No more 8spd transmissions?

K2xxSteve · February 13, 2019

Wise choice. The 5.3L/6L80 is a perfectly good combination, especially with the 3.42 gearing. It "granny shifts and doesn't double-clutch like it should", especially on the 2-3 upshifts, so it's not going to light your hair on fire or anything, but it's about as bulletproof as you can get these days and doesn't have any of the 8-speed issues.

I'm guessing you're also a 335i driver by your username? From all I've read, the GM 8-speed is nothing compared to the slick ZF 6 and 8-speed boxes in the Bimmers. At first I was a little bummed that you coudln't get at least the 8-speed in the these things with the 5.3L, but geez, seeing all of the issues I'm happy with the 6-speed. I'm good with the 5.3L/6L80/3.42 combo.

Check out my blog thread ("How the Hell Do You Go From Driving a BMW 335i to a 2018 Chevy Suburban" LOL):

flyingfool · February 14, 2019

I have a ZF9 speed in my ram van, and it's a total POS.. stay away from all foreign transmission, ( FCV or German stuff from BMW , land rover, Ford, mazda and Daimler ), with more that 6 gears, it's all going down hill. they want to make driving miserable so we buy the next generation electric garbage cars they will be foisting on us!

swathdiver · February 14, 2019

23 hours ago, FL335i said:

I actually really like my 6spd. My only complaint is in heavy city traffic trying to drive and keep up with some of the buzz boxes, it can feel like the transmission is on drugs the shifts take so long.

The best part of my BlackBear tune was what he did to the transmission. Made the truck drive completely different and much more responsive and I was pleased with it beforehand. Didn't know what I was missing!

FL335i · February 14, 2019

Good point!! Maybe it's time I finally look at a black bear tune. Looking for more drive-ability improvements vs power gains. And I like my cheap 87 gas E85 wakes up the truck too!

K2xxSteve · February 14, 2019

3 hours ago, flyingfool said:

I have a ZF9 speed in my ram van, and it's a total POS.. stay away from all foreign transmission, ( FCV or German stuff from BMW , land rover, Ford, mazda and Daimler ), with more that 6 gears, it's all going down hill. they want to make driving miserable so we buy the next generation electric garbage cars they will be foisting on us!

The ZF9HP for FWD/transverse applications is widely known to be a clunker, which is bizarre because their ZH6HP and 8HP transmissions for longitudinal/RWD applications are widely considered world standards. The current 8HP/RWD in BMWs and many other vehicles continues to be a gem, and incredibly reliable. It's truly rare to ever hear of one failing.

That said, I agree with you. Automatics transmissions with more than 6 gears tend to be hit or miss.

Mandalorian · February 14, 2019

13 hours ago, S P said:

. The current 8HP/RWD in BMWs and many other vehicles continues to be a gem, and incredibly reliable. It's truly rare to ever hear of one failing.

We have a Q7 with this transmission in the family stable. It's fantastic and is in quite a few vehicles these days, everything from Chrysler 300s to Rolls-Royces. Never heard of them having any issues.

As for the GM transmissions:

The 10-speed gets rave reviews, it felt good with the 6.2 in the Denali XL I test drove. However, it does not have a transmission dipstick and I believe uses 'lifetime' fluid. It was also primarily designed by Ford (RWD applications, GM took the lead on FWD) which makes me a little skeptical. Ford doesn't have the best history with transmissions, even in this day and age. Just look at the Focus, ALL of the automatics in them fail.

The 6-speed is pretty proven and reliable. There's so many of them out there that inevitably a few have been duds, but overall they're pretty robust. They put them into the Express/Savanna and if anything says "Old but proven" it's those.

Edited February 14, 2019 by Mandalorian

K2xxSteve · February 14, 2019

1 hour ago, Mandalorian said:

The 10-speed gets rave reviews, it felt good with the 6.2 in the Denali XL I test drove. However, it does not have a transmission dipstick and I believe uses 'lifetime' fluid. It was also primarily designed by Ford (RWD applications, GM took the lead on FWD) which makes me a little skeptical. Ford doesn't have the best history with transmissions, even in this day and age. Just look at the Focus, ALL of the automatics in them fail.

Umm, yeah... that.

Drove the 10R80 in the Ford Expedition Max I rented, and wasn't too impressed. I don't understand the point if it doesn't have a wider spread of ratios than other 6-9 speed transmissions and actually skip-shifts most of the time. Once in awhile it would shift sequentially and rapidly, and jerk you in your seat a bit each time while doing it. It was annoying, but it didn't do anything stupid like the GM 8-speeds are known for doing.

