myself ive got a 354 hemi blown needing a good realiable ****** with overdrive. not really sure which one to go with i thought about making a thread to go into a deep decussion on the subject. first whats out there? 350 turbo 400 turbo 700r4 blah blah blah....im not sure so can someone make a good list? second what is the pros and cons of each one.
First off, GM doesn't make an AOD, Ford does. However if you've got the cash, there's a ****** builder on Long Island that builds a very nice Ford AOD. They're pricey, but they're probably the best. TH 350's & TH400's are not an overdrive ****** and would require the use of something like a Gear Vendors Overdrive unit. Again, pricey and take up more space and add more weight. Now, you didn't give any details about your build other than it was a blown Hemi. This says absolutely nothing! I've seen blown engines with 400 horse and I've seen blown engines with 8000 horse. A ****** built to withstand 1000 horse won't hold up to 2000 horse and would be overkill for 400 horse. Do you know your engine's horsepower and torque numbers? If your engine was not dyno'd guess but be realistic. If you say your engine has 800 horse when it really has only 470 horse, it will cost you a lot more money for a ****** than you'll need or use.
waddayacare....you made me feel silly in the fact i didnt overview my post and posted something that didnt make sense...but your right. i dont know what i was thinking. hemi. im predicting 500-600hp. going to be street driven. every now and then im going to get on the gas. reason for overdrive is i want to be able to run this on the highway doing 75-80mph.
Are you ever going to take it to the track (once means yes)? With sticky tires (slicks/drag radials)?
He did mention the GM" 700 R/4 ",it's overdrive and so is the "200 4 /R ", they just don't call them "AOD".
I sort of asked the same questions and Squirrel ( haven't seen him in a while) got me to rethink things. First blown hemi and OD really don't belong in the same sentence , its just not right. Second consider the whole package and what RPM your engine needs to run at. After you get that figured out , you'll need to decide rear gears with 0.7x OD and they will be numerically higher. OK follow all that so far ? Remember and write it down if you have to. Now since the OD trans has a low first gear and you have gobs of torque under your toe in a light car- this equals a first gear that's useless ( because of the rear gear x low firs gear) or blown hemi torque that's useless. In other words you will have 3 usable gears 2,3 and OD 4. 1st will result in tire smoke or not enough rpm for engine or using 1 st in 10 feet. You don't need that or want that. There will be no mashing of the loud pedal doing any good. OK follow that so far ? Rethink time Take your rpm and recalculate rear gear with 1:1 final. Now with a 3 speed you'll have a little bit different first gear and numerically lower rear gears and still the gobs of torque. You'll be able to get it out if the hole with decent rpm and it will be up to you if you want the tires up in smoke. Your cruise rpms will be the same and your mpg will be close. The invention of OD trans was multifactorial. Anemic no balls smog engines needed help to get moving. Lower first gear x numerical higher rear gear did that and do it well. If they stopped there milage would be in the Dumper. So they added a 0.7x OD at the top. Effectively reducing the much needed numerically higher rear gear by 0.7x .
either trans is a GOOD choice, both need to be modified to live behind the baby elephant. AAA transmission in kansas city (independence) $750 out the door w/ warranty. drag race it ..he doesn't care it's covered. he likes the 200 4 R better
http://www.tciauto.com/tc/gear-ratios/ Here's the ratios for trans gears. A 200 will cost you big money A 700 has the lower first From the GM family A th400 is what you need to hold up to the torque. Electric kickdown so no goofy linkage and cables. A 727 is also a great ( probably better) choice, needs a cable/ rod contraption or a manual valve body.
Okay, we're gonna go down this road again. SB8 check this out for your considerations: http://www.webrodder.com/article.php?AID=426&SID=6 Warranties are great, but how many times do you want to pull it out to collect on that warranty. You can also have a 4L60e built with NO electronics and NO T.V. cable or a 700R4 with manual shift and no T.V. cable.
This is always an interesting discussion when it comes up,with 5-600HP do you need an overdrive a strong 3 speed and playing with diff gears and tire size might get you to the same place and you could use a Mopar ****** that may be easier to adapt.
I know several guys with G***ers that run overdrives, all of them are 700R4's. I also know a guy with an O/T '69 Camaro that was built to compete in the Worlds Fastest Street Car compe***ion that uses a TH400 and a 36 inch tall tire with a huge engine who claims he's getting great gas mileage. So yes, it could work. But for optimum fuel economy you're not going to beat an overdrive.
It's not so much 'overdrive' itself as it is an effective final drive (trans gearing, rearend, tire size) that'll keep cruise RPM down to ~2000 (and camming and a fuel-delivery system that'll let the engine run efficiently at that speed.) From there you can consider how much acceleration/overall lower-gear ratio matters, unless you're carrying a lot of weight or have a uniquely torqueless blower setup the spacing between intermediate gears may not matter so much. The best transmission in a heavier vehicle would clearly be a 6L80. Six gears and it's used from the factory behind more powerful engines than what you've got. But...it's got an internal ECU and swap support in the aftermarket's sp****. Answer to your original question: the Ford AOD can definitely be built for the power level you're at, I think the 700R4/4L60 can as well but I'm not as familiar with them.
I originally was going to tun a 700R4, but switched when I realized that it wouldn't live at my power levels (850 h.p., 740# TQ), so I went with a 4L80E- By the way, there are now manual shifting options for a 4L80E-if you want something that is bullet proof and offers good gas mileage, IMHO they are the way to go- If you choose to use a 700R4 at 600 hp, be ready to know the underside of your car intimately, as you will be taking that ****** out for repair often-
LOL!!! My 700R4 was dyno'd at 900 horse. Put it in the car back in 2010, logged many street miles and have so many time slips that if I put them in my back pocket I'd be taller sitting down than when I'm standing up. The only time I go under the car is to change the oil and un-cork the headers. LOL!
Good for you! Yours must have some major mods, as that Trans was factory rated at 360# of Torque-you are one lucky Hombre'- I will admit that I wanted a bullet-proof solution, and had mine built to handle 1000 h.p. with a billet 3000 Converter (Jakes Stage IV Trans/Converter)-
The 4L80E is a very good transmission, it's a bit larger dimensionally so there's places it probably won't fit (though it's nothing like as big as the comparable Ford E4OD/4R100.) And, of course, it'll need an ECU and throttle-position sensors and at least in factory form it does not have a speedo gear drive. If one were going for manual shifting...IMO at least for street use one may as well put in a TKO600 and use that third pedal.
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