Originally Posted by KA41

Looking at a couple of options for a trans. I currently have a stock 4l60e. I will be adding performance goodies very soon and I will need something to hold up. Could I get by with upgrading my stock trans. If I go the 80e route, should I go with the 6L80e or 4L80e? Also see a member here selling a FLT 4l65e level 7. Also how much extra would it cost to go the 6l80e or 4L80e route.
For you Louisiana guys, if I do the 4L60e upgrade, who do you recommend in my area (Baton Rouge). Two names have been mentioned and they were Powertrain Specialties and Morris Transmission. Have any of you had dealings with these guys.

Originally Posted by fredkj3

these guys are dead on.. the 4l80e is stronger than the 6l80e. its more readily available, relatively cheap and theres more of an aftermarket world. and they are pretty tough even in stock form. the only down side is that they have a 2.5 first gear. so you have to compensate for that with an aggressive rear gear. I am very satisfied with my 4l80e. picked it up for 750 bucks threw a shift kit in and been beating on it for close to 2000 miles now. the conversion wasn't very hard at all either.

Originally Posted by Quik

interesting that you say a 4l80e is stronger then the 6l80 when the a6 has much beefier parts inside it and quite a few GM reps on other sites that have opend one up spoked on how much stronger the 6l80 is. Its just up to the tuner if the trans fails or not.

also for 550 hp i wouldnt waste my time on a 80e. plenty of ppl run 60s making 500-600. its when you see over 700 is when a 80 is an option

also there is a FLT level 7 60 out there behind a 9 sec truck making up wards of 1k rwhp

Originally Posted by quicksilverado

For a daily driver a 60e will have a much shorter life span than an 80e at 500+ rwhp. Esp. in a heavy truck. Will it last? Yes, but for how long. If you do wide open throttle blast and the 60 down shifts from 4th to 2nd, the tranny just can't take the abuse. The surface area of the cluthes on an 80e are about 3 times that of an 80e. The gears and other components of an 80e are much larger ie stronger than the smaller counterparts of a 60e. For the price a level 7 FLT or a high dollar RPM, you can swap in a stock 80e and forget about it.

Originally Posted by quicksilverado

My swap cost about 1200.00 for everything. Just do the work yourself and be patient when shopping for parts and it can be done much cheaper than a fully built 60e and it will last longer.