Jump to content

Transmission Modifications.. Shift Kit And Valve Body?

stlavsa

Recommended Posts

stlavsa Senior Enthusiast

stlavsa

Posted
Posted

I am having my lift and wheels tires on by next week, and I am interested in preserving the transmission.

 

My fab/performance guy is recommending that I go with a modified shift kit and prebuilt valve-body setup for my transmission in order to preserve the thing.

 

Anyone else doing this??? Hes not a chevy guy and couldn't lead me towards anybody who can get me good tranny parts..

 

 

What are you guys doing to save your auto transmissions with big lifts and wheels? Im running a 5.3L '08 extended cab 4wd.

Rave Enthusiast

Rave

Posted
Posted

Gearing becomes very important in keeping transmission performance in line. The trans mods will be beneficial, however, gearing will help a lot also.

stlavsa Senior Enthusiast

stlavsa

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Gearing becomes very important in keeping transmission performance in line. The trans mods will be beneficial, however, gearing will help a lot also.

 

 

sure.. I realize that, and I was fully intending to do the gearing on the truck. Probably 5.56 or 5.88's. Thats going to cost a couple grand $.

 

He was saying to start off with the tranny mods because we can probably get it in there asap for alot less money.. Then I can worry about the gearing in a couple months.. (i wont be driving it very much, just weekends)

BuckFeverZ Senior Enthusiast

BuckFeverZ

Posted
Posted
Gearing becomes very important in keeping transmission performance in line. The trans mods will be beneficial, however, gearing will help a lot also.

 

 

sure.. I realize that, and I was fully intending to do the gearing on the truck. Probably 5.56 or 5.88's. Thats going to cost a couple grand $.

 

He was saying to start off with the tranny mods because we can probably get it in there asap for alot less money.. Then I can worry about the gearing in a couple months.. (i wont be driving it very much, just weekends)

 

 

I hope you meant 4.56 or 4.88's :crackup:

stlavsa Senior Enthusiast

stlavsa

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Gearing becomes very important in keeping transmission performance in line. The trans mods will be beneficial, however, gearing will help a lot also.

 

 

sure.. I realize that, and I was fully intending to do the gearing on the truck. Probably 5.56 or 5.88's. Thats going to cost a couple grand $.

 

He was saying to start off with the tranny mods because we can probably get it in there asap for alot less money.. Then I can worry about the gearing in a couple months.. (i wont be driving it very much, just weekends)

 

 

I hope you meant 4.56 or 4.88's :crackup:

 

 

hah yeah i did, the truck has 3.73s now, so if I go with 4.56's it should return it to stock gearing?

Matt_ Senior Enthusiast

Matt_

Posted
Posted
hah yeah i did, the truck has 3.73s now, so if I go with 4.56's it should return it to stock gearing?

 

stock gearing with 50+ pounds of weight strapped to each tire... i personally recommend 4.88s for 35s. Thats the combo i had on my daily driven (highway) commuter and it was great. There's only about 150 rpm difference on the highway at cruising speed between the two gear sets, but the 4.88s have that little extra mechanical advantage to help compensate for all of that weight you added with the tires.

 

with that said... toss on a deep trans pan like mag hitech, an external trans cooler if you dont already have one, and get a trans temp guage so you can monitor it and stop if the temps starts shooting up.

Rave Enthusiast

Rave

Posted
Posted
Gearing becomes very important in keeping transmission performance in line. The trans mods will be beneficial, however, gearing will help a lot also.

 

 

sure.. I realize that, and I was fully intending to do the gearing on the truck. Probably 5.56 or 5.88's. Thats going to cost a couple grand $.

 

He was saying to start off with the tranny mods because we can probably get it in there asap for alot less money.. Then I can worry about the gearing in a couple months.. (i wont be driving it very much, just weekends)

 

 

Yup, I see your reasoning.

66nova Senior Enthusiast

66nova

Posted
Posted

By no means the full answer here. I agree gears and tranny mods should be done, but what about a custom tune. Line pressure, shift firmness/quickness and shift points can all be dialed in. Plus you can adjust for tire size.

stlavsa Senior Enthusiast

stlavsa

Posted
  • Author
Posted
By no means the full answer here. I agree gears and tranny mods should be done, but what about a custom tune. Line pressure, shift firmness/quickness and shift points can all be dialed in. Plus you can adjust for tire size.

 

 

Thats another thing I was wondering... My guy was recommending the internal transmission modifications, but I was considering just doing some ECU modifications in order to tighten up the shift points and pressure instead? I would rather leave the transmission on the truck instead of tearing it out and taking it apart with 12,000 miles on the truck. A custom tune would also probably be cheaper..and thus freeing up more money to be put towards the gearing swap.

 

I wont attempt to lie about it I have a vague understanding of automatic transmissions.. Until I bought this truck, I always drove cars and they were always manual transmissions.. So i never had to learn about em.

 

How hard are the 35's going to be on the transmission?? Should I not drive it without gears?! The truck wont be my daily driver, just seeing light duty and occasional driving.

 

 

Skier18: I understand what your saying regarding the gearing, and really wont even be doing much highway driving. I was trying to decide with which gears to go with, 4.88's it is because then when I decide to lift the truck more I can be OK for 37's... Also the truck does have a built in tranny temp w. dashboard readout. I dont know if it has a tranny cooler stock, It has the tow package I dont know whats in that.. Ill go look n see if it has a cooler.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • mysery1
      What have you done to your K2 today?

