chambiec1

Hey y'all..

Tonight I was dropping off a friend, backed out of their driveway, popped the tranny in drive and her a "clunk". I hit the gas, and made it about 20ft before I heard a terrible grinding/scraping noise along with some slip.. I pulled over and tried reverse.. only to get the same result, and to lose all movement. I nursed the truck to the side of the road and parked it. Figured my trans is toast.

A little background on my truck; it's an '03 Silverado Z71 ECSB.. 5.3l with 97k miles. I bought it 7 months ago with 80k miles, and have had no problems with it until now. All that is installed is a catback, and k&n filter atm, but I plan on doing a few more bolt ons(cam/tune/etc) and then lift/wheels/tires/etc. It is a working truck, and I have a 1400LB Lincoln welder in the back, along with all my bottles and tools. The truck weighs 7300lbs with me in it. The welder will be gone as soon as I can afford a dually as my welding rig.

Anyways, I need to get this truck back going ASAP.. it is my source of income. However, I do not want to throw a junkyard trans, or a stock rebuild in only to have the same problem happen. Now this is where I need your guys' advice.

I have been doing some research on some built transmissions and converters.. the 2 that seem to stick out to me, that are reasonably priced and have a good rep, are the FLT LVL3 4l60e, and the Performabuilt LVL2 4l60e.. two converters I have looked at are the Yank TT2600, and the Circle-D 2600-3200 stall. I will admit, I don't know much about converters, but figure if I am going to be in there, why not upgrade?

So I was hoping for your guys' opinions, based on experience and my platform. Any and all help is appreciated, as I have never strayed into the built tranny realm. I would like to get this truck back running ASAP, with minimal worry about breakage, and a bit more performance. (BTW, the 80e swap is not an option atm)

Thanks,
-Casey

usmc3521

iTrader: (2)

If you have that much stuff in the back of your truck, personally I'd stay with a stock stall or at the most the TB stall. However back to your question, both listed companies are good at what they do. I have the PB lv2 in my truck. Either way you go, with that much weight on your truck, I would suggest a good trans cooler and a set of gears. Otherwise this is just going to happen again from being under heavy load.

budhayes3

iTrader: (19)

Good advice, since it's your work truck I'd keep it mild. I see that you have a cam in your future, I'd keep that mild too and match your converter to it. The Circle-D 278mm with a stall speed under 3k mated to an FLT Lvl3 would be my recommendation as those are the companies that I'm using and very happy with their products, but if you go Performabuilt/Yank, FLT/Yank, PB/Circle-D, you'll be good to go too. Look at the TruCool 40k sticky at the top for all the info that you need about a good trans cooler to help protect your new transmission investment.

*EDIT* Hey, you're sure it's the trans and not the rear right?

00buckshot

iTrader: (5)

Sounds like possibly another G-80 bit the dust, have someone get in the truck and put it in drive or reverse, and see if the driveshaft turns in both directions and give us some feedback

chambiec1

I am almost positive it's the trans at this time.. but I am going to flatbed it to a buddy's shop, and check it out for sure.

Like I said, this is a temporary work truck. I planned on getting a new converter for peace of mind, since I will be in there anyways. I actually may end up taking the welder out, if it is going to pose such a problem, and only haul it when needed, or put it on a trailer until I can afford to get a dually.

I would like to stall it in the event that I cam it in the future, because after I buy a dually, this truck with pull DD/play duty.

chambiec1

Hey y'all, just hauled it on a rollback to my house. It is definately the trans... reverse is gone, just metal on metal grinding there. Had enough bite left to make it into my parking spot under it's own power... so it's time for a new one.

Anyways, I have made the decision to remove the welder from the truck.. it's not worth the risk of tearing **** up. If I need to go on location to do some work, I will place it in the back, otherwise I'll wait until I have my dually.

Can anybody with experience let me know how they like either the FLT or the PB trans?

I planned on keeping the converter close to if not under 3000. While I admit I don't know much about them, I would like it streetable, reliable, and able to tow/haul.

Beatdown Z

iTrader: (18)

I think the PB level 2 is the equivalent of a FLT level 4 or 5. Both companies are proven to have great transmissions, so just go with the one that is cheaper or the one that is closer to where you live.

chambiec1

Well, Performabuilt is down a little lower in PA than me, so that may be the route to go.. I'll have to give them a call and see what they can do for me.

budhayes3

iTrader: (19)

Yea, if you ask around here, half the guys will recommend FLT and the other PB, they both have good reps on this board

chambiec1

Sounds good... will I have any computer issues with a stock tune and lets say... 3000 stall? How about drivability?