I'll be swapping in a built 80E here in a month or so. It will be my first auto with big power (~600 rwhp at the moment). My question is, what kind of driving or actions should be avoided to keep the trans healthy with this much power?

I'm worried mostly about downshifts, especially at WOT. With my gearing I could easily see myself doing 2-1, 3-2, 3-1, 4-2, and even 4-1 downshifts at WOT. Are these particularly hard on the trans? Some more than others? Can the 80E even skip gears on downshifts?

Any tuning guidelines to help with longevity?

The trans has a billet input shaft, billet forward hub, rollerized, high energy frictions, dual feed direct, shift kit, all new bushings, bearings, sprags, electrics, soft parts, etc... So it's fairly beefy, but perhaps hard downshifts will be its kryptonite?

The truck has a 76mm turbo at 10-12psi now. It's a 100% daily driver, never sees the track, never tows. Converter will be a modest 2500-2700 stall billet single or multi disk, havent decided yet. I'm trying to keep the driveability close to stock. Gears will be 3.42 with 30.5" tires.

Any tips are appreciated, thanks!

 

No, it doesn't exactly skip gears on a downshift. It can command gear shifts fast enough that torque is never really applied in one of the in between gears, but that gear is still commanded. Only the 6+ speeds do that. One thing I always do is put the trans in 3rd before making any WOT hits. It applies the overrun clutches in the overdrive carrier and shares the load with the overdrive sprag. Just a little peace of mind. After having built that transmission and seeing that the overdrive sprag is weak enough you could crush it in your hand...3rd gear just makes you feel a little better I have full torque management in my truck... I hate transmission swaps and I want mine to live as long as possible, so it pulls like 20 degrees of timing on a WOT shift. Might slow the truck down a bit but worth it overall.

 

Goodness, with that parts list the transmission should be in the 800HP range easily.

I can't really give you any driving tips cause I beat on mine just putting it in gear lol.

 

I run no torque management and have a similar build, maybe a few more tweeks. I do run in 3rd when beating on it and do 3-2 and 3-1 downshifts with no issues. Mine also has a pretty good instant low end hit.

 

When doing a burnout, make sure you dont shift to 2nd or make sure you shift into 3rd. Basically dont let off the gas at high rpm in 2nd.

 

and keep it cool...heat will kill a 4/80e as it will a 4/60e

 

Yep, got a 40K cooler for it.


Sounds good! Does TM apply to downshifts as well? I will probably keep some TM for everyday driving. And maybe remove some or all for tow/haul mode.


I beefed it up a little to make it comfortable to 800 rwhp, if not more. I know I'll be upping the power in the future.


Good info! I didn't think of putting it in manual to ease the loads.

 

OOPS!!!!

Ah well , Gilbert is gonna get it back right for me. maybe I'll add some tm in it as well jake.

That should more than do for the way you plan to use that transmission Ferocity02

 

I can't say I ever plan on doing a standing burnout, but you never know

So let's say I'm in 4th in D on the highway and I got WOT. Pending tuning, it will probably drop into 1st and break the tires loose. For the health of the trans, this a no-no? For my setup, 1st gear at 6k RPM = 64mph.

 

I have always heard shifting was hard on a trans during a burnout. Read once to start the burnout in second and end in second, but this makes me think twice.