built 4l60e or 4l80 swap?

Going to try and replace my stock trans sometime in 2012 in my yukon xl and debating on what to go with mainly cause of the weight of this pig. Ive got 103k on the clock now with full boltons except efans and a stall. Ill be tossing a cam in sometime in the spring if everything goes as planned. i dd my yukon most of the time we take it on trips drive on the beach do very little towing but ya never know it may change if i find a car trailer cheap but even then i wouldnt tow often and both my cars that i would ever tow are in the 3000-3500lb range. there is a possibility of a 6.0 swap in the future when the 5.3 pukes. So with most likely keeping it in the sub 400whp range but weighing 6000lbs would a 60 hold up over time with my beatings and very light towing? dont mind my sig pic lol i rarely if ever play from a dig with this tank anymore and dont try to spin tires. Im mainly planing ahead since i know my 60 is on borrowed time and dont wanna be without it when i need it.

4l80e, I would suggest one over a 60e anyday.

Do a well built 60e. I wouldn't do an 80e unless you plan on making alot of power ie fi nitrous. Build it with the right parts and you'll be good. Nothing lasts forever though especially making 4-500 HP but I would still choose the 60e.

If it was 2wd I prob go towards a 80e more since then I wouldn't have to deal with the transfer case. Just tryin to weigh my options.

Didn't realize you were 4wd. I just have never had good luck with a 60e.

80e swaps have gotten simple. A stock or mild 80 will hold a ton. You can rewire for less than $10 and build your own crossmember. They make an adapter for your t case. Little drive shaft adjustments. I'm like ls3cc iv had crap luck outa 60s. If you decide to do a 60 get a name brand company built one. Stay away from everyday stock rebuilders.

80e, even stock ones are better than a built 60 IMO, i ran a bone stock 80 in mine forever, and eventually ill convert this awd 65 to an 80e im sure, time will tell :lol:

The crossmember is no big deal but the t case is what I'm worried about. What are the ratios in a 80 vs. 60 in know the first gear in the 60e is like 3.06 or 3.05 and is is like .72 or something. What would be a good price on a stock 80e? Plus what years to look for ect? I've looked into the swap sticky but again I'm 4x4....

If you are under 400 rwhp I think a PROPER 60E build is fine, but A proper 60E build can easily run $1000 in just parts, then you need to find a builder to assemble it correctly with shift firmness moderated perfectly.

Keep in mid most 60e's brake during hard 1-2 shifts if you are going to run a 60e, keep the 1-2 shift tame, only go with the corvette servo, the billets hit hard and are only intended for high stalled/all out race applications.

Yeah I wouldn't want a crazy hard shift like how my th350 is setup in my trans am that thing barks 2nd just rolling down my street even with my 9.5in 3500 converter. Like said I don't do any heavy towing and not a hardcore racer I mean it's pretty much a land yacht lol. I do like to have fun with it though since no one expects to get walked by a school bus lol.

By the time you spend 1000 or more on a 60e you could go get a low mileage 80e for 850 with a warranty

Save yourself time headache and money get the 80e.

Do it once, and do it right. Do an 80e.

Any ideas where to get a good 80e from and a converter built for all I'm doing? The cam going in isn't to crazy.

You can get a stock unit from lots of builders in Texas for like 750 I would suggest calling around or asking Nelson. For the converter its a no brainier call circle d and see what they think or just stalk the classifieds on pt.net and Craigslist.

I've been lookin into the circle d converters and always Planed on one for the 4l60 from them. I'm on the east coast so I'd have to have one shipped to me regardless. Still gotta see what I need to make my tcase work or could I use one from a 2500?

any idea where i could find good 4l80e's withouth breaking the bank?

Craigslist, just don't know for sure what your getting or of it is worth a crap most of the time

I just ordered my trans parts from trutechtrans for my 4l60e $875.00, and I got all of the good parts.
Beast sun shell, 5 pinion planetary, wide drum, sonnex center support, extra clutches and steels, servos,
shift kit, and the master rebuild kit. Only thing missing is the converter.
Jeff was a lot of help, he said this should be good for 500/550 hp

Been there already with all the same parts atleast 5 times! With two different builders, after that I was thinking to myself, damn I wish I would have listened to the first person that told me to go with an 80e.

if i had a rcsb or ecsb with my mods and plans id prob stick with a 4l60 BUT my yukon is heavy real heavy and between that and i plan to tow with it still the 80 is looking to be the way i may go.

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Originally Posted by LS3CC

Been there already with all the same parts atleast 5 times! With two different builders, after that I was thinking to myself, damn I wish I would have listened to the first person that told me to go with an 80e.

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Do you know what happened or failed in your 60e builds?

i cant remember, its been almost 2 years now.

but i seem to drive everything as hard as i possibly can! :burnrub:

LOL, its been a while, I was just wondering if it was a common failure item with an availiable fix. Do you remember what happened? lost all gears? or just certain gears?

2 of the biggest failures I see and read about are broken outputs and cracked input drums, its expensive, but the 300m output is STRONG, and soften the 1-2 hit usually eliminates this issue, the sonnax sleeve kit prevents any input drum failures...and of coarse there are many other failures/fixes.

How much power and what times were you running?

i dont know about power but i was running a 5.3 in an 84 c10 truck and cutting 8.0 flat in the 1/8th
and running 7.3 on 100 shot