yes, billet input, output, reaction shaft, 4l79 drum.

truck is a full weight, 1500 extra cab. 3.42 gears with a sticky 33” tire on heavy stock 20” wheels. It dead hooks. He did the suspension, has a 12 bolt aftermarket rear end, e85 and a 78mm precision turbo. It went 11.70 @ 122 mph on its first outing, leaving very soft. 2.0 60ft iirc. He’s turned it up since, The truck is easily a 10 second full weight truck. I drove it, it’s making some steam.

 

You did the customer a disservice by selling him the wrong transmission for his application. 5 pinions isn't going to fix it.

 

First of all...you're begging for trouble with that combo.
second off...5 pinions still isn't the real solution but do as you will. I already forsee a 6 month update *I put in 5 pinions and it hasn't had issues since*
But that's a definite hasty generalization because you could have the same result with 4 pinions

Moving on...I'm with jake...for the amount of money you spent on billet **** for that trans...you could have been well on your way to a fairly basic 4l80e build that would be more robust...and it's a full size truck so it isn't like you don't have room.

 

i think we are going to go that route. He has a c6 vette too that’s cam only and I’m going to take what’s good out this trans and build the vette’s unit with the parts. I’m just gonna eat it because I should have known better. I figured since he has a 8 second car (Camaro) that he’d contain himself with the truck but I know before too long he will be trying to put the truck in the 9’s. We came to terms on that a few days ago so we are gonna do a 4l80. Actually him. I don’t build 4l80’s.

 

put 4 pinions in whatever this 60e sees next
that wasn't your problem

 

p.s. that 4l80e is gonna be a 4 pinion planet...might want to find a 4l85e because they have 5 pinions

 

Looks like it's too late to make some popcorn...

 

KFX is a good contributor to the forum.
Some friendly back-and-forth is healthy for any forum.
plus it's fun to give each other **** every now and again haha

I know there's no hard feelings on my end!

 

no worries here on my end either. So currently he decided to stick with the 4l60 and do a 4l80 later. We are going to neuter the tune for now. I just got some parts in yesterday to start over.

 

As other have mentioned, We have 700rwhp cars and trucks with 4 pinion planets no issues, Planetary breaks are rare for us 4 or 5 pinion. If you broke it I would say it was a weak or damaged gear set or you have it shifting way way way to hard. Hard is not BETTER firm yes as you do not want much clutch slip on apply but some build to shift as hard as possible and or with insane line pressure . This will break stuff regardless of power or parts used period .
Getting just the right balance is key , Max line should never see more than 220psi in any drive position. 1-2 accumulator should remain intact and functional with perhaps upgraded piston..
Feed sized not to exceed .092 IMO.
Not here to argue with anyone just saying what I and we do at PerformaBuilt for anyone interested .
Frank@performabuilt

 

I personally set up my 4L60E Pumps for higher Line-Pressure than 220 Psi.
My Orificing is probably more conservative than yours.

For THM700-R4 and THM200-4R Pumps...
I have gone wayyyyyyyy past 220 Psi.

 

I'm in the same boat frank.

I consistently target more than 220 psi
and my 1-2 orifice size is more conservative than .092 for almost any setup
I do agree that the 1-2 accum must stay active.

To each their own.

 

Check out this little guy


It was still driving around and shifting all right when the fluid was cold before we took it apart haha


This had to be chiseled apart when we tore it down however the only symptoms the trans exhibited before it was torn down was that it would slip in all ranges when it was hot I figured because the disintegrated bearing hurt the soft stuff

I've had my 4060E gone through several times and this most recent planetary lasted more than 7 years, some nights at the track getting hot lapped dozens of times though I feel like I was being somewhat mechanically sympathetic. I was certainly meaner to it on the street then the track probably. Needless to say the trans saw hundreds of second gear burnouts drawn far out of the water box after what seemed like hours in hopes of heating my nitto drag radials enough to hook my car.

I never noticed the planetary actually fail because it held together in my case, The transmission just began slipping when it was hot

I chose to keep a four pinion in my new 4L60e rebuild, basically all new setup front to rear but I'm certainly going to push its durability even further this time as I plan to shift it 7k to 7.5k and I also switched from nitto's 555's to Hoosier Dr2, and upgraded my rear gear from 3.73 to 4.10. I think the gratuitous burnouts required by the nittos to heat them is what did in my trans in over the years so while the 26" Hoosiers and 4.10 May sound crazy to you my reasoning is that I won't need to do nearly as awful of a burnout to get the Hoosiers where they need to be and so the whole thing should go quicker and be just as reliable and Did I mention I also replaced the 5.7 in front of the broke planetary with a 6.0 lol that poor little planetary it's amazing that they stay together at stock power levels let alone when us idiots are trying to get some performance out of them Good luck everybody.

 

glws..

 

The captured Torrinton-Bearings of the Planets are very often overlooked by DIY Builders...
and it is not like a DIY Builder can replace the bearing on their own.

It is common to see those Torrington-Bearings go...
especially now that they are getting quite old.

Always inspect those Bearings, as well as the Pinion-Gears for any rocking/ wobble...
and End-Play.
Many, many of those planets will now how quite a bit of Pinion-Gear End-Play (and can be reconditioned to go back into service).

 

How would one go about replacing one of those bearings? The only 4L60 I've ever rebuilt was one of the earlier models, on a TBI Suburban. The planetary assemblies in those had snap rings, making disassembly easy.

I'm assuming you would grind out the stake-points and then re-stake them after?

 

I personally completely disassemble the Planet...
Replace the Rollers and Thrust-Washers for the Pinions, and a new Bearing.

However, removing two of the Pinions will allow the Bearing to be removed and replaced.

 

I won't pretend I read the whole thread.

A 4 pinion front planet is stronger than the 5 IMO.

No way i would use a front 5 or rear 5 pinion planet in a high HP application.

Again, my opinion, YMMV.

 

Interesting,, the Jeep transfer cases come with 3 or 6 (6 is the big upgrade.. ) and they are getting the toque load after the transmission,,, BUT
They have a dedicated oil pump pumping oil to them.

Random thought,, would it really be that hard to add a oil squirt-er to the case shooting into the planetary?

Most transfer cases break the entire case before the planetary.. Hmm. Of course they likely turn slower ..

 

factory has an oil squirter for the rear already. I've covered how to supply it with more lube oil via a simple accumulator mod.

I think @stockA4 has shown @Kfxguy exactly what I've been saying for a long time.
Lube, and the failure of the torrington bearings is the most common failure of a planet in the 4l60e. bar none.
2nd place is lack of lube that will end up wearing out the pinion gears.

this is simply not a failure point for anyone due to HP
-lube
-unnecessary shock induced by the builder or conditions outside of the trans (diff break, u join issue, bad wheel hop, etc)

if the 4 pinion lives...the 5 pinion will too...if the 5 pinion lives...the 4 pinion will too