Tranny Question

tcracing425ex · October 18, 2009

i was towing some hay last weekend, and the truck did great on the back roads. but it seemed like when i got on the highway and hit around 60+ that the truck had a real hard time pulling. say going up a hill, or i need to pick up a little speed id get on the gas it would rev up, but nothing would happen. it just sit there reving didnt feel like it pulled any harder or anything.

do you guys thing i had to heavy of a load? it was a 16ft utility trailor and we had 130 bales of hay, so say 7500lbs tops being towed.

the trucks completely stock other than 265 75 16 tires.

Nytemare · October 18, 2009

were you using your tow haul button? Cause that's what its meant for....trying to pick up speed in 4th gear is really hard when your hauling 7500lbs

tcracing425ex · October 19, 2009

yea i tried both and it didnt really make any difference. i havent ever really been impressed with this trucks towing capability since i have gotten it two years ago. even going up hills without hauling anything it seemed like it was slipping more than anything.

i went for a test ride with a transmission mechanic and he said everything seems fine, shift points were good, smooth and everything seemed in line. i dont know if im putting the truck on a pedistool and built it up to much or if im just paranoid.

Nytemare · October 19, 2009

what does it have for gears?? The 31" tires you have on there don't help matters, by increasing the diameter you have reduced your effective gearing ratio.

Sounds like a tune might be in order...that will wake the truck up as a hauler. Or time for a Diesel.

A lower stall converter will help with towing...stock its 1800-2300rpm stall...you would do well with a 800-1000 rpm stall

tcracing425ex · October 20, 2009

what does it have for gears?? The 31" tires you have on there don't help matters, by increasing the diameter you have reduced your effective gearing ratio.

Sounds like a tune might be in order...that will wake the truck up as a hauler. Or time for a Diesel.

A lower stall converter will help with towing...stock its 1800-2300rpm stall...you would do well with a 800-1000 rpm stall

i have 3.73 gears. and i knew getting the taller tires would hurt it som, but i didnt expect it to be really bad.

as far as a tuner i really dont know what to go with. id like to get one that i could plug in and change it from towing to cruising, ect....

and i really hav no idea what your talking about with the stall converter.

si just got back from college so money is tight. but i did have some plans for it. my idea was to get a programer for it, installing a muffler of some sort, and then making turn downs right after it (cant afford a full exhaust) i dont know what kind of results that idea would have though. i would plan on turning it into a full dual back exhaust sometime but probably not for a while. i would love to get this thing pulling HARD.

and believe me i would kill for a diesel, but couldnt find one when i got the truck two years ago/i got a deal on this one. and as of right now i drive through the GM parking lot once a week looking for a new one that i cant afford HAHA.

gmtech4 · October 20, 2009

you said it ,rev up and nothing happened ,sry ,4l80e are junk and yours is 'ed.

check the oil ,its brown and smells badly ,

I've rebuilt a thousand of 'em

sry

Nytemare · October 20, 2009

you are going to lose low end power with an opened up exhaust. Stock is the best option for towing.

as for tuners...I would go the mail order route. you can have it tuned for a little more power, firmer shifts and better fuel economy for cruising, and have a separate tune for the tow/haul button to make it better for towing.

They will just ship you a whole new computer, you plug it in where the stock one comes out and bring it to the dealership and get a crank relearn done on it.

I have one from wait4meperformance.com

other guys that do this are companies like;

blackbear....Jennabear is a member on here;

westers and wheatley...to mention a few.

I paid 160 shipped to my door for my tune...so they're not expensive.

As for converter stall speeds... read; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque_converter

tcracing425ex · October 20, 2009

you said it ,rev up and nothing happened ,sry ,4l80e are junk and yours is 'ed.

check the oil ,its brown and smells badly ,

I've rebuilt a thousand of 'em

sry

is the 4l80e the tranny? sorry im a powersport mech and car names are new to me. if so i assume your talking about th tranny fluid? i recently change it, and had a flush done. before that it didnt smell bad and was still red. the truck shifts nicely and my local transmission guy said it seemed perfectly fine to him. but it does have 150K miles.

maybe ill scrap that exhaust idea then because i do not want to loose low end. what can i do to this truck to get more out of it and make it last me until i can afford a new diesel?

Nytemare · October 20, 2009

Et it tuned man. That's your best option. Tell them what you do with it and they will hook you up with a tune that's suited to your needs.

alwcurlz · October 22, 2009

i was towing some hay last weekend, and the truck did great on the back roads. but it seemed like when i got on the highway and hit around 60+ that the truck had a real hard time pulling. say going up a hill, or i need to pick up a little speed id get on the gas it would rev up, but nothing would happen. it just sit there reving didnt feel like it pulled any harder or anything.

do you guys thing i had to heavy of a load? it was a 16ft utility trailor and we had 130 bales of hay, so say 7500lbs tops being towed.

the trucks completely stock other than 265 75 16 tires.

How many miles are on the truck or transmission? What kind of motor is it? How fast were you driving on the back roads? 7,500lbs with that big non-aerodynamic hay sail is quite some work.

tcracing425ex · October 23, 2009

truck has the 6.0, with right arounf 150k on it.

96chevy7.4L · November 5, 2009

4L80E Transmissions aren't really junk they just HATE heat. All automatic transmissions hate heat at any rate. Get the biggest tranny cooler you can stuff in the grille and add a bigger pan and you won't have any probs. I have the 24,000 GVW cooler and the Derale Cooling Tube pan. That derale pan holds an extra 3 quarts and the cooling tubes help quite a bit. 168,000 miles and no prob. Put 50K on it last year alone all heavy towing miles with my gooseneck trailer and 10,000 pound T-300 bobcat. Make your transmission run as cool as you can it will love you and your wallet won't empty out. Get a transmission temp gauge if your truck isn't equipped with one. Anything over 190 is to hot for my liking. Mine will run 180 tops on hot days in the FL summer HEAT towing just as an example. If your in a cold climate. Don't worry about it. As long as the fluid sees 100 degrees Farenheidt everything is fine (according to TCI) Just my opinion and experience.

gave20 · November 5, 2009

Fixed

you are going to lose low end power with an opened up exhaust. Stock is the best option for towing.

as for tuners...I would go the mail order Black bear live tune route. you can have it tuned for a little more power, firmer shifts and better fuel economy for cruising, and have a separate tune for the tow/haul button to make it better for towing.

They will just ship you a whole new computer, you plug it in where the stock one comes out and bring it to the dealership and get a crank relearn done on it.

I have one from wait4meperformance.com <--I'm sorry to hear that.

other guys that do this are companies like;

blackbear....Jennabear is a member on here;

westers and wheatley...to mention a few.

I paid 160 shipped to my door for my tune...so they're not expensive.

As for converter stall speeds... read; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque_converter

Nytemare · November 5, 2009

Nice Andy.

I would love to do a live tune session...but I doubt Jenna and Justin are coming to BC any time soon. I am just gonna give my buddy a hundi or so bucks so he can buy some credits for HP tuners and tune my truck. He has a wide-band O2 and a data logger, and he's been playing with it on his turbo truck for a couple years now.

Thing is...the W4M computer woke my truck up like nothing else...and he only removed a small amount of TM, and its mail order. I can only imagine what would happen with a live session from BlackBear.