I have a 4l60e tranny in my 87 bird with a 383 LT1 that has a rebuild kit from Dana at Probuilt trannys. I rebuilt it with the pro street elite kit that can handle 700+ horse. Last year the tranny held up great, but this year I am thinking about doing 1st to 2nd gear burn outs to warm the tires up. How much harder on the tranny is this going to create? Or should I just continue to only do 1st gear?

 

ive been told that doing burnouts in 1st gear is hard on tranny compared to higher gears. Had something to do with the stress on the sprag or input shaft. You should be fine with going into second, i go into third to do mine.

 

I have no idea on the 4L60, but the 4L80 is basically a TH400 with an extra OD gear. I changed my routine during the burnout yrs ago, when i roll in in 1st gear, i hit the water, burp the throttle to spin the tire and get the whole things damp, i stop, hit the LL, shift into second gear. When the water box guy give the okay i get the tires rolling and then immediately shift to 3rd gear.

benefits:
lower engine rpm's since tire speed is alot faster through gearing
shorter burnout duration since tires spinning faster they warm up faster
saves the tranny since when they're in high gear, the internals are all locked together, so when your rolling out and it dead hook it transfers the shock throughout the entire tranny that is coupled as opposed to the sprag only when pulling out in second gear...which pulling out of the water in 1st or second puts alot of stress on a few delicate parts only instead of all the parts linked together.

 

Wheel speed. You need wheel speed to properly heat up the tires. Don't come out of the water box in second gear, unless you have a powerglide. If you hit drive pavement with the wheels spinning in second gear, you can destroy the intermediate sprag. First gear only doesn't get enough wheel speed.

Normally you start in first, as soon as the wheels start spinning, shift to second, let off the line lock and shift to third as you start to come out of the water box.

Cars like mine with lots of torque and a full manual valve body, I do my burnout in high gear.

 

i do very similar to IHI, but i start in first gear (little 305 needs a *little* help), go to second almost immediately, then third and roll out in third.

 

On a th350, I start in 2nd, stab the throttle and pop it in 3rd immediatly. Only do a 3 or 4 sec burnout, but I have a big tire car with deep gears. Running a 5.67 with 32x14.5 Hoosiers. I went to a glide this year, going to try it the same way. Find out in a couple weeks.