I am about to put one in, well not me but my cousin who works at a Trans place and I wanted to go with the level 3 in the kit and he said that would shift too hard. I still want to use it to cruise around and he thought it would shift hard yet just idling around town. So my question is to the guys who have the level 3 put in does it shift hard at low speeds.?? Does it take away drive ability??? I told him just to go with the #2 for now. I am also putting in a 3500 TCI stall, so that is why I wanted to go with the #3 ring.

I also have another question, he said that kit had to much junk in it and he thought from him being builder stand point he could boost the pressure and firm up my 1 and 2 shift points by changing some springs to do the same thing at 1/2 the cost of the kit. I don't know to much about trans, but is it worth putting that TransGo kit in?? From talking to him I feel that the kit is worthless.

Let me know some thoughts on this deal.

 

use the kit. use #3. with the converter you won't even feel it shift at part throttle. if you look in the instructions it says to use #3 only if you have a high stall coverter. I used #3 with the stock converter and it was a really hard shift but now with the TCI 3800 I don't even feel it shift-I can hear it shift but can't feel it.

 

If 1/2 the stuff in the kit is worthless, then why is it there? Companies dont put extra parts in the box because they want to

I installed my GFs kit with a Yank 3500 and used setting 2 and its awesome. Its tame when your just crusing and nice and firm when you nail it... Itll spin through 3rd For a DD, I wouldnt use #3. You also have to remember, there valvebodies arent like the old TH350 or 700R4s where you could play with the springs and check *****. Theres solenoids that control the line pressures and shifting.

 

The things your builder claims he can do with his calibrations are certainly possible. What you are paying for with the shift kit is more than just springs, washers, and some bigger holes.

The 4L60-E's calibration weak point is the 2-3 upshift and 3-2 downshift. The reason for this is that these shifts are each two events. In a 2-3 upshift the band must release and the 3-4 clutches must engage - at the almost the same time, favoring the 3-4 release. In a 3-2 downshift the 3-4 clutches must release and the band must engage - also at nearly the same time, favoring the band. Timing is critical.

When you change rate at which the band engages, you must also take into consideration the rate the 3-4 clutch pack engages.
For example, if the band is set to engage too rapidly it will result in a poor-quality 3-2 downshift. Basically the band will begin to apply too soon resulting in a downshift that momentarily feels like fourth gear. If the band was coming in too late you would feel a moment of first gear as RPMs would spike, also known as "flare." On the upshift the above is oposite. The timing of the 2-3 shift is a band-release/3-4 apply event. If the 3-4 is calibrated to engage more quickly/firmly then the release of the band servo, it must also be calibrated to exhaust fluid faster, either hydraulicly by enlarging orifice(s) or mechanically with springs.

The point is that the shift kit is a balanced set of carefully engineered recalibrations that I doubt anyone could reproduce as well on their own. Keep in mind the kit also fixes the Torque Converter Clutch regulator problem (notorius P1870 code) as well as reverse burnout caused by delayed clutch release. The kit comes with the largest available boost valve for the 4L60-E.

It's inexpensive, why the fuss? Trust it. You won't be sorry.

As for the stage, I agree stage two would be better. Stage 3 drilling and washer calibrations produce jolting violent shifts. The 4L60-E contains many aluminum internal torque-handling hard parts that will not handle the impact of jolting shifts. I went on and on about hard shifts in another thread, maybe findable in search.

Good luck

 

I ordered my shift kit from Pro-built automatics and was told by them to only put in the number 1 setting, not sure why though. Maybe someone from pro-built will chime in.

 

James sumed it up nicely.The only thing he left out is...you might think twice about using the transmission shop your cousin works at.

 

Thanks a bunch for the info. I am going to get on the horn now and tell him just to do as the directions state. Deep down I did feel that the kit should go in as on paper. I have never heard one bad thing about these kits and that is why I ordered one in the first place.

