4L60E SS Mega Monster Transmission Complete Rebuild Kit????

[97CargoCrawler]

Does anyone know anything about the 4L60E SS Mega Monster Transmission Complete Rebuild Kit as sold by this website below?

http://monstertrans.com/store/products/ ... 52d97.html

I'm probably going to be rebuilding my tranny in a few weeks and I want it to be gnarly. I came across this rebuild kit and it seems to have some good stuff but I have absolutely no experience whatsoever with automatic tranny rebuilds. So I don't know if the list of parts is good, or just over-hyped fluff.

I welcome your comments and recommendations!

[MountainManJoe]

IIRC, the weakest link in the 4L60E was the 4 pinion planetary, which is why they put 5 in the 4L65E. Sun shell is another one. I've heard of people rebuilding 60's with 65 parts.

[1Gary]

I am a huge supporter of TCI.They are a manufacture of the upgrade parts they sell which has come about threw yrs of R&D so the parts are first class and the tech line is as well.There are levels of rebuilds to choose from so if you call them up,they can suggest which one to buy.They also support the lines with the electronics's mods/controllers.As a example,they are to my knowledge,the only aftermarket company that sells a 6 speed auto which is very very expensive.But it does show their innovation's and knowledge of auto trannys.As a side note,I see in the link they offer vett servos,where TCI sells their own brand that is larger with a bigger surface area.

Just a personal pc of advise.I know you said you want gnarly,but after two months of driving it and everytime shifting it goes bang,you do tire of that.I am very sure you could build a tranny to do that and it would live very well.The other consideration is remember your only as good as your weakest link.That poor 7.5 ring gear rear end can take alot,but at some point after beating like that,it is going to show signs...........

As I think about this more,Peter had a programmer on his 502 ZZ 97 Safari van that he could dial in the shift points and how hard they where.The best of both worlds,but again very expensive.

[97CargoCrawler]

It looks like this kit comes with a 5 pinion planetary? Not sure if that's an upgrade or they just don't know the difference.

I'm looking at TCI and their kits look reasonably priced. I wish I could afford their prebuilt tranny. I don't see a complete kit just yet, looks like I'll have to piece it together if I want new servos, etc.

I need a tranny that can handle Hollywood, CA traffic. I'm forced to drive like an a$$hole otherwise I'd never get to work. Right now I'm driving my '82 FJ40 Land Cruiser and ooohhhhh does that suck. No roof, no doors totally exposed to the elements and looky-loos. Not to mention the stagecoach like suspension. I love that vehicle, but not as a daily driver. And I really miss the queen sized bed in the back of my van!

Please keep the comments and recommendations coming! I'm interested to know what kits people have used.

[MountainManJoe]

"looky-loos"?

LOL what are you doing in there?

[97CargoCrawler]

It's so annoying. You get really used to the privacy doors and a roof provide. You can't scratch or adjust, pick your nose, let your gut hang out, etc. I do have sexy legs.....

[unrreal]

the mega monster kit is the one you want to get i also came across this website a while ago basically everything on this kit is upgraded to 4l65 parts that are stronger and last longer...

[1Gary]

As I said,you can call TCI and they will walk you threw what to buy.We have been with them for a long,long time in our race operation.That company is the first check we see in the mail as contingency money on a National or Regional win and their stuff just plain works.

[97CargoCrawler]

Well I finally saved up enough money to buy their rebuilt Mega Monster SuperSport tranny and heavy duty 1650 stall torque converter. Total cost was $1660! I absolutely HATE that I will have to take the van to a dealer to have the tranny memory in the computer cleared before I can drive it. I do all my own work on my vehicle to avoid getting ripped off and having to rely on idiots. But in this case I guess I don't have a choice. I will do the install and then tow it to a dealer for the reprogramming. Does anyone have any idea what info they clear in the memory? What would be stored in there that would mess up a new tranny. Monstertrans says it must be cleared prior to driving with the new tranny.

[Smiliesafari]

I'm sure there are qualified people in your area that can do whatever needs to be done to the ECU without going to the dealer.

[mdmead]

Yeah, what Skip said! I noticed on the LS board I used to read that there were a couple of guys on there who had side-businesses reprogramming ECUs. These guys are enthusiasts and more likely to do it right. You also might check and see the capabilities of all the available OBD II readers on the market. Some of the better ones might do what you need done.

[brokenwrench]

Well I finally saved up enough money to buy their rebuilt Mega Monster SuperSport tranny and heavy duty 1650 stall torque converter. Total cost was $1660! I absolutely HATE that I will have to take the van to a dealer to have the tranny memory in the computer cleared before I can drive it. I do all my own work on my vehicle to avoid getting ripped off and having to rely on idiots. But in this case I guess I don't have a choice. I will do the install and then tow it to a dealer for the reprogramming. Does anyone have any idea what info they clear in the memory? What would be stored in there that would mess up a new tranny. Monstertrans says it must be cleared prior to driving with the new tranny.

the transmission has no intelligence, no residual intelligence, no information sent to the ECU. It is the controller that tells the transmission what to do. what they want is any residual codes to be cleared if there were error codes. any garage can do this, buy your own machine, probably as cheap. most local garages will have the handheld reader. the dealer is no going to reprogram it, they are simple going to check for residual codes.

you bought a transmission that is really meant for high hp V8 engines. I have installed the "monster in a box" kits, they are excellent. not sure you are going to like how it shifts. this can be changed but requires a lot of knowledge of spring swapping.

[97CargoCrawler]

Interesting, thanks for that info. I have an OBDII scanner that checks for codes and can clear them, but I'm not entirely sure it can access transmission error codes. I know that sounds stupid, I would assume if there were any type of error code the MIL would come on and I'd know to look for a code. The MIL has never come on. I have heard the computer stores info like mis-firings and such that my scanner cannot access. So I don't know if there is transmission info in there too that I cannot see.

I do know that about a year ago the tranny started shifting hard and now it takes forever to get up to speed. If I understand correctly, the computer told the tranny to start shifting harder once it detected slipping. If this is true then there must be some info stored in the ECU to keep it doing so. So if I bolt up a new tranny it will tell it to do the same, right? I would assume there is some sort of feedback circuit even though the tranny itself it brainless.

I have heard this tranny will feel like a kick in the ass as it shifts. I'm ok with that as long as it gets me up to highway speed in a hurry. My only worry is that I won't know the difference between it working properly or not since I have only ever driven with a stock tranny.

If anyone knows of a cheap code reader that can access all the data in the ECU please let me know.

[1Gary]

Peter had a programer in his van that he could program shift points and how hard.I understand they are pricey.

[Cobra]

no cheap one that i know of is capable of reading even half the information in the ECU the one i'm looking at is capable of reading ABS codes and such (costs $400) but i don't know if it'll do what you need. The scan tools that i believe will be capable of it i've never seen for under $1000