upping the tranny line pressure vs Transgo shift kit

pros and cons of each

i'll start...people say that upping the line pressure will prematurely wear out seals and gaskets...but yet there is no CONCRETE PROOF of this...it is a theory...also people like bryan from pcmforless and Ion at madz28 up customers line pressure every day in their firmer shifts tune...


Somepeople say the trans go kit is junk and that it is money wasted as it essentially does the same thing as boosting line pressure.

i know these were half *** opinions but what are yours...

 

I also have heard the theory around boosting line pressure. It sounds concrete, but I agree I've seen no actual evidence supporting this.

From what I understand the trans-go actually eliminates or fixes the "weak" points of a stock transmission. Anyone who has bought a kit knows it not something that just boosts line pressure. It also has the versatility to hold 1,2,3 gears to any rpm, you can set it to shift reasonable at part throttle, and hard at wot, and other things I don't have the accurate knowledge to get into, etc. Plus although boosting line pressure creates firmer shifts it does nothing to aid in minimizing internal clutch slippage like a true shift kit does. Which from what I understand is the biggest cause of heat, and we all know heat kills these transmissions.

I agree the price difference is definately crap, but with almost anything on these cars it's "ya get what ya pay for". Spending $40 bucks for one of those B&M line pressure booster things, or $110 for an actual shift kit(trans-go) seems kinda right to me. It's like spending $250 bucks for some off the shelf stall converter or spending $750 for a vigilante. You know what your gonna get with the PI, but who knows what you'll get with the off the shelf.

 

quoted on this forum by a tranny builder....
"The 4l60E needs more things addressed internally to make it a good performance transmission. A shift kit is merely a "band-aid" on a bullet wound. The fact is what most people don't realize is their transmissions will last LONGER without a "Trans-Stop" shift kit in it. The fact is Trans-Go kits tear stuff up. They cause premature 2-4 band and 3-4 clutch failure.
The single most important part of a high RPM 4L60E is the pump slide spring. These transmissions were designed to drop pressure at high RPMs. This is OK for a normal car, but it doesn't work very well in a performance application. You can put whatever "kit" in it you'd like, but until you get the 3-4 "load release" springs out of the forward drum, you're going to keep burning 3-4 clutches up.
In a 4L60E, you only need to raise the pressure to make it shift firmer, raising the pressure will help the transmission (within reason), because higher pressure gives the clutches less chance to slip. Higher pressure is only part of the solution, though.
You've still got a weak input sprag, 3-4 "load release" springs, and a stock slide spring, etc. to address.
"Holding Power" is also important in a performance transmision. I build my racing transmissions with the best frictions and bands available.

To accurately answer your question. No, you don't need a "shift kit" to make a transmission shift firmer. There are too many "free mods" that you can do to a 700/4L60E to make it shift better and last longer. You just need to know what your doing. I've got high 10 /low 11 second 700/4L60E's out there that don't have a shift kit in them. Just a little knowledge, and almost 15 years experience.

Frank

interesting