If you are not in a hurry for your TW tires then go for it. I bought guarddogs that were supposedly in stock. only to find I was on a 2 week waiting list. And good luck getting them to respond to an email!

 

Front and rear driveshafts are working fine so far. Slight vibration from the front (I think) between 25 and 45 mph. It might be because the shaft does not have enough angle. A 2 or 3" lift may smooth that out some (or not). Hopefully the lift won't mess up the angle on the rear shaft.

 

No hurry, just building it "One piece at a time".
How do you like the GuardDogs? Recommended size?

 

Hi, which post shows how u got the dash to work? the tach and speedo?
Thanks.

 

Speedometer signal comes from SLABS/ABS computer no need to do anything. Tach signal from GM computer needs to hook to original Rover tach wire. I picked it up at the BCM. I'll look at the RAVE and see which wire it is, but it may be different for different years. The PPM signal is apparently the same for LR and GM, 'cause it worked perfectly without any adapters or resistors. You still need the GM speed sensor on the transfer case hooked up to tell the transmission when to shift and also a bunch of other mysterious electro-mechanical mumbo jumbo signals for the GM computer.

 

Why a 60E over an 80e?

 

I couldn't wait that long. I bought Duratracs instead.

 

1. 4L80E weighs 40 lbs more.
2. 4L80E is much more heavy duty (overkill for my HP)
3. 4L80E only comes in trucks from GM and Hummer, not usually 5.3 Liter AND 4WD. Car versions are Jag and Bentley
4. 4L80E costs more to buy and way more to rebuild.
5. Of course they are mated with LSx motors from cars every day, it requires some harness work, connectors, and some basic programming.
6. 4L80E is physically bigger, probably requiring more hacking, cutting and grinding on all the stuff that's in the way.
7. Transfer case splines and shaft would also be an unknown.


The simple solution to (3), (5) and (7) would be to source a motor, transmission and transfer case from the same vehicle.... 4WD Surburban, Yukon or Avalanche. If you use one from a Gen IV vehicle, you must match engine, computer and transmission together. They talk on the CAN BUS and cannot be separated. Hummers use a stand alone transmission controller so you need it also if that is your donor vehicle.


This is all just a bunch of jibberish from a shade tree, I'm sure others have a completely different take on your question.

 

You would never need to rebuilt an 80 it would live behind a rover for 200k. A 60... ehhh I don't think so, there is a reason GM went to the 80 for the larger heavier trucks. You can find 80s in more than just the HO series GM trucks. You can use a compu-shift to control it. However, whom ever told you the motor transmission and ECU have to be from the same vechicle is crazy. I know I only have >20 post on this forum because my primary forums are Ls1tech and Yellowbullet because I am into drag racing and im also building a turbo LS1 camaro. The harness work your talking about is just to make the speed sensor work. I see you own plenty, don't see how you could be confused about some of this stuff.

 

What GM vehicle has a 4L80E other than Trucks, Vans, Big SUV's?
Novak Conversions claims the CAN BUS thing. You can run just about any popular GM transmission with a controller, that's mo' money and mo' stuff to fiddle with.
My understanding is that the connector for a 4L60E equipped harness has to be slightly repined to plug into a 4L80E. Not a big deal. Also, I think the flex plate may be different, not sure.


Anyway, there is an infinite number of ways to build a LSx combination, to each his own. I did not think it wise to invest any more money in a 15 year old truck than absolutely necessary to get the job done. After all, there was no definitive answer on whether or not this would even work until I did it.
I am confused about a lot of stuff every day, but all my cars run just fine.