i have already looked pretty heavily and researched the pros and cons of the improver kit, but i havent heard what it really messes up in the tranny, just that it wears it down quicker. i was wondering if anybody has had good luck with this kit and if they would recommend it. my tranny has approx. 115,000 miles on it and is going very strong, im already able to chirp 1-2 shift every now and then. is the problem im hearing with the kit also exclusive just to the 700r4 tranny or our people with other trans of different makes having trouble with this kit. thanks for any help.

 

Wearing it down quicker is a big enough con for me. The reason being is the fact that b&m target people who want to chirp tires and they make this possible by raising line pressure and blocking accumulators. Nothing is done to improve transmission longevity.
If b&m is on your mind save your money. Block the movement of the two accumulators and put spacers in place of the servo cushion spring. Find out where the second third and a few other feed holes are in the seperator plate and enlarge them excessivly. Then you'll have the same dangerous, annoying low speed second gear chirp that the b&m kit has.
In other words I don't recommend b&m for a 700R4.

 

i thought that a b&m shift kit actually makes the tranny clutches last longer cuz it reduces clutch slippage and heat. i had one installed in my rebuilt tranny and i think the only thing it will hurt in the future is the rear end and tranny mounts.

 

I just removed a B&M manual pak for fear of needing a flak jacket on the transmission. The shifts are very hard -- to hard. It put so much undue strain in my drive line, I think it broke a damn shock, not to tell you what my U-Joints & rear end went through. Hell I was even scared I might break my hatch window.

I'll be the first on this message to recommend a Trans-Go. I used these suckers, along with B&M for greater part of fifteen years & there’s no comparison. The only driveshaft I had let go was with a B&M shift kit, and buddy that some scary **** having a rear U-Joint break, and the driveshaft slamming the car & ground @ 6000rpms! I was on a dirt road to boot. I can't even begin to imagine if I was on a flattop
With that B&M kit, I had to let of the gas to reduce that UNdue line pressure to shift after I fixed the U-Joint. (Yea I was gun shy for a while after that) Hell even today, I got so into the habit of letting off the gas to shift with B&M Kits. I'm still catching myself doing it with my new Trans-Go. I'll break that habit real soooooon with this kit though

BTW: I wouldn't recommend a B&M kit on a Ford transmission !!!

Ron

 

First, a little history. The name Shift Kit is a registered trademark of TransGo. TransGo was started in 1959 with the intention of finding the causes of complaints and failures in a particular transmission and converting that info into a kit that could be installed in the tranny.
You would be surprised that a true Shift Kit does NOT make hard shifts and is intended for passenger car and light truck use. They spend sometimes years researching a tranny to see what it does right and what it's weak points are before they can finally offer a Shift Kit for it. They also make a Reprogramming Kit which uses the Shift Kit for a particular tranny and adds HP/HD capability, and yes firmer shifts too. They generally speaking will give you the ability to select any lower gear or hold a gear to any speed with the shifter.

B&M and the like, on the other hand always have the same goal in mind: Hard Shifts. To accomplish this they have a set formula that gets applied to every transmission. A) Block or limit the smoothing devices (accumulators). B) Jack up the line pressure. C) Hog out the feed holes. The result is always hard shifts but often that has nothing to do with WHY a tranny fails and is more a RESULT of another problem causing soft, slipping shifts.

 

I had a B&M kit for a while and it worked ok. It did pound the crap out of you at part throttle shifts...that got kind of anoying.

It all breaks down to this, the B&M kit made the tires chirp but if I stabbed the gas the trans would still slip anyway. So whats the point of a shift kit if it doesn't do anything but rip tires loose?

Personally I don't care if the tires chirp or not, I just want the trans to hold the power. The B&M kit was a band-aid fix in the first place.

 

so my best bet would go and get the transgo shift kit? i looked at prices and its not that much more expensive so i might just go with that, unless somebody advises against it. thanks.

 

Thing that pisses me off about the B&M kit is that even though it is a substandard, half-assed way to improve shifts. You're paying $30+ for a set of valve body gaskets and a boost valve.

Everything else in that huge box is nothing but scrap.... Well maybe the 1/8" drill bit is worth $25.

 

Ive been reading alot of your guy's postings about the B&M kit vs. the Transgo kit, and it sounds like you all like the transgo kit better.
I'd like to know if installing this kit would fix my tranny.
I ask because I've talked to alot of people about what it is doing and I am getting alot of different answers. Autozone employee: Buy a B&M kit and install it, should fix it

Brother: Sounds like a clogged filter, do a fliter change.

Fellow people of this site : Adjust the TV cable.

Hayne's tranny repair book: Tear out the tranny and inspect every part.

Problem is that I live in an apartment and can't "tear out the tranny", but I could get away with doing a kit install, (don't need to tear out the tranny for that)
So what do YOU think?????

 

A shift kit will not fix a transmission but it may help a problem enough to make it work well for a few thousand more miles, then again it might not.
I agree with the haynes manual--tear it apart and inspect everything. In reality thats the only sure fire way to find out whats wrong with it.

 

I have to disagree that a genuine Shift Kit (TransGo) won't fix a Tranny. Of course if parts have already failed it won't but if it hasn't but is exhibiting a malfunction, in most cases the SK will fix it. BTDT. If something has failed just replacing the part often has nothing to do with why it failed and the SK is still needed to keep it going.