James, thanks for the detailed look at inside the A4. It really took some time and knowledge to write that all up.

I can't thank you guys enough, this board really rules, which helps set our cars and LS1s out as the ones to beat even more.

 

Well, in my opinion and experience from using the transgo shift kit, I think you should go with the kit. The Transgo Shift Kit is proven. A lot of the Automatic guys are using it. Are you really willing to trust the guy to modify your tranny by himself. Has he done this sort of thing before? I would think twice because you don't want him to screw with your tranny because trannies are expensive to replace/repair.

I use setting #3 with my Transgo shift kit and the shifts aren't very violent at all (At least not violent enough that it wouldn't be very fun to drive and cruise around in). I could definitely feel the improvement. Without the shift kit, whenever I hammered the gas, it would delay 2-3 seconds before finally shifting which was really annoying. After the shift kit was installed, I don't have that problem anymore. It just shifts right away and I could get moving and accelerate quickly. I love it, and it's the one of the best mods I've done on my car. Although, keep in mind that my car is pretty much stock and doesn't have mods like gears, or a stall converter. The feeling may be different with higher gears and such.

I think you should go with setting #3, and try it out. You don't want to go with setting #2 and feel that it doesn't shift hard enough, then take it back to the shop and have them change it.

 

In all of my builds with the 9.5" torque converter, I drill the 2nd gear feed to .096, and use none, or one spacer at the most with 3,000 rpm stalls & higher. You "do not" want/need a firm shift at light throttle openings. It is hard on the driveline, dangerous in the rain, going into a corner and the tires break loose from the 1-2 shift can cause a spinout, attracts cops, weekly visit to the chiropractor, etc. You want the shifts to get progressively firmer with more throttle, and not bang shifts at light throttle openings.

 

I was going to get one but my transmission shop talked me out of it. They said that most of the cars that have it installed wind up rebuilding their transmission and taking the shift kit out. The transmission shop is really repetiable

 

This "might" be why, they have taken out the kit, because the installer of this kit, went overboard with the accumulation. I have helped many a shop on this, with very good feedback on these "modified" Trans-Go Perfromance Shift kits.

 

ProBuilt is right, and set up correctly, the TransGo kit is not only a performance enhancement, but will increase the longevity of the transmission. The TransGo kit is one of the main reasons I feel confident standing behind my transmissions for as long as I do.

 

I have the #3 washer setup, and DO NOT have violent shifts, I also have a billet 2-4 super servo, that allows me to chirp gears through 3rd very easily.

I had my vehicle dyno tuned after the TC change, and the tuner adjusted my shift points, and smoothed them out considerably.

SteveC

 

[QUOTE=speedo]I am about to put one in, well not me but my cousin who works at a Trans place and I wanted to go with the level 3 in the kit and he said that would shift too hard. I still want to use it to cruise around and he thought it would shift hard yet just idling around town. So my question is to the guys who have the level 3 put in does it shift hard at low speeds.?? Does it take away drive ability??? I told him just to go with the #2 for now. I am also putting in a 3500 TCI stall, so that is why I wanted to go with the #3 ring.

I also have another question, he said that kit had to much junk in it and he thought from him being builder stand point he could boost the pressure and firm up my 1 and 2 shift points by changing some springs to do the same thing at 1/2 the cost of the kit. I don't know to much about trans, but is it worth putting that TransGo kit in?? From talking to him I feel that the kit is worthless.
When you read messages like this it makes it really easy to understand, why soooo many people think the 4l6oe is junk.....I mean after all this fellow can do the job with a couple of springs, I wonder how many of them springs he's sold??? I guess he'll make his first million with em.....I'd run away...put time and distance between you and him......hope this helps Dave
Let me know some thoughts on this deal.

 

Don't even watch the video cause it does not go with the order of the instructions. Just use the paper instructions step by step. I used 3 washers with my TCI 3500 and it drives great. During part throttles it does not shift hard.