How hard is it to install a shift kit in an 05' 4l65E?

[badseed91]

I have been doing a little bit of research on shift kits lately and a shift kit and gears are going to be my next mods. I am finding it difficult to find anymore advice than "just get an HD2 kit and a vette servo." I have heard about people in the past messing up and either getting shifts that are so hard it feels like the tranny just tore your truck in half or shifts that arent solid enough. Right now i have an 02' trailblazer stall in my truck and in the future all i will probably do is a l92 head and intake swap and call it done. I do want my torque converter to feel like it actaully locks in instead of slushing into lock up. Im afraid that i will get one of those extremely hard shifting trannys or something that is too soft of a shift. I was going to go with an HD2 kit and sonnax 2nd and 4th servos. thats all i know to get. Any tips or things to watch out for? Is there anything else i should get? All suggestions are welcome.

[foggy]

Get with HitmanX, He has written a bunch on these trannys. Good luck

[badseed91]

Ill search some more to see what comes up. FLT told me that they are waiting on some kint of part for the 05' tranny and i was mainly looking for suggestions

[chrisj6]

Well the more firmness and quickness of shift that can be taken care of by hardware the better. You can always tune it to your tastes after the install through the software. As for the converter, that can be taken care of in the programming. Raise the TCC maximum to 98 across the board and the minimum to 90, thatll take care of all sluggishness and lockup problems. You will feel when it locks and unlocks and it wont slip nearly as much.

[badseed91]

I just wanted it to feel like a Turd powerchoke does when it locks up. I doubt many people have driven a new powerchoke on here but its like the torque converter splits the gears and locks up before every shift and then it shifts and unlocks, then relocks and shifts again. As far as the shifts are converned i was gonna have it retuned when i get new gears and the shift kit installed where when i put it into tow haul it will be more like tow/haul ass mode, and then without tow haul ass on it will be streeable shifts. I wonder if i can get anything changed on the tune when i turn off the trac control.

[metalchips]

Hello badseed91,
I see you have a stall in, that will help on a transgo install. But this is what I have for you.I just put in a Transgo 4L60E HD2-C kit and 3 aluminum accumulator pistons, [ 2 where originally plastic ] ,2 & 4 Sonnax super hold servo and a new plate.
For the nuts and bolts of it, I had to drop the exhaust pipes at the manifold [ put anti-siege grease on studs, you might be taken them off again soon!]. Put the shifter out of park to get the clip off and the linkage out of the bracket . I had to pry that bracket over to get the pan off. [it is a 4WD, 2wd might be easier]. To put in the 2&4 servo's, I had to move the trany over, not wanting to drop the cross member---I took the two bolts out of the rear mount [ they where lock tighted ] and then slid the trany over.
I got the stuff from Finish Line Transmissions, they pre-drilled the new plate and made notes on the instructions. I used 1 spacer on the 2nd accumulator. It was too harsh in 2nd, would chirp the tires with light throttle, felt like being rear ended every 1-2 shift. Tow haul was harsh allso. So I called up Finish line and they were helpful. So I put the stock springs back in 2nd ac. made it better, but Tow haul still was harsh. [this was on my stock PCM ] Got my new tune in, I had told Allen that the trany was OK, but I was confused. So I called Vince [first name bases now ] at Finish line.
Took the valve body out again,
#1 peened the 1-2nd shift hole from .082" back to stock .073".
#2 put the stock spring in the 2nd accum. Bushing & valve.
#3 Turned the adjustment screw 1/8 turn counter clockwise on the pressure control solenoid to reduce the line preasure.

Now it is just about right, maybe raise the 1-2 shift Rpm on the next retune. Tow Haul shifts smooth.

Vince said that they dyno their tranys to adjust that solenoid, or he said to check it will a gauge. I think that is what I will do next, just to see where it is at. Better than quessing.

[badseed91]

I dont mind having to move the trans crossmember or even pull the whole tranny as it only takes like 30 minutes. Im thinking of a 3000 stall anyway. I will probably have to spend several hours on the phone with FLT as you did. I really have never done a shift kit and i wish i could find a shift kit install in a magazine artical or something just so i could see the pics, im a visual learner. What are the accumulater pistons for? why the hell are they plastic?

I dont mind having to move the trans crossmember or even pull the whole tranny as it only takes like 30 minutes. Im thinking of a 3000 stall anyway. I will probably have to spend several hours on the phone with FLT as you did. I really have never done a shift kit and i wish i could find a shift kit install in a magazine artical or something just so i could see the pics, im a visual learner. What are the accumulater pistons for? why the hell are they plastic? I was actually thinking of having the town haul mode retuned to be more of a town haul ass mode and the regular mode to be street mode since i dont town anything really heavy

[Hit Man X]

If you get stuck, call me. I've helped a few people over the phone before.

Don't plan to have it finish in a few hours on your back in the garage. Budget it a solid 6 hours.

[badseed91]

I really hate to bother people with my problems, but if i get into a big bind i will break down and call. Im more worried about getting the tranny set up to shift right and then getting a retune from allen to de tune it if it shifts too hard. I really want to make my torque converter kick in a lot harder though cause it feels like it slushes into lockup. I really want to go ahead and get a 3000 stall but i dont know who makes a good one for a decent price. All i want is a harder converter lock up, second gear chirp when at wot and a nice solid thrid gear at WOT. Then i can get allen to detune the line pressure for the street. Ill get it lined out one of these days i just dont know what all im gonna need or what to expect to spend either

[Hit Man X]

Choosing a stall will be dependant on your needs from the truck. Do you tow? Want to cut a killer 60' time? Etc

Aftermarket stalls lock up quite a bit firmer than stock. Remember these vehicles are built for people of all shades of life... a soccer mom probably won't want a stout TCC lock up...

If you change the lock up valve in the VB to an ON/OFF only (eliminate that PWM shit), it will shift quite a bit firmer and with more authority.

Don't have the line pressure toned down for street, keep it the same for all. Should be quick and tight at all levels but not harsh. The big trick to keeping the 1-2 down is the Sonnax accumulator valve train part (with the softest spring) so you can use a larger apply servo to prevent band slippage. The rest of the shifts are easy to setup. 3-4 needs to be fairly large, .110-.125, it's a weak shift anyway. 2-3 .110 seems to work well for the street, .125 may be okay too. 1-2 don't drill the feed hole at all.

Mind you these are on stock clutches/stock band.