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might be needing a new tranny... need opinions

muddybuddy

muddybuddy

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well driving today on the beach in the outerbanks, and the tranny started slipping (im 280 miles from home, but it made it the whole way down here, and none of my family thought it would (they all drive ferds :haha: ) anyways its a 700r4 and it appears t be getting tired. after slipping i got out of the truck and noticed my tranny was leakin atf fluid and unfortunately atf fluid was the only fluid i didnt bring with me :doah:. thankgod a local had a quart on him which he gave me which was very generous. i let the truck cool downand put the atf fluid in the truck. i drove it back to the house and i cant really tell if its still leaking fluid or not. the tranny has 125k miles on it, and from what everyone else says bout the life of this tranny im surprised its lasted this long. thats the background

anyways when it does die, what should i get? i really want to keep the overdrive to keep it streetable. i was thinkin of maybe a built 700r4 maybe a raptor or something. but i also love the strength of the th400, jus wish it had overdrive. i know i could go 4l80e and get manual valvebody but i duno how easy i could find one of those. anybody run a th400 with one of the aftermarket units on it? dependable, reliable? what would you do? im on a budget, but if paying a little more will give me more strength and save me headaches down the road i dont mind.

all opinions are welcome:D thanks guys

edit: sorry for the long read
 
If I had to do it over again and my truck was going to be streeted still I would go with a 4L80E. I have killed my share of 700R4's and I have a Th400 sitting in the garage now waiting on the last one to die. With a mild rebuild and a few small upgrades the Th400 will be much stronger for much less money then the 700R4.

I do not need OD anymore though since the truck doesn't get driven long distance onroad anymore. I looked into the 4L80E swap and it is what I would do now if I needed OD. More money upfront but less headache and more reliable in the end.

Harley
 
I'd rebuild it, or replace it with a better 700. 4l80's are spensive, plus you'd have to re-do driveshafts and such (which you may need anyway). Would be a good time to switch transfer cases or add a doubler but = $$$$.

I say buy a raptor, add a huge tranny cooler, and be done with it. I'm guessing by the time you buy an 4l80, and install it and make it run, you could have bought 2 performance 700's.
 
No tech help but I got to drive on the beach for the first time ever a couple of weeks ago. Man the OBX rocks.:bow:

Sun&sand.JPG
 
what about a th400 with an aftermarket overdrive unit? eventually i will be doin a engine swap as well, and so ill need the new tranny to be able to withstand power (performance 350 or diesel) will a built 700r4 be able to stand a healthy motor? i know they are rated for like 400 or 500hp, but what about a turbo 6.5? im not sure exactly what motor is goin in it, but i wanna keep my options open
 
A th400 with an OD box would be good too but the OD boxes new are $$$. Unless you find one used for a good price then it would probably be cheaper to do a 4L80E.

Harley
 
i was jus lookin at bowtie stage 3 700r4 and it looks beefy. anybody have experience with these? how do they compare with a raptor 700r4?
 
neverendingproject said:
Im working on a built 4l80e swap right now. Its gonna be the sh!t when it gets done.
Click to expand...

how much $$$ is it costing you? are you going manual valvebody? i would think i could swap in a 4L80e with manual valvebody for about the same price as a fully built 700r4 (1500-1800). how do you think a stock 4L80e would be compared to a fully built 700r4?

why did u decide to go 4L80 instead of something else?
 
Well, stock 4l80 can conservatively handle 450lbft of torque im getting the tranny for 700 and controller for 650 so 1350 in all. If your going diesel, just find a controller for diesels and all you will have to pay for is the transmission.
Or you can go manual valvebody, but Im going to let mine shift itself.
 
Dude! Go read some of my posts (just search using my username) because I've been going over this exact situation for months as I blew out my 700r4 also.

In a nut shell this is what I've learned...find a cheap 700r4 to put in knowing that it'll eventually go out again, from what I've learned there are some upgrades that make a difference but eventually they all die....

Or if you don't do much long haul driving (even if you do it would be ok with the right gears) go with a TH400, even in stock form they hold up better than some of the "built" 700r4's....

Or find someone like this who is selling some 4L80E's for dirt cheap then just spend your money on a stand alone controller and driveshafts....

Or go manual.

That's been the main stuff I've learned, search some of my threads here though and you'll get some good info. and suggestions as I've racked everyone's brains a ton lately.

Input on my issues...
More but w/ pics of my smoked tranny
4L80E and other options
Round two on tranny options
Garage Tech 700R4

-Avery
 
Your 700r4 went 125K. Why are you looking for more strength? It sounds like you would do fine with a simple rebuild.
 
If you dont rebuild your 700r4 ( which is what I would do unless you have lots of $$) I would get a th400 for sure because they are the best in my opinion, but then your looking at drivelines, and t-case adapter, which is just more $.
 
Dallin said:
Your 700r4 went 125K. Why are you looking for more strength? It sounds like you would do fine with a simple rebuild.
Click to expand...

well it went 123k miles with 10bolts and 33's. now its got 1ton's with 5.13s and 40's. all that extra weight is killing the tranny because it has to work harder. before i bought th truck it hadnt been taken offroad, so far i've pushed it pretty hard. its pointless to have alot of tough gear and then have a weak tranny. i love the idea of a 4L80e and doing manual valve body, but finding the the tranny around where i live is hard to come by
 
Chaddy said:
If you dont rebuild your 700r4 ( which is what I would do unless you have lots of $$) I would get a th400 for sure because they are the best in my opinion, but then your looking at drivelines, and t-case adapter, which is just more $.
Click to expand...

well im currently at the point where i need new driveshafts anyways. i have a 208 now and it needs new shafts, the front is practically falling apart. i currently have have a 241 and sye in the garage waiting to go in. i could always put the 241 together and swap inputs to 32 so i could run a 4L80e right?
 
muddybuddy said:
well it went 123k miles with 10bolts and 33's. now its got 1ton's with 5.13s and 40's. all that extra weight is killing the tranny because it has to work harder. before i bought th truck it hadnt been taken offroad, so far i've pushed it pretty hard. its pointless to have alot of tough gear and then have a weak tranny. i love the idea of a 4L80e and doing manual valve body, but finding the the tranny around where i live is hard to come by
Click to expand...

First of all do you have an aux cooler and gauge on that trans? If not then you were asking for trouble. IMHO a 700R4 isnt as bad as people make it out to be. You arent making a lot of power and you have the proper gearing so I dont really see that as being a big deal. You just need to keep it cool so it doesnt cook itself to death. That being said just get a nice rebuilt 700R4 and be done with it, lots of people wheel with a 700R4 just fine...
 
I think some of the bad rep of the 700 is undeserved I have a buddy who works at a tranns shop really talented guy. He is fully convinced that half the guys in his shop do not do a good job building 700s. That by no means is meant to say trans shops are rip offs just make sure to go to one with a good rep. There is only one shop in town where I would take a 700 to have it rebuilt. I think the internet idea is a good one these guys depend on their rep for building really good trans. Alot of poeple will say a 350 wont stand up under certain conditions and hell I have had trouble with mine but I know two guys one has 40s (3.73 gears) and a built big block the other with 44s and a built small block and both of their turbo 350s have lasted several years/ Distilled down what I am trying to say is a good quality rebuild on a 700 will last with your setup
 
I have access to a 4l80 and a 241 driver drop that is rebuilt, iirc still in the truck, or at least out with the harness. I also have access to 2wd 4l80s out of 1 ton vans, they would be with harness's too.
 
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