4L80E Info?

Discussion in 'The "Juice Box"' started by rmstg2, Nov 29, 2008.

  1. rmstg2

    rmstg2 Gold Level Contributor

    I haven't talked to him lately about transmissions. It didn't make sense to me
    that a 4L80E wouldn't be much stronger than a 200-4R. Thats why I posted my question here. I'm convinced the 4L80E is quite a bit stronger. When this 200 pukes it will be replaced by a 400 with Gearvendor or 4L80E. To me the down side to the Gearvendor is the lack of a lock up converter.
    Thanks again for the replies.
    Bob H.
     
  2. rmstg2

    rmstg2 Gold Level Contributor

    Room is not a problem under my 53. As far as a 4L60E I would have the 200-4R in my 53 built up before going to the trouble of changing to a 4L60E.
    Thanks for info. It makes the 4L80 very tempting.
    Bob H.
     
  3. 1BadWagon

    1BadWagon i got too many parts.....

  4. SS-TRUCK

    SS-TRUCK Stage 1 X

    My one ton dually came with a 4L80E and it has held up fine . Some of the earlier ones had a problem which has since been corrected . I realize this is a different situation from a high horse car but still in a one ton truck it has a good amount of load put on it .
     
  5. rmstg2

    rmstg2 Gold Level Contributor

    I would have to differ with you on the reliability of a gear vender. I have a few friends who have owned them and abused them with no problems. One in particular was a Dodge diesel that was highly modified and real nasty. It never phased that Gearvendor. I believe there is someone on the board here that has also had good luck with a Gearvendor in his Buick
    Bob H.
     
  6. nekkidhillbilly

    nekkidhillbilly jeffreyrigged youtube channel owner

    yeah the 4l60e is most cases is weaker than the 200 4r
     
  7. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member


    The GV is supposed to be good for 1200 HP, and can be modified to take 2000. I always get a kick out of the paragraph in the owner's manual encouraging the owner to experiment with the GV. They flat out tell you there is nothing you can do to hurt it:laugh: I don't know if I necessarily believe that, but I think it's plenty strong for my combo.
     
    ranger likes this.
  8. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Chris,
    Did I strike a nerve here? Me upset at a differing opinion? Never happen, and I didn't mean to upset you:Dou: My GV unit has worked flawlessly for close to 3 years. The reason I didn't go with an overdrive transmission is because I wanted to keep the switch pitch. It cost me about 3000.00 when all was said and done, about the same to have a 200R4 done right, and a converter. The only thing I noticed about the GV is that sometimes the control unit will not initialize if I start the engine too fast. I need to turn the key to the on position, wait a second, and then crank to start. If I don't do this, sometimes, the unit will not work. I have to shut the engine off and do as above. That is it. Other than that, no problems. I've changed the fluid twice now. Sorry to hear you had so many problems with your GV. I don't know of anyone else with experience with the GV unit. I read good things about it in auto magazines before I pulled the trigger. So far, so good:Do No:
     
  9. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    No problem Chris:grin: I never get my "back up" about anything. I'm sure some have had problems with the GV, I think that has to be true of any product. Merry Christmas:TU:
     
  10. rmstg2

    rmstg2 Gold Level Contributor

    Larry How much street driving do you do with your Buick and the Gearvendor? And what kind of fuel mileage do you get?
    I like the strength of the old 400 Turbos and I have no doubts about the
    Gearvendors reliability. But I hate to lose the lockup because of fuel milage.
    I'm getting a strong 15 with my 53 and I know that part of that is due to the lockup feature. I also don't believe that because of the shear mass of the 4L80E I can duplicate the mileage I'm getting with the 200-4R. Either way I'm going to lose mileage I guess.:Do No: Have a Merry Christmas.
    Bob H.
     
  11. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    Bob,
    Almost all my driving is street driving. I have had the car down the 1/4 mile at 4 different events for a total of about 20 passes. I have driven to Cecil County Dragway 2 years in a row, raced there than driven home. It's about 300 miles roundtrip. My mileage depends on the type of gas I use. Driving down to Maryland this year, I used the 10% ethanol gasoline because that is all that is available in NY and NJ. I got almost 15 MPG. On the way home, I filled up with gas just outside the hotel. It didn't have any ethanol, and I got 17 MPG on the way home. This is with my jetted Q-jet or the AED 1000HO Holley type carb. Remarkably, they seem to get about the same mileage. I was thinking of building a stock Q-jet with stock jetting. I think my mileage can go higher doing so. This is with my SP converter from Tri Shield. It's a 12" with a low stall of 1800. It doesn't slip much at all at cruising speed on flat roads. The GV is only .78, so it doesn't take much for a higher stall converter to pull as long as it is reasonably efficient. Above mileage is at 65 MPH (about 2350 RPM)
     
  12. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member


    I remember those Vegas. Back in my teenage years, I used to pump gasoline at a local station. Every time one of those Vegas came in, I'd ask the owner if he wanted me to fill the oil, and check the gas:laugh: Those cars burned more oil than gas.
     
