I know quite a few guys out there are running TH400 in their trucks / buggies. What I am wondering is if you are using a manual VB or just a shift kit. My truck is a 77' 1 ton Chevy with 4.88's and 44's. Currently, it has a TCI kit and shifts like grandma coming home from the grocery store :mad: :confused: WTF ?? Anyway, I have another tranny sitting on the floor which I am looking at rebuilding and swapping out of the truck. I know that a manual valve body would eliminate ANY soft shifting, but having the automatic part is nice for general trail riding.

Any preferences on shift kits??? on manual valve bodies???

I recently put in a B & M shift kit into a drag car and it seemed a lot nicer than the TCI junk. It also woke up the 120,000 mile tranny more than my rebuilt 400 with the TCI. :D Just in case you are wondering, the TH400 in my truck has good line pressures, is full of fluid, etc... everything is normal. Also, this is not the first 400 I have rebuilt.

I like the B&M Transpak kits (more expensive than their Shift Improver Kits) of all the kits I've used. Full auto for me--the full manuels can go in hard when downshifting and also when downshifting under power which is almost never necessary.

Jason :)

My truck's fully manual. B&M Turbo 400 stage 3 kit. It's more of a mud truck, but I can kick it down from second to first from like, 3000 RPM (which'll shoot it up to around 5500) for the extra torque.... I can put it in second from idle and pull away without spinning the tires... row from 3rd to Reverse in no time (instead of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, back to reverse...

Fully manual reverse valve body, and I swear by it.

Edit: It feels like a mule kicked me in the back of the head every time you shift up or down when under power. Also, when it's cold it feels like it's going to explode the 14 bolt when it shifts, even under no power. As an aside, that lets you know you have good, positive shifts.

FULL REVERSE PATTERN VALVE BODY....I will never have anything else in my trucks.....

I run from 400 Hp to 1000 Hp in various trucks I have had and there is nothing like being thrown back in the seat when you shift gears running 44's.....LOL

:D :D

i pulled my th400 from a military ambulance with 8K on the odo. i slapped it in as is into my jeep and i like it just the way it is. i hear alot of people say reversed manual vb is the way to go but i'd have to drive one and really like it to change because like i said, i like it the way it is.

Any brand of reverse pattern manual valve bodies are better than the others?? Or does one guy make them for about everyone?

I am still tossing around the idea of throwing in the B&M kit with TH400 fixes, (i.e. flipping the 2-3 accumulator piston over and removing the return spring, etc....) and see how firm that is. Full auto is nice, but if getting firm shifts means going manual then manual it is!!:D

Originally posted by mnstr_fx
Any brand of reverse pattern manual valve bodies are better than the others?? Or does one guy make them for about everyone?

I am still tossing around the idea of throwing in the B&M kit with TH400 fixes, (i.e. flipping the 2-3 accumulator piston over and removing the return spring, etc....) and see how firm that is. Full auto is nice, but if getting firm shifts means going manual then manual it is!!:D

I run all TCI stuff......it's never let me down....I even get the heat treated shafts....One thing though I have my Trans. work done by the guy who does "Grave Diggers"...work..;) :D

I have my Trans. work done by the guy who does "Grave Diggers"...work..

and who would that be? And how do we get ahold of him?:D

Brook

Just installed a TH400 with Art Carr reverse manual valve body into my Blazer, I think that Art Carr is the only vb with compression breaking but I could be wrong. She snaps pretty good from 1st to 2nd with the 37's on but is a lot more tame with the 39.5's. So far I love it, only had it in for a few days but will get to do Moab this week.

Originally posted by bgreen


and who would that be? And how do we get ahold of him?:D

Brook

His name is "Robert" & he owns/operates R.S. Custom Trans. Inc. PM me for his contact info....:D :p

Damn tim you're up awful early this mornin.... hows the project(s) comin these days? I still needta get out there one of these days and check out yer operation. I just picked up a basket case 86 xcab with a sas. Im goin v-8 th350 as soon as I sell off some of my other junk. Anyhoo, have a good one brotha'.

-j-rOd

Originally posted by jhama78
Damn tim you're up awful early this mornin.... hows the project(s) comin these days? I still needta get out there one of these days and check out yer operation. I just picked up a basket case 86 xcab with a sas. Im goin v-8 th350 as soon as I sell off some of my other junk. Anyhoo, have a good one brotha'.

