1500 Transmissions

[opsbear7]

Hey guys...I read everyday on here about someones problem with a K1500 Transmission. I have that truck and no problems yet. But i feel like i should be concerned about it.

 

How many trannies end up going bad...like 1outa5 or 1 of 10 .

 

I am just trying to get a perspective here

[98BLACKBURB]

I have a 98 K1500 Suburban, 149,500 miles and have an original 4L60E, put in a corvette servo and a B&M shiftkit about a month ago.....figured it would help it last longer.........no problems yet

[pm26]

As I posted elsewhere in this forum, my neighbor's 2004 1500K Z71 transmission fell apart at less than 36K miles. But he was towing a 10k lb trailer and not using the tow mode! Apparently overheated the transmission in overdrive and it went kaboom.

[OUMike]

94' 4L60-E all original. 196,000 miles. No problems.

[ken1mod]

94' 4L60-E all original.  196,000 miles.  No problems.

 

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Everything mechanical breaks but the 4l60e is an excellent transmission. Previous Ford had a terrible transmission.

 

Ken

[RyanZ71]

They won't take a ton of abuse, but if your good on the maintenance and not rough on the old gal she should get you to around 135k.. I wouldn't hold my breath for much past that with the 99+ models.

[DanMan_S]

If this is the case with the later model 4L60E's, what should we expect out of the 4L65E and 4L70E's?

[riverratt]

1996 C1500, 130K miles. Had fluid and filter changed at 60 and 120. Never abused, operates perfectly (knock on wood).

[bigdogxx]

If your truck is kept stock and you perform maintance on it as it calls for they should last a good amount of time.If you add any extra hp thats when you better throw some cash at the tranny or dont expect it to last very long!

[chris_kucia]

When mine went last week, I did a little research.

 

I believe on www.drivetrain.com they recommend replacing/upgrading the planetary gear case, which is what broke on mine, during any rebuild on a 60,000+ mile 4L60e.

 

From what I understand, GM upgraded this part themselves in 2002.

 

I gather that the stock part is fine if you don't do a lot of hauling or towing. I find that ironic - isn't hauling and/or towing one of the main reasons for owning a FS pickup truck vs a car?

[ProSport Tim]

I sure hope mine lasts a while....I've already complained to the dealer...My clunks and lazy shifts are considered...."NORMAL OPERATION"....I'd have to say though my recent experience at the dealer was very good.

[TonyMazz]

The 4L60E is a good tranny....expect a possible metal fatigue of the sun shell reaction assy around 120K or so....

 

Expensive to fix...(i.e. $1500)....and can be brought on by countless times of putting in reverse and not coming to a complete stop, then dropping in drive...that jerk, clunk over time will stress the sun gear housing.

 

Some also suffer from a jerky 1-2 shift....that often is a worn bore in the valve body...if it get's real bad, it can sometimes lead to replacing the valve body or drilling out and replacing the spring valve....

 

Keep it clean inside with routine maintenance, and should go 200K

[pm26]

I wish I had my 1967 Ford T bird C6 transmission in my truck. Now that is a heavy duty transmission for real!

[Norseman]

They won't take a ton of abuse, but if your good on the maintenance and not rough on the old gal she should get you to around 135k.. I wouldn't hold my breath for much past that with the 99+ models.

 

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99 NBS Z71 here. 150, 000 miles on original trannie. Its been solid.

[RyanZ71]

They won't take a ton of abuse, but if your good on the maintenance and not rough on the old gal she should get you to around 135k.. I wouldn't hold my breath for much past that with the 99+ models.

 

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99 NBS Z71 here. 150, 000 miles on original trannie. Its been solid.

 

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If I hang onto my truck that long and I make it to 150,000 on the original tranny, I'll buy everyone a pizza.