knuts82

Just looking for opinions on what trans to run. Th400 or a Glide. Not sure what it weights yet but its heavy..
68 C10 truck with turbo LS motor. I still have 4:30 gears in it and will be swapping to 3:42?.
Truck will be mostly street driven with some track use. 700ish rwh.

malarlar

T400 would be fun, 3.40'sish gear sounds appropriate.

Blackpanther99

iTrader: (8)

TH400. You wont need a glide if its just your street truck.

RonSSNova

iTrader: (3)

You would hate a glide in that. it would go nearly 100mph in low........

knuts82

Yeah I was wondering about that. I wonder about a Glide with a 1.76 gearset and keeping the 4.30gears. I also have a set of 4.10 gears.

malarlar

Wont be long before you trash a stock gearset at that power level and weight imo. id do an aftermarket 1.80 gearset if your set on the glide route.

SnIpEz

iTrader: (4)

I would never put a glide in a street car

soundengineer

iTrader: (16)

why not... they were a standard issue in over a million cars straight off teh showroom floor... with a 1.76 gearset even...

I see no issues with a glide in a daily driver...
at 700 hp... I would prefer the glide over a th400, but if you are heavy, its gonna take just the right converter or its gonna be a turd
the 400 is a little more forgiving on the converter side, but you have to update the 2nd gear sprag, or go spragless or you will be doing a lot of repairs to it and you will be doing them often

and of course there always the 2 speed turbo 400, ...which is also an option and may be the best option for a heavy vehicle, they can be easily made to handle a lot of power as well

Camaro396

iTrader: (14)

I would never put a glide in anything over 3,200 lbs.

carlsonauto

easy killer.... I couldnt disagree more...

kainedogg

iTrader: (23)

Never driven a fast car with a powerglide, only slow ones and they sucked, ie. '65 Impala SS. Stopped being interested in hi/lo options after Pole Position. On the other hand someone might be willing to trade inconvenience for longevity.

SnIpEz

iTrader: (4)

Sure, I didn't say they COULDN'T suit a street car, I just said I wouldn't put one in a street car.

I've told you this already before, at 700 hp a TH400 would hardly be warmed up. The 34 element sprag that can be found from the factory in many 4L80Es can hold about 1000ish horsepower. The 36 element sprag is well suited for things above that, and spragless is definitely not always the answer. You will not always be doing repairs nor doing them often. Trust me. Or not. I don't really care, still doesn't change the fact.

Sorry, but I wouldn't. I'm honestly too spoiled by more modern luxuries like a 4L80E if I want big power and stock feel. I am VERY oriented at having a near stock experience while street driving, and a powerglide would not offer that.

That's just a matter of personal preference really, not for any mechanical related reasons, although if I had to I'd rather run a TH400 over a glide.

carlsonauto

If you want "stock feel" while driving buy a cavalier or leave your car stock... Frankly stock sucks, thats why everyone changes their car from stock. Am I wrong??

I have a glide in my street car and it wouldn't work on the street if it had a different transmission. The way it is right now with the glide it hangs the tires on the street off the brake. Any more gear in 1st and it would simply blow the tires off.

Saying a glide is a bad street transmission for any car is a horrible generalization and makes you look pretty silly. There is no perfect one transmission for every vehicle out there. For every vehicle there is a transmission that would be perfort for it and for some that IS a glide, even on the street.

Maybe some folks like doing nothing but burning off expensive tires on the street and thats ok but myself personally and most of my customers like their cars to go fast..

With a 4l80 in my car it would have a 11.30 final gear ratio in 1st as opposed to the 8.20 that it has now. I would have to put 3.30 gears in my car to get close to that with a 4l80 and with 32 inch tall tires the top two gears would be useless and I would essentially have a bigger heavier fancier powerglide that cost a lot more money to get to hold a similar amount of power that a glide would when talking apples for apples in parts and functionality....

Ok rant complete....

carlsonauto

Also FWIW I think a glide would be a horrible choice in the vehicle the OP was asking about. TH400 at least but 4L80E would be cooler..

RonSSNova

iTrader: (3)

Hey Jake. Was going to post just that, not the right choice for the OP's car given the mostly street statement. W/O od, 4.30 gear would suck on the highway. And the 3.42 with the glide would be frustrating.

Folks either don't understand the overall ratio in low gear, or just don't think about it. On a super hooking car you can certainly get away with more, but the PG will solve a lot of issues on small tire cars. You also have to consider the rpm range of the engine at the finish line vs. the rear gear.
I had to go from a 4.10 to a 3.73 in my Nova when I added the nitrous. I lost .05 in 60ft NA.

Ron

89ROC-Z

iTrader: (11)

I would think a th400 would be better for the street, but I do have a 4l80e 2wd that I might sell. You should check out midwestlsx.com too

mrvedit

To me the best part of newer drivetrains is being able to tune the transmission settings in the PCM. Getting the shift points right at all power levels when driving on the street makes the car really enjoyable. So my vote is also for a 4L80E.

shepss217

iTrader: (5)

i would have to say yes for the TH400 also, i have a powerglide in my s10 and drive it once in a while on the street and wish it had a 3 speed for that