If you cant work/maintain your car yourself, then you dont deserve your car, PERIOD.
If the shift kits are harmful to the transmissions as some of you are saying here, then how can companies that are extremely well-known such as trans go, b&m, tci, ect ect, sell their products that have given them their great reputation in the performace market today? The reason some people have bad luck with shift kits might be from day after day after day of hard abuse or people not maintaining the car like they should. Another reason may not be the shift kits fault, it might be the transmission itself. They are only rated to handle so much power. A built transmission for your performance range is important or you will always have problems. -You gotta pay to play.

Right now, my car is in the garage without a transmission. Installing a transmission to handle 800+ horsepower. Big stall and shift kit are going on forsure. If the shift kit breaks this transmission then i'll take back everything i have said, but i doubt i'll have to worry about that.

 

I agree with everything you said except one- the if you cant work/maintain the care your self you dont deserve it. The maintain your self I agree with but if you dont ahve the skills to say change your oil or whatever and you pays omeone to do so I dont see anything wrong with that but atleast get it done. Sorry for the off topic-- Almost every article I read or person i talk to that is doing a tranny rebuild or buying a new tranny the person is putting a shift kit and some type of performance stall in there. I am one of the peoepl that believe the Transgo kit is better for the tranny than without one. I can only speak for the Transgo and there is a whoel lot of others that woll preac the Transgo word as well. I dont know about the B&M "shift improver kit" but I was told it isnt anywhere near as a complete kit as the Transgo!

 

I'm kinda' in the same boat,I took my trans to a friends shop to get the Transgo kit installed to go with the tci 3500 converter and 24,000 gvw cooler.
Third and fourth gears are "toast", so I'm getting the whole farging thing rebuilt!!. If someone doesn't feel comfortable doing the work, if you have the money by all means take it to someone who does.

 

I mainly meant by working/maintaining the car by checking fluid, oil ect ect, the basic stuff. I dont expect everyone to be a master engine builder lol. Even if someone has someone else change the oil, they can still pull the dipstick every now just to check if it looks bad, low, or whatever. Same thing goes with tranny fluid. Just takes a few seconds to pull a dipstick and your back on the road.

 

Good Call

 

I had a Stage2 TransGo installed with my SY3500 converter, along with having torque management removed and the shifts readjusted (thx hptuners software). Let me tell you, it SHIFTS. Even took my gf for a ride without telling her I got it done and I ended up hurting her neck when I allowed the car to downshift.

 

If you are running a converter it is a good idea to run a shift kit or tighten up the shifts..I burnt out my forward & over run clutches probably because of the sloppy shifts with the Yank ST3500. I could barely feel the car shift..This lowered the line pressure & caused sloppy shifts & wear on the transmission..

 

so your saying that if you install a SSF 3500 TC, to alter the shift firmness to 100% right? i am currently saving up for a 3500 stall, and then after that is in, i am going with a Trans go shift kit as well.....

 

There are a few misconceptions in this thread.

First of all, the TransGo kit does more than just "shifts." Their kit includes an improved torque converter clutch regulator valve that reduces the wear that causes the P1870 code so common with 4L60-E transmissions. It also comes with the largest boost valve available for the 4L60-E. The kit fixes the slow reverse disengagement problem and makes more fluid available to the weak 3-4 clutch piston. The 2-3 shift (a notoriously sloppy shift in the 4L60) is improved by recalibrating the sequence of 2-4 band disengagement and 3-4 clutch engagement. The 3-2 downshift (notoriously an event where 4L60's burn up) is also improved. This kit actually FIXES known durability problems with the 4L60-E. And we cannot forget that all automatics are set up in all factories to shift smoothly because that's what the highest percentage of drivers want.

That said, there are three choices for setting up the shift firmness with a TransGo kit. The 4L60-E is not a robust enough transmission to survive hard jolting shifts. If any longevity at all is expected from a daily-driven 4L60-E it must be set up to shift relatively smoothly - the hard parts cannot take the abuse. The included instructions even state that stage three should be used only for racing. For most vehicles stage one should be used, and not necessarily in conjunction with new band pistons for either second or fourth. The band is not the weak friction element in these transmissions, the 3-4 clutch pack is. In vehicles with high-stalling torque converters stage two can be used. If the second apply piston is replaced with the Corvette or billet one then subtract one of the washers the instructions say to put into the second accumulator.

I had a 4L60-E with performance frictions, 5-pinion planetaries, hardened input shaft, drum, reaction shell, 34-element sprag, Corvette second apply piston, some other stuff, AND a TransGo shift kit set up to Stage 1 with no washers in the accumulator. I ran stock line pressure and if shifted mannered and perfectly until 550 foot pounds of torque finally killed the 3-4 clutches. It lasted over 26,000 brutal miles, all under boost and all in a nearly 6k pound truck with a torque converter stalling at 2900 RPM. Imagine how quickly the clutches would have failed with no hydraulic help from the shift kit.

The fact is with a 4L60/65-E friction material life can be prolonged by installing a shift kit set up modestly without a negative impact on the hard parts. Setting one up to shift hard will further proplong the life of the friction materials but sacrifice the hard parts - specially the drum, the planet carriers, the sprag, and the pin slot on the band. That just doesn't make sense for a street car. As amusing as it may seem to have a 4L60-E chirp the tires on a 1-2 shift, that is absolute hell on parts. There are too many power-handling parts in a 60 or 65 that are made of aluminum instead of steel, and they cannot tollerate abuse.

It is natural to fear something not understood. I would suggest learning to understand these kits before trusting someone's advice "afraid" to use one. Installed properly TransGo kits deliver their promises. I hope this information helps.

By the way, a TransGo shift kit was the first thing I ordered when building my 4L80-E.

 

Well:

I had one installed with my ST3500

OMG !!!!!! 7.7 in the 1/8th mile now. It feels like you are being shot out of a cannon. It is so much fun to give people a ride in my "slow auto" now. It is not bad for daily driving, just takes a day or so to get used to.