Gear Vendor O.D. on TH400

[SUPER'BURB]

Good thing about a GV is they are indestructable. Saw one at a vendor show they were dropin the clutch on it with over 1000 LB FT of TQ (motor wound up already and bang).
This was done like every 15 min. for a whole weekend with no problems (not on the G.V. anyway trannys and clutches were not doin so well). If the $$$$ is not an issue do it and post pics.
Big benny in my book is the TH400 becomes the week point and we all know the strength they can provide if it is all built and put together correctly. Can you say bulletproof?

 

[BlueBlazer]

Are you sure it was a GV they were hammering on? I thought I had read that you need to be going at least 25 mph to engage the OD since the rear driveshaft has to be spinning to run the internal pump that applies the clutches. Perhaps they were not in OD which really wouldn't prove much to me in terms of its strength.

 

[dyeager535]

Good point.

My dads on the 465 "unlocks" itself under 25MPH, they are fluid driven IIRC,under that vehicle speed I guess they figure not enough pressure to hold it in OD. They do mention that in the manual, disengage below 25MPH, whhich is obviously not exact, since driveshaft RPM is variable. It's horribly nasty to feel/hear that thing "unlock" when you forget to and go from above 25 to below 25 and leave it in gear.

I don't believe the auto units have this harsh "unlock" problem due to the torque converter. I recall something made the auto applications look a bit more user friendly.

There was a GV unit at the local speed shop that had destroyed itself internally (externally fine looking). Not sure why they had that on display, not good to be displaying a broken product I figure.

 

[SUPER'BURB]

Didn't even think to ask if it was in OD!!!

It was a while ago and it was a "heavy duty" application.
Not sure what that meant they might have several differant applications.

 

[Diesel Dan]

For a tow rig I'd rather have a TH400/GV rather than a TH700R4. The gear splitting portion was really appreciated, I think it would be a PITA with a manual trans trying to split gears. If you want a 4sp auto with lockup go with a 4L80E, not as tall an OD but much stouter for towing duties.