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Ready to buy a reman 700R4, any good-bad experience?

I would go with the advise BowtieOD's gave. I have killed my fair share of 700R4's & will never pay to have one done again. I still have a 700R4 in my K5 but once it dies the Th400 is waiting to go in. If you really need OD then pay the extra money & do a 4L80E. It would have been my next step had I decided that I didn't need OD anymore. If you don't really need OD then rebuild the stock Th400 & put the 203 behind it. The TH400 is WAY stronger then a 700R4. Even a burly Th400 is less then most stock 700R4 rebuild.

If you weren't going to use it as a plow truck with lots of torque I might say go with a built 700R4 from BowtieOD's but with those stipulations you are asking alot of a tranny with a questionable track record.

Harley
 
I'm kinda' perplexed... I've got a junker rotted 83 with maybe 85K, and I've plowed a couple winters with it, and it's fine. How could the 700 be so bad? What's the weak spot, havn't the rebuilders addressed it? Are the TC's just cheapo re-mans from Advance? Like their starters and alternators? I know the factory GM stuff usually outlives the aftermarket. I've watched it over the years. But the '87 and earlier 700's were THE bad ones, and my '83 is fine.
I've heard all the horror stories, I was even talking to TCI (on my cell) at the auto parts, and a fellow overhearing my (rude) conversation says "don't do it", and points to his work shirt. "excel Transmissions". Sheesh... So will call Mad Dog and pester him, why won't the 700 work? A 6.2 is no beast, and a 6.5 w/Banks ain't no rocket ship. And I'm not going to drive with 4:10's much longer with the 400...
How'd the 4R200 live in the Grand Nationals? Hmmm??? I think the weakness is addressable, just don't know why the remans are so trouble prone... I don't take "no" for an answer...
 
uglytruk said:
I'm kinda' perplexed... I've got a junker rotted 83 with maybe 85K, and I've plowed a couple winters with it, and it's fine. How could the 700 be so bad? What's the weak spot, havn't the rebuilders addressed it? Are the TC's just cheapo re-mans from Advance? Like their starters and alternators? I know the factory GM stuff usually outlives the aftermarket. I've watched it over the years. But the '87 and earlier 700's were THE bad ones, and my '83 is fine.
I've heard all the horror stories, I was even talking to TCI (on my cell) at the auto parts, and a fellow overhearing my (rude) conversation says "don't do it", and points to his work shirt. "excel Transmissions". Sheesh... So will call Mad Dog and pester him, why won't the 700 work? A 6.2 is no beast, and a 6.5 w/Banks ain't no rocket ship. And I'm not going to drive with 4:10's much longer with the 400...
How'd the 4R200 live in the Grand Nationals? Hmmm??? I think the weakness is addressable, just don't know why the remans are so trouble prone... I don't take "no" for an answer...
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The 4R200 is a very strong tranny much better than the 700R4, but the integral case makes it that you can't have a 4wd version.
I had one in my Olds cutlass behind the V8 307, it took the kicking and kept on licking :D
I think you can make the 700 work for you for what you do, but believe me, you will not get a lot of people to understand what you and I do.
Nobody believed I could keep my 3.08 geared 1/2 ton axles in my K5 with the 1300lbs turbo diesel with 415 ft lbs of torque lockers front and rear and 35" tires, wheeled it for 5 years on all kinds of rock trails, broke the frame from the vibration, dropped parts from bolts loosening, again the vibration, but the axles stayed fine and performed flawlessly.
It's because many people abuse their trucks, that no one is willing to warranty a tranny like the 700 with the kind of use you have.
:o
 
Yup, seems only the bad stories make the news. I guess it seels papers, and fills forums... Sheesh...
The 700's been around 25 years. Can't tell me the soft spots aren't long worked out... especially on the '87-newer cases...
 
I think that most 700r4's go bad is do to bad or wrong adjustments and heat. I just put a 700r4 in place of a th350 I killed. I found the installer kit "PSI & Temp gauge" at BTO for $70. Now after installing trans it shifted fine. But after hooking up PSI gauge to diag port on trans. I found the TV cable "OEM setup" had to move just over ¼" before PSI would rise like it should. If I did not get the PSI gauge to test trans I would have killed it too. Setup is key on a 700r4. Just my 2¢
 
CB77GMC said:
I think that most 700r4's go bad is do to bad or wrong adjustments and heat. I just put a 700r4 in place of a th350 I killed. I found the installer kit "PSI & Temp gauge" at BTO for $70. Now after installing trans it shifted fine. But after hooking up PSI gauge to diag port on trans. I found the TV cable "OEM setup" had to move just over ¼" before PSI would rise like it should. If I did not get the PSI gauge to test trans I would have killed it too. Setup is key on a 700r4. Just my 2¢
Click to expand...

So is this a permanent mount guages, or just test once?
 
I have the Bowtie Overdrives level 2. Not really any complaints so far, their customer service was good, but looking back on it I really think the smartest thing to do is get a reputable local shop to do it. I live on the east coast and with Bowtie on the left coast, if I do have a problem with it, it will suck. I will have to pull it, crate it, pay to ship it, wait a month, and then have to put the damn thing back in when I could have just had it done down the street and paid a few extra bucks and if something went wrong I could just take it to them and they could fix it.
 
txcol_sanders said:
I have the Bowtie Overdrives level 2. Not really any complaints so far, their customer service was good, but looking back on it I really think the smartest thing to do is get a reputable local shop to do it. I live on the east coast and with Bowtie on the left coast, if I do have a problem with it, it will suck. I will have to pull it, crate it, pay to ship it, wait a month, and then have to put the damn thing back in when I could have just had it done down the street and paid a few extra bucks and if something went wrong I could just take it to them and they could fix it.
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Thats why I opted for the Factory GM unit............no matter where I go or live ANY Gm dealer will take it out and fix it for free 3 years or 100,000 miles !
 
Wow, didnt think the GM was so cheap! The local AAMCO wanted 1900 for a stock rebuild and Jasper trannies were I think $3k!!

Guess I shoulda checked GM from the beginning.

The Vette tranny has the wrong style case.
 
HarryH3 said:
Good luck trying to get them to actually honor their "warranty". Do a search on "Craptor" on this site. :(
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I wouldn't let something that happened to one guy ,5 years ago have much influence on a decision today. Besides, as I read it they gave him a new tranny that he had no more problems with.

And "craptor" only seems to come from your posts......let it go......it happened five years ago.....time to move on..:p:
 
Leper said:
I wouldn't let something that happened to one guy ,5 years ago have much influence on a decision today. Besides, as I read it they gave him a new tranny that he had no more problems with.

And "craptor" only seems to come from your posts......let it go......it happened five years ago.....time to move on..:p:
Click to expand...
You need to read ALL of the posts. The problem I have is with their business practices. They were NOT going to honor their "warranty" until they were flooded with email from pissed-off CK5'ers. I don't do business with anyone like that. Ever...

And I wasn't the one that coined the phrase "Craptor". It's just an easy word to have people search on to find Tori's adventure with the folks that sell the Raptor. The Raptor folks rank right up there with USA6x6 when it comes to business ethics. :mad: I always recommend that folks never send a penny to either company. :rolleyes: There are plenty of honest companies out there, so why buy from dishonest ones? :doah:
 
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