LS4 Performance - Could find out if TEP trans are worth it

I was telling one of my co workers that is taking classes to become a transmission tech about our horrible transmissions and about TEP. He was saying that if i get all the parts that he could just take it to school and they could work on it for free :) . I printed out all the stuff that TEP does in the street/strip version and hes going to take it to his teacher who works for GM and see if all that stuff is really necessary. He was saying that the hardened input shaft, and the drive chain upgrade are really the only things that needs to be done but he even said himself that hes no expert so hes taking it to his teacher to see whats what.

Thats good to know since mine is just starting to act up.

I'd put my money on TEP over your friend, and even your friends teacher lol, no offense, Dave is just very good at what he does, and his customer service is amazing.

I'd put my money on TEP over your friend, and even your friends teacher lol, no offense, Dave is just very good at what he does, and his customer service is amazing.

Im not trying to bash him or anything i just think $3000 for a built trans is a little much. Ill trust the teacher since he works for GM and teaches about transmissions. Plus everyone says that it takes like 3-5 months for TEP to send a new trans out and since my car is a DD i cant wait that long.

Your friend has no idea about why these trannys fail.

In my time on this site, I've seen ZERO chain failures and I think two input shaft failures, with one of them being on an 11 second turbo car. Neither of those things will prevent or cure the TCC problems, or the rev-and-clunk, which are the most common problems.

Your friend is merely guessing without knowing all the facts, and it's possible that even his teacher may be misinformed. Our trannys have some unique issues, and many longtime tranny builders have no idea what ails ours. I once had a trans guy claiming 30 years experience tell me that Dave's info was "bullshit". When I asked him how many LS4-spec 4T65-HDs he built, he said "none, but they're all the same". Dude lost all credibility with me right then and there.

Beware of what they guy down the street says, because this is a lot of money to just roll the dice on a non-expert's advice.

I like how "he works for gm" is a claim to credibility. Gm is why our transmissions suck ass. You be better off saying he's great because he doesn't work for gm. Lmfao

Not that I'm thinking it's needed, but it's nice to know the best guy for our transmission is here in town, LOL.

I say have your teacher rebuild it,if he is as good as you say he is. These transmissions are very easy to rebuild and are not very complex inside, buy the parts and save some time and hassel.

I would definately trust Dave over at TEP over anyone off of the street , he has diagnosed / rebuilt / repaired more of these transmissions than anyone else that i know of. I have spoke with him and im here to tell you hes good shit. My dad says so too and hes a liscened 20+year GM Mechanic specialising in transmissions.
Unless your planning on making 700+ horse than neither of those upgrades are really neccassary (I think we need to start thinking about them at 400whp , but dont quote me there)

tep can make the best product in the world but when their service is suck ass and takes 3-5 months for a damn transmission people will not do business with them

Your friend has no idea about why these trannys fail.

In my time on this site, I've seen ZERO chain failures and I think two input shaft failures, with one of them being on an 11 second turbo car. Neither of those things will prevent or cure the TCC problems, or the rev-and-clunk, which are the most common problems.

Your friend is merely guessing without knowing all the facts, and it's possible that even his teacher may be misinformed. Our trannys have some unique issues, and many longtime tranny builders have no idea what ails ours. I once had a trans guy claiming 30 years experience tell me that Dave's info was "bullshit". When I asked him how many LS4-spec 4T65-HDs he built, he said "none, but they're all the same". Dude lost all credibility with me right then and there.

Beware of what they guy down the street says, because this is a lot of money to just roll the dice on a non-expert's advice.

On TEPs site it says that the 2 weakest points are the Chain and the Input shaft and my friend was just agreeing with that. Im always in for a second opinion when it comes to anything so ill take some advice from a teacher.
I emailed dave a few months back and he said that he wouldnt even be able to send me out a whole new tranny for atleast 6-8 months....he would just send me the parts and i would have to get them installed somewhere so im just trying to save a little coin here and just buy whats needed.

6-8 months wtf?

6-8 months wtf?

yeah. exactly my thoughts.

6-8 months wtf?

Because he didnt have a core on hand and they "dont really offer transmission cores for the ls4s anymore" But he did say they get them from time to time but if I were to send him my trans they "usually have the 2-3 week turnaround depending on schedule which varys a bit week to week". From a few posts i seen on here people say he takes his sweet ole time, but they swear by his work when hes done.

a core is the only way i could see doing a TEP transmission. mine is pulling DD duties right now so i can't afford the downtime of "2 to 3 weeks" let alone a "6 to 8 month" wait. if that is the case i'll play russian roulette with the locals...as much as i don't want to...

my only hope is for this thing to blow up before september so i can at least get a fresh serta from GM and install the good parts from there. it should minimize the cost somewhat.

Buy the parts off of dave , and shop around till you find someone you trust.
But call or email dave , and ask him what you need to meet your power goals.

Because he didnt have a core on hand and they "dont really offer transmission cores for the ls4s anymore" But he did say they get them from time to time but if I were to send him my trans they "usually have the 2-3 week turnaround depending on schedule which varys a bit week to week". From a few posts i seen on here people say he takes his sweet ole time, but they swear by his work when hes done.

It's not that he takes his "sweet old time", but the fact he's swamped with work. He also builds other transmissions, not just ours, and that's a big part of his business. He doesn't have anyone else doing the trans work, only him. I guess that's how he ensures quality.

As for the LS4 cores, he told me that they're getting more and more expensive, and many of the ones he sees are trashed and unusable. In the future, he'll be focusing more on selling the parts for our trannys and providing the tech support to builders using these parts on how to do them right.

And that's probably the future...Buy the parts from him and have a trusted shop do the assembly. This is how I did it, and Dave was always only a phone call away when my shop had questions.

Ok what is so different about our trans compared to say a gtp trans?

Ok what is so different about our trans compared to say a gtp trans?

LS4-spec 4T65-HD has a hardened geartrain, specific input shaft, altered valve body, and some other changes that supposedly enhance durability for use with a V8.

Oh so we couldn't send dave a gtp trans and have him do it for a gxp then

Oh so we couldn't send dave a gtp trans and have him do it for a gxp then

Nope...Two different animals, and there's no place to mount the starter on a GTP 4T65.

Im not trying to bash him or anything i just think $3000 for a built trans is a little much. Ill trust the teacher since he works for GM and teaches about transmissions. Plus everyone says that it takes like 3-5 months for TEP to send a new trans out and since my car is a DD i cant wait that long.

$3K for the TEP?????? what options are included in this unit, I thought they were cheaper than that... If so I better save a few more $$$$ cause at 61K I know it is coming sooner than later