Anyone have their transmissions? If so how long do these transmissions last? I'm in the stages of getting one soon and want to make sure I don't waste thousands of dollars only for it to screw up pretty quickly

 

I forgot to mention I already read some threads about their transmissions but I didn't really find a clear answer if they would last the remaining life of the car

 

Never heard a complaint about TEP ever. They are good stuff.

 

Only beef with TEP built trannys is the turn around time, i couldnt wait the estimated 3 months, that combined with shipping is the reason why i opted for buying their stage kit and having it built by a local performance trans shop. But other then that, their transmission are the best around for the 4t65e. How long it will last will depend on how you plan on abusing it and what parts you put into it.

 

My TEP transmission went a month or two ago (Precision converter went and took the transmission with it). And even though I was out of warranty Dave fixed it for me and I only had to pay shipping. He stands by his work.

 

I have about 5 thousand miles on mine and zero complaints, Dave is honest, does good work. I've abused mine severely with thousands of hard launches, thousands of redline shifts, still shifts as good as it did when I got it

 

I plan on modding it pretty heavily so I was thinking about getting the one that can handle up to 450 hp. I want to put that tranny and tranny cooler in first then start getting some more power out of it. I want to eventually have it turbod within a year or two

 

That's going to be costly. Probably need a 1" chain to reliably handle that power which is very pricey. Mine is built to handle 350whp and was $4200 I wanna say.

 

Mine has the 1 inch chain, that alone was 1600

 

Be prepared to spend some money.

If you could find a local installer that knows what they're doing you could buy the TEP kit online.

I was trying to put together an excel sheet with all of the parts and part numbers. That would save some money.

 

Do you have PN for that drive chain set? Because i know that they arent 1600 directly from borg warner.

 

Wouldn't it make better sense just to change the cheaper upgraded chain more often... perhaps when you do a trans fluid change at the same time.

If you are going to beat on the car with a turbo you might as well do that instead.

Besides... I'm not sure but I thought I heard the 1" chain costs a lot more than $1600 right now.

 

As far as I know the GMR 1" chain is no better or worse then the 7/8" chain regardless of size. From what I have heard in high torque applications the 4t65e case around the stator support is actually flexing and causing premature failure of the drive chain, due to chain walk across the sprocket. By the time you ever need the 1" drive chain for its strength you have already exceeded the mechanical limits of the rest of the transmission by leaps and bounds. Honestly if your planning on exceeding 450hp, id tell you to start looking at a different car a this point. And while I admire the fact that some of you out there are getting the 4t80 to work in these cars, your still gonna run into the same issue, and the availability of performance parts is slim to none for the 80e where as the 65e at least has a decent aftermarket behind it. I decided a while ago after realizing the limitations of the platform where my investment would end with this car. Building a sufficiently decent 350whp all motor build is much more realistic of what this car is capable of handling.

 

Personally I don't need the transmission to last forever nor do I expect it to.... the way the car drives now, I can honestly say it will be worth it having to spend money on rebuilding the trans from time to time.

The route I chose is not for everyone I would expect. I live not even a couple hours from cartuning in Toronto... His customer service, knowledge, and rebuild parts goes beyond ridiculous in my opinion... so for me If I have to spend money having him do the trans all over again one day I'm going to do it. Now with that said, if I did NOT live so close to him I would have just kept the car stock.

For me, proximity to quality knowledgeable builders was easily the deciding factor for doing what I have done. It wasn't cheap I won't lie... DOD delete, cam and lapping the valves, etc alone ran me about $4000 after 13% taxes we pay here.... etc etc... I have no tools nor a shop to work... or even the desire to even begin to acquire all the necessary tools and knowledge needed to rebuild my own trans or engine etc... so I gladly pay people to do things I don't know how to do. I sell cars for a living. Watching someone dump $25,000 or more on a crappy 140WHP or whatever car that will be worth next to nothing in 6-7 years.... your perspective changes A LOT as to what "VALUE" means and where the happy mid point between cost and performance gains meet.

I can tell you after driving my car stock for nearly 3 years.... having driven countless other cars performance cars and otherwise.... I see VALUE in what I have now... regardless if the trans needs a rebuild 3-4 years or say 40,000 KM from now...

PLus I dunno... I don't want a better platform at the moment.... don't want a mustang or Camaro or supra or even a turbo honda civic... Maybe a G8 turbo one day who knows... but for now the GXP is it.... for me. I have a car nearly as fast as the HELLCAT chargers and c7 vettes in my area... and way faster than EVERYTHING else I meet.... I have 4 doors, dual zone auto ac, sunroof, heads up display, power seat, decent radio, steering wheel controls, decent looking car lowered and blacked out etc etc... Believe me my car turns as many heads as mustang... Heck even my insurance is next to nothing compared to what I'd pay for a mustang etc.... '

What more do you need in a car than a 500+ HP LS4?

 

With the 7/8 chain it starts to stretch the more power you throw at it. When he rebuilt my transmission he said it had stretched and he put in a new one. Also when I first ordered it he recommended the 7/8 chain be replaced every couple of years at my power level (350whp back then).

 

I've never heard of a 1 inch snapping or stretching.

 

Wow that's crazy. You have to change it every couple of years and yours had already stretched? I would think it has to be more of the quality of chain being used. GM 1 inch chain and you are set for life but get one 1/8 smaller and requires every other year replacement, that doesn't even sound right. Not questioning you, it just sucks. Isn't there also a 15/16th chain? 350HP is not over the top power, these chains don't really seem like much of an upgrade if constant changing is the case. Just my 2 cents, don't have one, probably wont either.

 

4t80 e has twice the size of critical componets to handle power people have pushed well over 500 wheel on slicks in these transmissions in stock form. Your not going to break a 4t80 easily. I also recall the 650whp Cadillac Seville turbo on the stock trans. Compare that to a 6k build on a 4t65 and you have a very real upgrade almost here.

 

I find that to be insane, seeing as how I know GTP guy's with that same exact chain and gear setup, with close to and over 400 ft lbs of input torque going into that trans and havent had any issues with their chain drive, which should be in many ways more aggressive then what the LS4 can put down without a turbo. Hell my friends GTP had almost 100,000 miles on his built 4t65e with the 7/8" chain running that kinda power, and the new owner still beats the ***** off of it to this day.

 

Straight from Dave when I was ordering my transmission:

"Gear ratio wise- 350 to 375whp is about the most I honestly like to put to a 3.29 ratio single chain set as they are known to stretch with short life at much more than this, but it really depends on driving habits, tune, track use, etc so can be a hard number to set on. We do have customers over 375whp with the 3.29 ratio that do just fine, just something I like to warn people about especially cars that are daily drivers."

And then here's an email from him about my rebuild:

"The chain has a little stretch which is to be expected from the single chains so I am going to install a new chain."