      By mysery1 · Posted

      I have a 2018 Silverado Custom with 156k on the odometer. In the last month I've replaced the plugs, wires and the driver side engine mount. My wife just returned from a trip of about 1500 miles and told me the brakes are making a grinding noise when applied. I drove it and looked it over and this is what I found with the driver's side rear rotor.   I'm going to order new pads and check about having the rotor resurfaced. Hopefully this is easier than the last 2 jobs.   Peace  
    • FiLo
      5.3 / 6.2 valve covers / oil burning

      By FiLo · Posted

      Any update if the new valve cover help with the oil consumption?  I have a 2014 GMC sierra and my truck is consuming a lot of oil so I’m wondering if replacing the driver side valve cover will stop some of the oil consumption. Thanks 
    • Deadwood
      primary drive belt tensioner

      By Deadwood · Posted

      I bought belts and pulleys for my '20 L5P at Rock Auto a couple years ago. I have used them for many years, and almost always save significant money, especially when I buy maintenance stuff ahead of time.   They carry many OEM parts, which is all I use unless an aftermarket is shown to be same/superior, or if it is an insignificant part or unavailable OEM part anywhere else. RA is usually lower priced, often by a bunch, but parts are sometimes unavailable or out of stock, and I do shop around and sometimes find better prices at other sites.   Be aware that you pay shipping, and if you buy multiple items and they are coming from different warehouses, the shipping can kill the advantage. Planning ahead is best if possible.   If you have a transmission service in the near future, check out their OEM (AC Delco ULV) fluid, usually MUCH less than anywhere else.
    • Deadwood
      10L1000 anyone with High Mileage ? I hate Damocles....

      By Deadwood · Posted

      New member here, very long time occasional guest. Saw this thread, thought it would be a good time to contribute someting. It is only my experience and not a claim that everyone will have the same.   I bought my '20 3500 L5P new and have put 99.9% (literally) of it's current ~400k miles on it myself, with over 50% of that towing loads between 4k to 15k, and to me this truck has been nothing short of amazing. For the first 235k I had zero issues, and from there until 321k I replaced a NOx sensor, two failing glow plugs, and three of the notorious injector connectors. I believe this truck is in part, a testament to good luck, but also good care and following a decent maintenance schedule (I also keep meticulous records.) As a result, it looks as good as a well cared for 70k rig, up and down, inside and out.   At some point before that 321k mile mark I began to get a little spooked about the 10L1000, especially the valve body. Word of mouth about potential issues prompted me to jump on the net to sift through all the noise and determine what all the fuss was about. I routinely take long trips, coast-to-coast and points in between, so roadside breakdowns can be '...a thousand miles from nowhere' and a bit of a challenge, and though I had no issues, my guard was up and activated.   And then I stumbled across a chance to salvage some parts off a new 2025 that had been wrecked in transport. I grabbed a few wear items (alternator, pulleys, etc.) and on a whim asked what the ten speeder would cost me. It was cheap...really cheap. I knew some changes had been made in the '24+ version 10L and were supposedly not compatible, but I called service/parts at my local Chevy dealer and asked why and they didn't know. A call to a well known aftermarket transmission outfit revealed it was very likely it would be fine, but to them not 100% sure.   Because it was cheap (really cheap) and I was spooked, I took the chance. Had it installed by a local shop and it worked like a champ, shifted just like the original. At it's first service at 37k, I had the shop put in a Next Gen valve body kit, which after some initial hiccups and rough shifts, smoothed out though with somewhat firmer shifting.   All that said, I have a very serious concern about my newer transmission as just two weeks ago it suddenly began to exhibit a strong reluctance to engage forward or reverse. It was a bit past due anyway so I took it in for service. The reason it was sticking was due to 'glitter' in the fluid clogging the filter...not good folks, often indicates a converter giving out. We ended up going ahead with the new filter and fluid, first to see if it would move and shift, and then if so buy me a little time. It did, and I've driven it over a thousand miles and it is shifting smooth, no noises or slipping. Regardless, it looks like a third gearbox is in my future so I can resume taking long trips with some confidence. In the very short term, my curiosity will have me examining the fluid to check how much glitter has reappeared.   An earlier poster had alleged, in the context of 10L100 failures, that it is another example of how we seasoned citizens somehow descend into hysteria, lose control of our senses, and react irrationally after brief encounters with the idiocy of the internet infosphere. Let me say (and I have used and abused said internet since it's infancy) there is no segment of the populace that has a corner on over-reaction to digital garbage. Just as my offering of experience in this arena is purely anecdotal and should not be considered gospel or all-encompassing, I believe it is still worthwhile information to consider, along with other relevant anecdotal experiences about things like complex transmissions, especially when balanced with other sources.   So to answer the original question, yes I got high miles out of my first 10L, trouble free for 321,000. Now I really wonder how much longer it would have went. Did I 'overreact' to the internet ghouls by replacing a 'good' one with a 'bad' one? Maybe. Who knows, the thing might have taken a puke a 100 miles later. So I'll just fix it again, then move on and start thinking about all the other stuff that will eventually wear out. It still has the original brakes (they're at ~60%), original injectors/pump, turbo, water pump, etc....pretty much original everything. Knock on wood.
    • swathdiver
      6 Speed vs 8 Speed

      By swathdiver · Posted

      At peak temperature.  They get to cool down and warm up more, especially those with the external cooler.  I have three GMT900s and one of them has over 225K on its original transmission.  Fluid gets changed about every 36K miles, all of it.     It's not the bean counters, it was the government.  They had to meet CAFE standards and other government requirements.   To get around that, we tune them and modify them to our liking.

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...