I'm much more comfortable with a 'fully baked' and born and bred in house and proven GM Hydramatic. Might have to look into this Black Bear tune though.

FL335i · February 17, 2019

So the new 10 spd has no dipstick? Well then they don't get my money. That simple.

I drove my wife's '15 Enclave this morning with 56k on it and it's in mint condition, Love the seats and suspension, but the thing needs quite a bit of PM to keep it mint. We live in a new part of town and for the past 4yrs the main roadway she uses was utter Shizi. Manhole rings sticking up. Road plates all over. I don't know how the county didn't shut them down, and I'm a contractor... Massive road project and the road just beats the living crap out of your suspension. I even contribute that road work to my truck's early ball joint failure and my 335i's rear shock failure.

Enclave needs:

1-Needs set of 19" Tires.

2-I noticed the brake pedal was pretty low. Probably needs a brake job or the master cylinder is going out. Brakes feel great, but the pedal feels low.

3-I know the power steering fluid has never been flushed out yet. Easy enough job, I've done this hundreds of times on various cars.

4-It pulls to the right even after an alignment the dealer did. I need to torque all the suspension control arms and check TRE's/Ball joints.

5-Front control arm bushings appears to need replacing in about one more year. (appears to be a short lived part for this platform).

6-Pretty good door ding that needs painted.

7-RR bumper corner needs painted. Again, a construction vehicle's trailer tires with no fenders rubbed it as they cut around her near our house. (Did I mentions we live in a new part of town?)

OR trade it in on something new. The Yukon/Tahoe's do not appear to have the factory discounts the K2XX trucks have at the moment or it would make this decision easier. If either my wife or I liked the new Enclave as much as we like the one we have, we' just go get another Enclave in March during their march madness event like when I bought our '15. The new enclave ruined it for us and a lot of other mid-30's couples with kids in our area. We're friends with a couple that hunted down a new left over when the new ones came out. Now the enclave looks like a wanna-be Acura MDX, but for the folks that live in the burbs. Interior has zero logical layout or use. Anyway.... back at the farm.

Edited February 18, 2019 by FL335i

hcvone · February 21, 2019

1 hour ago, sealandsky said:

I pick up my Callaway Yukon tomorrow. Have you had a chance to experiment with different launch techniques on yours?

Not really, smokes the tires in 2 wheel drive, just too much salt and cold, 4 wheel drive pulls good, and it was great in the snow with Blizzak's on all 4 wheels. Only drove it for 5 days, since then it's been paint corrected, clear wrapped and is getting ceramic coated tomorrow. I am sure you will be pleased with the performance, it doesn't run like my ZR1, or my wife's trackhawk, but it's pretty quick.

hcvone · February 21, 2019

2 minutes ago, sealandsky said:

Ha! clearly a brother in acceleration! I'm also getting clear wrap and doing the ceramic this Saturday before I can pick up a rock chip. I had heard of launching in 4WD, then immediately flipping over to 2WD to reduce the drive-train drag but I'm concerned about the stress on the transfer case clutch.

I just came from 12 Escalade's from 2003-2012, I had three 2012 platinum Escalade's, one at each home, when I went to trade the last one the new Escalade platinum was well over 100k, I could get a loaded Tahoe with my chevy connection for just over 70k, so I took the difference and gave it to Callaway, and while the Escalade is nicer inside for sure, to me it wasn't 19k nicer, and I really hate the long taillights too. There was a note somewhere not to shift from 2 to 4 wheels drive, or back again over 5 mph, and they really want you to stop before shifting, not that I am one for always following directions. ;)

K2xxSteve · February 21, 2019

6 minutes ago, hcvone said:

There was a note somewhere not to shift from 2 to 4 wheels drive, or back again over 5 mph, and they really want you to stop before shifting, not that I am one for always following directions. ;)

That's just for shifting in and out of 4LO, and you have to be in Neutral and preferably rolling 1-2 mph to do it, and it's for off-pavement only.

AUTO for launch and then to 2HI you can do on the fly, along with going to and from 4HI, but 4HI is also off-pavement only.

20Denali22 · June 6, 2019

I just bought a 19 Tahoe & double checked to make sure the it didn't have the 8 speed... My dads 19 Silverado with it is terrible

FL335i · June 15, 2019

10-4 on that. We bought the '19 Z71 Tahoe back in Feb/March. So far LOVE IT. 6spd, 5.3, 3.42 gears, Z71 pkg and best of all, bench 2nd row so we can keep the UN-usable, elf only 3rd row down. only complaint I have is the 3rd row should not be in that truck. I saw the 2020 was going IRS and said nope. pull the trigger on the last year of the platform. Less issues, proven and not IRS.

Edited June 15, 2019 by FL335i