4l60 Question

[Mulaka]

Hi, Guys.

 

Listen, I have the 4l60 in my 2009 GMC and have seen all over this board of how bad this transmission is. Now I am nervous. My question is this: I drive very mild, I never tow, and I rarely haul anything...help friend move, buy something really large froem the store...that kind of thing. I also plan to change the transmission fluid and filter every 50,000 miles. Keeping all that in mind, can I assume the transmission should last a good while for me?

[Z'06]

Best things you can do to a stock tranny besides increasing the frequency of your service intervals are servos and transmission coolers.

 

At a very minimum, the Vette servo will firm up your 1-2 shift, and to a lesser extent your 2-3 shift, and will eliminate the harmful soccer mom shifts. This is true whether or not you tow. Even better would be a Sonnax billet servo in place of the Vette servo, as well as their 4th gear servo (i.e., your 3-4 shift). I run both of these servos, along with the Sonnax chrome moly servo pin that has better servo lubrication benefits.

 

As far as the tranny cooler, look into the best of the pack - the Tru-Cool 40K GVW cooler - either the p/n 4739 for colder climates or 47391 if you are in the Sun Belt. These are recommended whether or not you tow.

 

Nothing I've recommended in this post will come back to haunt you from a Magnuson-Moss warranty perspective.

[amtz.zero]

If you take care of it, It'll last you a long time. Just don't try to drag race anyone, and change the fluid and filter at the recommended intervals, and you'll be fine.

[Nytemare]

I have 110K km on my truck...65Kmiles...I beat the snot out of it on occasion...all I have done is a tune.

 

They're by no means a strong trans, but they are not just gonna fall apart.

 

Lots of people have gotten 250K miles out of them, and tow and haul with they're truck. Like was said...bigger cooler is the key to long life of you tow, and if you don't your stock cooler is more than sufficient. Just keep an eye on the temp and if it approaches 200 you need to get an aux cooler.

[jro909]

if you take care of it and don't curb stomp it, it will last man...the transmissions that fail are the ones neglected and beat on daily, the 60s got a bad rep because people expect it to be made of diamonds and able to be ran like a raped ape 24/7...

[Nytemare]

if you take care of it and don't curb stomp it, it will last man...the transmissions that fail are the ones neglected and beat on daily, the 60s got a bad rep because people expect it to be made of diamonds and able to be ran like a raped ape 24/7...

Hell I've done burnouts straight through a set of lights being a douche and not letting a VW cut in to my lane.

I do doughnuts in the snow whenever we get snow...which may be once or twice a year.

I haul garbage to the dump regularly, and engines to and from the shop...Its not a Ford man...Its a Chevy.

But its also not a HD truck, or a sports car...so I am not expecting my trans to put up with my shenanigans forever either...When it dies...it will get a 4L80E or a NVG4500, depends if I decide to go manual or stay auto.

[brims]

Ya, don't worry about it, Toyota had no hand in building the thing. GM has been using this trans for a long time and they are fine for mild use. I know when mine goes out I'm building or buying a rebuild from Monster or some reputable shop that will upgrade it. I'm not screwing with the wiring for a 6L80E or the clutch and everything for a manual.

[Nytemare]

Ya, don't worry about it, Toyota had no hand in building the thing. GM has been using this trans for a long time and they are fine for mild use. I know when mine goes out I'm building or buying a rebuild from Monster or some reputable shop that will upgrade it. I'm not screwing with the wiring for a 6L80E or the clutch and everything for a manual.

6L80E would be a little out there...haven't looked into wiring and such... The 4L80E however is a matter of changing position of two pins in the main harness, and running a rear VSS to the PCM.

Than there is the trans mount that has to be modded or a new one bought, and shortening of the drive shaft. Other than that it's pretty straight forward.