Try Me
New member
Hi all. I wanted to take a minute to let everyone know about my experiences with my recent 4L80E conversion on my Sy.
First off, i wanna give a big thanks to Jeff at JS Manufacturing and "E" at Turbotime. Between the two of them, they really worked hard to get this project complete. They both were outstanding with communication and went out of their way to get me the parts i needed to get this done extremely quickly.
As far as the final product, it is just fantastic! The comfort in not having to worry about the tranny exploding any time i get past half throttle is worth the effort alone! I drive my truck the way it was meant to be driven. Hard. I enjoy every time i get to drive it to the fullest extent of the law
. The truck just drives soo much better.
I have a 93 4L80E that is freshly rebuilt with decent parts, but nothing too major right now. My plan was to get it in and running, then later if i need to to upgrade the internals as necessary.
The converter is from Hughes and is a 3500 stall w/ lockup. The lockup is sweeet too. I didnt have it with my 700 and the truck is waaaay better to drive on the highway.
I am using the TCI computer mostly due to the fact that 1) its very reasonably priced (like 650) and 2) its really easy to adjust and uses the same basic software as my FAST unit so i am already familiar with how its layed out. If you dont feel like fooling with it, you can actually just enter in the tire size (outside diameter), gear ratio, whether its a 4l60e or 80e, and how many cylinders the engine is and you can drive away. Then if you want you can change everything about how the tranny works. Its definitely a sweet setup.
The truck just drives great. With the computer, if your not on the gas hard, it shifts smooth as glass, where my 700 liked to let you know when it was shifting all the time. The first-second shift isnt near as far apart either. On a launch it doesnt spin the tires quite as easy and first gear stretches out a little farther and doesnt fall off at all on the second gear shift. You can set full throttle shift points by rpm and partial by tps and vehicle speed which is nice too. you can set how hard it shifts by tps for each gear so it feels more like a stock ride. you can set lockup on and off speeds, etc etc. It is just tooo cool
The kit from JS is very nice too. I found a couple minor things that I addressed with Jeff that i think will be included in some documentation in future kits that will make the installers life a lot easier. The adapter for the transfer case fit very well and went together smooth. I had my local trans guy install the output shaft for me, and he said it went in like it was supposed to with no problems. The transfer case went right on and bolted up like stock. I had my driveshaft shortened, balanced, and new u-joints installed at a local shop for around 80 bucks total i think. I ordered a gilbert shaft from jwaller for the front which went in with minmal headache. I did end up making my own shift lever for the side of the tranny to clear the driveshaft, but that wasnt a big deal. The first crossmember i received did not clear the torsion bars correctly. I let Jeff know, and he took the time to make a new one over the weekend and overnighted it to me. The second one fit perfect and the truck was moving again under its own power in no time after that. Again big thanks to them.
Now that this kit is available, and i am now driving more proof of that fact, i expect to see more people going this route. It only makes sense to spend a little more money to do it one time rather than fooling with the obviously lacking 700. If your not going crazy with your build or dont drive your truck too hard, you can get away with the 700. Otherwise, if your making a lot of power and/or are rough on your truck, this is it. A 400 turbo is ok too, but if you drive your truck a lot this would be far better. I went on the Hot Rod Power
Tour this past year and drove the truck right around 3000 miles in one weeks time with the 700 and no lockup. I can already see that next year will be a much nicer ride!
First off, i wanna give a big thanks to Jeff at JS Manufacturing and "E" at Turbotime. Between the two of them, they really worked hard to get this project complete. They both were outstanding with communication and went out of their way to get me the parts i needed to get this done extremely quickly.
As far as the final product, it is just fantastic! The comfort in not having to worry about the tranny exploding any time i get past half throttle is worth the effort alone! I drive my truck the way it was meant to be driven. Hard. I enjoy every time i get to drive it to the fullest extent of the law
. The truck just drives soo much better. I have a 93 4L80E that is freshly rebuilt with decent parts, but nothing too major right now. My plan was to get it in and running, then later if i need to to upgrade the internals as necessary.
The converter is from Hughes and is a 3500 stall w/ lockup. The lockup is sweeet too. I didnt have it with my 700 and the truck is waaaay better to drive on the highway.
I am using the TCI computer mostly due to the fact that 1) its very reasonably priced (like 650) and 2) its really easy to adjust and uses the same basic software as my FAST unit so i am already familiar with how its layed out. If you dont feel like fooling with it, you can actually just enter in the tire size (outside diameter), gear ratio, whether its a 4l60e or 80e, and how many cylinders the engine is and you can drive away. Then if you want you can change everything about how the tranny works. Its definitely a sweet setup.
The truck just drives great. With the computer, if your not on the gas hard, it shifts smooth as glass, where my 700 liked to let you know when it was shifting all the time. The first-second shift isnt near as far apart either. On a launch it doesnt spin the tires quite as easy and first gear stretches out a little farther and doesnt fall off at all on the second gear shift. You can set full throttle shift points by rpm and partial by tps and vehicle speed which is nice too. you can set how hard it shifts by tps for each gear so it feels more like a stock ride. you can set lockup on and off speeds, etc etc. It is just tooo cool
The kit from JS is very nice too. I found a couple minor things that I addressed with Jeff that i think will be included in some documentation in future kits that will make the installers life a lot easier. The adapter for the transfer case fit very well and went together smooth. I had my local trans guy install the output shaft for me, and he said it went in like it was supposed to with no problems. The transfer case went right on and bolted up like stock. I had my driveshaft shortened, balanced, and new u-joints installed at a local shop for around 80 bucks total i think. I ordered a gilbert shaft from jwaller for the front which went in with minmal headache. I did end up making my own shift lever for the side of the tranny to clear the driveshaft, but that wasnt a big deal. The first crossmember i received did not clear the torsion bars correctly. I let Jeff know, and he took the time to make a new one over the weekend and overnighted it to me. The second one fit perfect and the truck was moving again under its own power in no time after that. Again big thanks to them.
Now that this kit is available, and i am now driving more proof of that fact, i expect to see more people going this route. It only makes sense to spend a little more money to do it one time rather than fooling with the obviously lacking 700. If your not going crazy with your build or dont drive your truck too hard, you can get away with the 700. Otherwise, if your making a lot of power and/or are rough on your truck, this is it. A 400 turbo is ok too, but if you drive your truck a lot this would be far better. I went on the Hot Rod Power
Tour this past year and drove the truck right around 3000 miles in one weeks time with the 700 and no lockup. I can already see that next year will be a much nicer ride!
