you know which ones are good?

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[Mechanic421]

I see there are a lot of companies that custom build torque converters. Seems to be way to go, do you know which ones are good?

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