it always seems like people are saying their trannys are going downhill as time passes.

this really dosent make sense to me. for example people say the turbo 350 is stronger than the 700r4. some people even say the 4l60e is the weakest of the 3. this really didnt make sence to me. the cars from the factory came with MORE hp, woudlnt it make sense that they make a stronger trans to back it

 

Well the TH350 is stronger than the two BUT the 4L60E and the 700R4 are pretty similar except the 4L60E operates off of computer control... (atleast that's what I've always read)... BUT I definitely understand what you're saying...It's like chevy's decision to go to a 7.5" ring gear on their rearends in 82 and not change it but the older 10 bolts were stronger...

 

They have just gotten more clever about convincing
themselves that lighter parts can still do the job.
That means assuming the car won't be modded and
the torque management will do the rest. Software
is cheaper than higher grade steel in production.

HP has gone up but torque has not, really. You could
have (I do) a TH350 behind a 400CI 4BBL motor. No
screamer but plenty of grunt and 5000lb of barge too.

Thing is, overdesign used to be the manly thing to do.
Now it'll just get you fired or outsourced.

 

The 4L60E is relatively weak compared to the others, in stock form. However once you fix its factory "weak points" it can be plenty strong.