Quote:
Originally Posted by Wasted Income
I am not sure that you will be happy with a 4L65E for that rig. If you are gonna mod that 6.0 at all, or have big ol tires on the other end, that 65 won't last long. If you haven't spent the coin on a trans yet, do yourself a favor and step up to a 4L80E and don't look back  |
I went back and forth on this quite a bit. I was worried that the 4L65e wouldn't be strong enough then two things popped into my head. Overall length, and Hummer H2s.
The overall length of the 4L80e is such that even with the engine moved forward a few inches my NP205 shifter would have to be moved back in between my seats, or at least down to the edge of the center hump. I didn't like that.
Next was the H2s. Up until 2006-2007 (I forget exactly) they had an LQ4 with 325 HP in front of a 4L65e with 35 inch tall tires from the factory and they seem to hold up fine. Hell, half the time you see them lifted with bigger tires, etc. This is basically the exact drive train I plan to put together and I won't be doing any heavy off-roading or anything to push it to the limit. In addition you had other vehicles like the Denalis and Silverado 1500HDs with the same set up. From there we had some of the LQ9 engines (345 HP) in front of the 4L65e like the older Escalade all wheel drive, Vortec Max and Silverado SS. Over the last couple years most of these vehicles have moved on to some form of the 6.2L engine with a 6L90e tranny, but for 7 or 8 years the LQ4/4L65e held up fine. That being said, I 100% agree that the 4L80e would be stronger, but when considering the extra cost, length, weight, parasitic power loss, etc, I'm gonna go with the 65 and take my chances.
One last thing, I of course plan to rebuild the 4L65e to the strongest measure reasonably possible to help my chances.
