I concur

 

dont blame the transmission when it seems like a converter issue


i'd take a 60E-65E any day over a th400 or 80E for racing purposes, i run a th400 now and my 60 fts have went to **** went from a 1.41-2 to a high 1.50s - 1.60s


i take it your first gear being useless was on the streets?

 

I should have done an 80 the first time, went through 3 4l70's before i saw the light.

 

We can't all have a 4L60e that's been blessed by the gods, built with four leaf clovers, horseshoes and rabbits foots. Lol jfwy
I think most people can agree in a perfect situation with the right build a 60e will be faster down the track. However, for those who want absolute simplicity or are without the skills to make a truck dead hook the first gear in a 60e isn't the best.

 

Unless it's a full on drag truck, the 80 is the choice, unless your running a 3.08 gear, a turbo set up. One day I will get off my lazy *** and have the 80e that has been sitting in the shop rebuilt, slap it in. Untill then I hope my puny 60e holds out, but it has been excellent for the past years behind a boosted 6.0.

 

haha, I was running a 245mm circle d 4c and put the exact same one in the 80E.
its that shitty second gear drop that the 60E has, love the 80E gear ratios

 

lol...I went thru 5 of em so don't feel so bad

 

Your converter was tighter with the 60e then the 80e due to the gear ratio, so no its not a direct comparison.

60e will be faster then a 80e or TH400 if it can hold the power unless its a boosted application. Then I can see where the higher gearing would help to build boost.

 

Your weights are off by quite a bit for the 4L60E and the 4L80E.

A 4L80E, 2WD, in core form (not completely dry, but not full of fluid) is 178 lbs by my measurment.

Same day, same scale, a TH400 was 135 lbs. (134 to be exact), TH350 was 125.

I haven't ever weighed a 4L60E since they are an overly heavy paperweight IMO but they are likely in the 140 lb range based on the elbows, shoulders, and vertebrae load meter. They are pretty close to TH400 weight.

A TH400 is the ultimate in strength. It's stronger than a 4L80E in stock form and in heavily modded form.
4L80E's, we've got a handful at 1500+ HP.
TH400's, I've got some at well over that and in HEAVY stuff (monster trucks).
4L60E...eh, good luck with it.

 

you are correct that the converter was tighter in the 60E but the gear ratios in the 80E still make for less drop between shifts which keeps my truck in the power band a lot better
helps the truck get out of the hole better due to the higher first gear so I get better traction.
truck defanitly feels faster due to those factors in my truck but obviously will be different with other combinations