  13. rmstg2

    rmstg2 Gold Level Contributor

    Thanks for the reply Larry. Sounds like a nice setup. My combo turns about 1950 @65mph. I have 3.55 gears not sure how tall my tires are they are
    295/50- 15s. I'm running one of Norm D.s Q-Jets. I manged to get 16 MPG one time but I didn't go over 62 MPH.
    Bob H.
     
  14. alan

    alan High-tech Dinosaur

    Move the firewall back, and stuff it in there!

    I hope I have better luck with the GV unit I bought this spring! I'm not planning to use the control unit, just a switch on the dash.
     

    Attached Files:

  15. Jim Weise

    Jim Weise EFI/DIS 482

    Chris,

    So what kind of tunnel mods are required in a GS for the 4L80E?

    I'm curious, I have one to do here this winter, as well as a couple other guys asking about it.

    Just looking at pics of the trans, vs a 400, it looks like there could be some issues with the seat brace, and maybe the floor pan.

    Also.. if you can, fill us in on the ins and outs on various years, control units, shifters, speedo drives for our cable speedo's ect.

    And what kind of core selection is out there now?.. I have seen going rates for rebuilt units in the 3K+ range, without electronics.

    Just finishing the outline for a 1400 HP Street car here for a customer, and have so far considered all the costs for a GV/TH400, but I don't have enough info to nail down the pricing yet for the 4L80E, and if it can withstand that kind of power. I would assume it would need all the 400 clutch and sprag upgrades, but also have seen there could be some issue with shafts.

    Thx

    JW
     
  16. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    I had Rob Chilenski install my GV in July of 2006. So far, 2 years 5 months, and almost 9,000 miles. No troubles yet Chris. don't put the whammy on me now:pray: :laugh:

    The new avatar is from this past October at Cecil County Dragway. Ran a 12.21 at 110 flat with 2" taller tires.
     
  17. SS-TRUCK

    SS-TRUCK Stage 1 X

    Jim I talked to Gear Star about a 4L80 for my blown Hemi Willys and they can build one to hold those horses . They supply the converter and cooler . The unit I was looking at was a manual valve body to eliminate the electronics for shifting . The speedometer was not a problem they have an adapter for it . Expensive but they gave a two year warranty .
     
  18. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

    OK Chris, I give up.
     
  19. Jim Weise

    Jim Weise EFI/DIS 482

    Chris,

    I was just curious if you had done a conversion, and know the "real cost"..

    So I went thru, for this car I am doing, and ran a comparision. Both are based on published list price

    TH400, My Level 4 unit. All the goodies, Lifetime warantee against hard parts breakage.- $2495.00 Full auto shifting, upgraded everything, from the HD case to the tailshaft.. I consider these unbreakable in a 4000lbs car. And I put my money where my mouth is, with the warrantee.

    GV overdrive - Complete kit- nothing more to buy.. 2595.00

    One of my Level 3 converters- again, bulletproof-- $925.00

    So, we have a total package price of $6015.00


    Everything else related to the trans from the dipstick location to the neutral saftey switch, shift indicator and shifter work as factory-- no fussing around. And no extra cost if you have to job this out to somebody and pay for their time.


    4L80E

    "Bionic 80" with all the upgrades to put it on par with a bulletproof TH 400- including all the required parts for installation and automatic shifting- $6231.00

    Their 10/12 inch converter- $1065

    Unknowns are how to make it work with a stock shifter, and cost to make a special plate for the console (if you going to do it right..)

    Minimum cost for Bulletproof 4L80E with converter, with less than a liftime warrantee- $7296.00

    Complex installation, by the time you find a place to mount the cable X to run your speedo, the control unit, figure out all the shifter implications ect.

    No question that your talking about easily an extra $500-1K for all the extra work required, to do the job right, over the cost of installing a GV unit.

    Only advantage is that you have a lockup converter.
    Disadvantage is that you have only a 3 spd OD trans


    The GV unit is a gear splitter, and I know several guys who would strongly disagree with you, at the race track. They either run glides and split 1st and 2nd or they run 3 speeds and split 2nd and 3rd.

    So techinally, with a 3 speed trans, you can have a 5 speed by splitting both 2nd and 3rd.

    I really don't have a bias either way, nothing against either setup, but I think the reality is that after all the fooling around, the real costs of doing a bulletproof setup are higher than you think with the newer OD version of the TH 400.

    If you back off on the requirements to handle a high HP motor, then the costs might be closer, but alot of the recomendations are for "more than 500 HP".. so I question how many upgrades you can skip, and have a reliable package.

    So I think actual cost is really the reason folks are staying away from the new OD trans..

    I personally think Larry made the right choice, for his needs, and wouldn't stay up late at night worrying if I was him. I did a GV in a GS convert in 2004, and he has drive 30K on it, with absolutely no problems.



    As far as the project car... This guy is the real deal, and has the 100K budget to make this happen..

    Full frame off- with SFI 25-1D chassis
    Pro Charged 540 CI BBB with TA Alum block
    Upgrade suspension, brakes, you name it.. a real street car, that can be driven 500 miles to the track, raced, and then driven home..


    JW
     
  20. SS-TRUCK

    SS-TRUCK Stage 1 X

    PM sent .
     

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