firedawg225

ANyone have some advice or how good the OD setup is. you know the one that add 2 gears to any transmission and cost about 2 grand. (i'm getting a deal on one) Good swap any input??

here is my current setup


383 Stroker w/Holley Stealth Ram
Chevy Small Block 350 2 bolt one piece seal
Holley Stealth Ram with 30lb injectors
Commander 950 Computer
Eagle Internally Ballanced 383 rotating assembly B13052L
SRP pistons SRP138103
6.0 inch Eagle I beam rods with ARP bolts 103523750I
Comp Cams Custom grind cam
Duration @ .50 224 230
Lobe lift 335 340
Lobe sep 112 centerline 108
64cc Aalumnium Heads w/angled plugs
Comp Cams Pro Magnum 1.52 Roller Rockers
Holley Small Cap Distributor 890-160
Probulit Automatics 700R4 Tranny
ACT 9.5' Converter 2600RPM stall
DynoMax Coated Headers
Crane HI-6 Ignition system w/L92 Coil
Accel 300+ 8.8mm Ignition wires
DynoMax Cat Back system
DynoMax Ultra Flow muffler w/ 3 1/2 crome tips
Upgrades to a 3.73 rear with a Zexel Torsen Carrier
Kumho 711 Tires
Spohn 700R4 Tranny mount w/ torque arm and drive shaft loop
Spohn Adjustable LCA
Spohn Adjustible Panhard Bar
Spohn Subframe connectors welded in
Trash 3" Driveshaft (210)342-6622

crrllmich

Can you say overdrive transmission with 1000HP capabilities?

mystikkal_69

iTrader: (2)

yeah a 4l80E.

firedawg225

trying to stay away from electric trannys or something that need a computer. I don't use a factory comutory anymore.

87camaroz28310

well the 700 r4 is the turbo 350 with overdrive and the 4l80 is the turbo 400 with overdrive... the hard part is find the 4l80 the one you dont need the computer for. and yes they made one without the electronic part but the are rare.

ljnowell

I wouldnt go so far as to say the 700r4 is a th350 with overdrive. They 700 is no where near as strong as a 350 in its stock form.

87camaroz28310

yeah it's not near is strong because gm put a steel input shaft with a aluminum drum, to save money, and it strips out ,but you can buy a steel drum from like b&m or probably any trans company and make it just as strong.

ljnowell

It goes beyond that too.

flaming-ford

iTrader: (7)

Care to elaborate for the non knowing group *like me*?

Kinda always wondered why t350s were always said to be so much stronger than the 700r4 (not that i can verify or deny these claims, just here say).

87camaroz28310

the th-350 was meant to take up to 350 ft-lbs of torque and the 400 was the same as taking 400 ft-lbs. with the 700 thought they change to measuring it with newton meters i think, which means the 700 can withstand like 200 ft-lb of torque from the factory its that simple. the 700 is just weaker and cant take a beating but you can build it to take one.

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

firedawg, are you talking about the gear vendors overdrive setup?
the one that splits your gears, and doubles the amount of gears you have? so you'd have a 6spd auto?
I was always wondering what controls it.... They're also really strong, as mentioned here. I think (from checking their website), you have to add their gizmo onto the tailshaft, so you'd have to probably change the torque arm mount, and get a shorter driveshaft, etc.

firedawg225

yes your right thats the one i'm talking about. but it would be 5speeds i think. since the 350/400 are only 3 speeds. torque arm it's a problem since i'm running spohn stuff and drifshaft is easy just have to have it shorten'd and re ballanced. i'm already running a 3" driveshaft.

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

?
It basically splits your gears I think, so your trans would be in first gear, then rather then just going through the driveshaft (pretend it's a 1:1 gear), it goes into the gear vendor first gear, say 1.4:1 ratio, so you have a VERY steep first gear, then the gear vendor part goes into it's second gear (say .7:1), then your trans shifts into second gear and your gear vendors part goes back into first.....

so 3 speeds on TH-350 x 2 speeds on GV = 6 gears. I *think* that's how it works.

The thing I never noticed while browsing their site, was how does the GV unit know when to shift? RPM? vacuum? manually? *shrug* ....

I know they make a kit for the 3rd gen, but I haven't personally heard of a single person on this site that has one, so I know I am very curious to see how it'll work out.

87camaroz28310

yeah i have seen one in action on a 454ss truck at the machine shop i got my heads done at. they told me it works pretty well and can take a beating. also the truck had some engine work done.

firedawg225

yeah i did some reading. your right 3 speed = 6 speed with the overdrive unit. the best part is it can handle over 1200HP garentee'd. the say you can beat it as much as you want and the warrenty stil covers it even if it brakes from whatever beating you put up to it. sound sweet to me

Cflick

I'm currently in this dilema myself.
The Gear Vendor is a 22% overdrive / direct drive.
They say over/under drive, because if you work it out, that 22% is *on average* about half way between most transmission ratios, so 2 over or 3 under is the same thing, thus they call it an over/under drive.
Unlike an overdrive, it has no free-wheel on over-run. It's always engaged, either direct drive or overdrive.
Split-shifting is a manual trans thing, but you could with an auto if you're REAL good.
It has a control box that can be programmed either manual shift, or auto-engage at some
speed of your choosing.
The problem with the Gear Vendor is that it's nearlly $3000.00 !! More, installed.
US Gear makes a similar unit for half the money, but not for towing, so it doesn't suit me.
US Gear ( and others ) make aux transmissions that do much the same as the Gear Vendor, but they are also $3000 or so. US Gear makes on that is a real under drive, not a named overdrive, in addition to their overdrive and aux transmissions.

Shagwell

Many things to be said about this thread....(though I realize it's a bit older)

First off, although yes, a 4l80 is essentially a T400 w/ a .72 OD gear, a T350 and a 700r have no likeness. None of the ratios are the same and entire design is different. Also, if the 700 was only rated for somewhere around 200ftlbs, GM would have never put it behind a TPI motor. The input drum is aluminum, but is NOT the major hold back or breakage of a stock 700r, the reaction shell is. Later 700's hold decent power even in a basically stock form, I would say equal to that of a stock T350. The "people" who claim 700's are weak have never had a truely good built 700. I've got one behind a seriously built short bed pickup with a blown 454 and 29X18.5 hoosier pro streets. The truck carries the tires all the way through low gear and into second on the street and has amassed over 25k miles, no issues. Also, you can buy a manual valvebody for a 4l80e from PATC, although I don't reccomend a manual vb in a true street car.

Back to topic - The idea is sound,but you'll be doing some MAJOR cutting and re-working of the trans tunnel to fit it under our cars, and you'll likely have to ditch the tq arm suspension to get it to clear, plus the exhaust routing will also need some work to clear. - All this to have a very heavy trans set-up w/ a .76(possibly .72? I can't remember) OD ratio, as they don't go steeper due to increased converter slippage trying to pull OD.

The idea is sound, but implementing it in our car's is very complex and IMO not worth it. Talk to Pro Built or PATC(raptor) about a good 700r4.....

Apeiron

You'd be adding a lot of weight, and spending a lot of money to put a Gear Vendors unit in. The O/D unit starts at around $2500, and then you need to add in the cost of the entire TH350 swap. By the time you've done everything, you could have had a good 700R4 built.

redliterunner

Love to see a picture of that.