Im planning on adding a cam as my next mod, but my biggest concern is my tranny. My friend put in a g5x3 and his tranny started slipping withing the first two weeks. So, how much can the 4l60e handle saftley, and do you think i'd be alright going with a tsp 231/233 or a futral 228/228 as far as the tranny goes, or should i be looking a little smaller, like a tr224?

 

Don't make power according to your drivetrain limitaitions. That's no way to build a car. Setup your drivetrain to handle your power plans for the car. Build once, build right. A properly built 4L60e can handle quite a bit. Unless you're making tons of HP or spraying over 200, you won't need a RACE(th400 etc...) transmission. FLP, Rock On, Century, and Rossler all make great 4L60es.

 

Thats great, and i'd love nothing more than to put a built tranny in... but im in college now and it all comes down to money. I'm gonna be stretching to afford the cam alone, so i have to worry about my drivetrain's limitations right now as i cant afford a new tranny if i screw up. So im looking for a good power boost from a some-what mild cam. My ultimate goal is to reach the 11's through a cam... and if needed, a little juice.

 

Your rear will go before your tranny does. Then it will be your aluminum drive shaft. Then probably your tranny. Im sure you know that you cant just buy a cam only, youll need springs at the very least to go with it. Depending on the cam size you will probably need a tune. I would drive it till I got out of college, thats what I did. A good way to tell if the tranny is bad is to look at the fluid. Red is good, orange with/or metalic flakes is bad.

 

Really depends on the mileage on the tranny now and abuse it has been given.

Now I drive the lowly LT1 I did my heads,cam,stall, etc. The stock 4L60E lasted quite awhile really. I don't beat on it on the street but I would drive it 300 miles one way to race it. I would drive to the racetrack run several 12.0 1/4 mile runs and drive it home.

It puked on me one night driving it normally. Just started slipping! It will go sooner or later. I went with an FLP stage 4 after that one. It threw a Timpken bearing in the low/reverse planetary at normal driving patterns. Rebuilding this one now. Anyone wanna buy a rebuilt FLP stage 4?

I just installed a TH400.

Now to answer your question. With "only" a cam you really should have nothing to worry about. The tranny should hold well enough. The rear end should hold just fine too. Auto tranny's a very forgiving to the rear end.

I am running Hoosier QTP's out back with a 2800 stall when I was running the 4L60E. No problem with the rear end. Granted I had Strange gears and a girdle but you should be fine.

We will see how the 10 bolt holds up to a TH400 with a Frank Lupo 4200 stall TC now!

Ken