-j-rOd

Yeah trying to beat the heat....Just about got the "new" one ready to roll...Cool Deal on the new ride.....I'm usually not to far from here.....catch you later.....:D

Here is what I am up against....I have a built chevy 4.3...nothing spectacular but about a 260 horse motor. The turbo 350 I have in right now hits so hard between 1 and 2nd I used to tear out rear ends on the road all the time....I haven't in awhile b/c I let off the power and let it shift. This sucks. The guy that built the tranny made it do this though shortning springs and replacing the cushioning disks with brass ones and all sorts of TN engineering??

What is the theory on shifts...I want a crisp shift but not like someone is running in the back of my truck like it is now. I dont want grandmas caddy but I don't need dragcar shifts either.

I am putting a new motor in in a week that is a 350-370 horse and my little toyota 8inch bitch rear end will not last with it. Should I have it built back to stock. or what????
Rick

Originally posted by Rootbass
Here is what I am up against....I have a built chevy 4.3...nothing spectacular but about a 260 horse motor. The turbo 350 I have in right now hits so hard between 1 and 2nd I used to tear out rear ends on the road all the time....I haven't in awhile b/c I let off the power and let it shift. This sucks. The guy that built the tranny made it do this though shortning springs and replacing the cushioning disks with brass ones and all sorts of TN engineering??

What is the theory on shifts...I want a crisp shift but not like someone is running in the back of my truck like it is now. I dont want grandmas caddy but I don't need dragcar shifts either.

I am putting a new motor in in a week that is a 350-370 horse and my little toyota 8inch bitch rear end will not last with it. Should I have it built back to stock. or what????
Rick

or i could bring u down a rear dana 60 when I come.. =]

I guess I wouldn't break that. I think a good build on the tranny will fix it though. You will see when you ride in my truck benny it shifts like a monster!!!

can't wait.. mine better be at least that rough =]

Originally posted by MR4WD


Fully manual reverse valve body, and I swear by it.

.


I agree 100% FULL CONTROL.
Dan

Not sure about you guys but I've went thru countless hard tire barking shifting TH 350's once you start putting them in rigs heavier than 4000 lbs with good traction. Internals start snapping, even had a few cases crack in half. Even my Mom was having problems with TH 350's in her Buick when I set them up to shift a bit to hard! Better to have a tamer shift than break the transmission on a full throttle shift! Never had a probem with tire barking shifts with the four cars and trucks I have put TH 400 in. Even a 7500lb one ton dually 14ft box van that would bark the duallies and lift the front of the van on shifts--never had a problem!

Jason :)

Bringing this back to life, so don't tell me to search! :flipoff2:

My last trans (TH350) had a full manual rev pattern VB in it. I HATED it. Primarily I hated the lack of compression braking, which I realize is available now (It wasn't at the time that valve body was purchased), but I also just did not like the harsh shifts and I didn't feel like I was able to get to reverse gear any faster than a normal pattern. I'm using a TH400 in my current build and I know for a fact that I don't want another rev. man. valve body. I'm going to cut my own custom gate for my shifter which will allow me to get to rev as fast as I want, even from 1st gear. And I like the idea of having auto avaialable whilst still being able to hold it in 1st and 2nd gear. About the only issue I want to address is how fast it shifts into reverse gear. Will a shift kit help with this and if so, which one would ppl recommend?

J. J.

I swear to god we were separated at birth!

I'm going to play with a stock unit first to get a feeling for things and to evaluate some torque converter stall speeds, but eventually I'll be searching for a fwd pattern auto VB that has firmish but not harsh shifts, good compression braking, and is able to hold 1st and/or 2nd to any rpm and allows for a quick shift to reverse...so I'm watching this to see what people have to say.

Anyone read this? I never knew about the automatic low gear override ... has anyone experienced that?

http://insanityfab.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=605&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=0

I'm kind of confused as to what that mod does. Does it give you full manual or just eliminate the low gear override?

J. J.

Reads to me like it just eliminates the upshift from 1 to 2.

I have heard/read many conflicting reports on this shift - some say there stock ones don't, some say ot does. maybe a model or application difference?

Yet I have read that there is a way to make a stock TH400 valve body shift full manual and the descriptions I've read read similar to those instructions. This modification is not documented as well though.

J. J.

Man, thsi one really took off. :rolleyes:

I did revive it on a weekend though so maybe brining it to the top will garner some more tech ... still very interested in this.

J. J.

Reads to me like it just eliminates the upshift from 1 to 2.

I have heard/read many conflicting reports on this shift - some say there stock ones don't, some say ot does. maybe a model or application difference?
I know think there are one or two valve bodies available depending on the year. I will get my service manual out and see tomorrow.

J. J.

FYI, there were 2 different valve bodies available throughout the years. One had 6 check balls, the other had 7. I don't know if this has anything to do with the lo-gear override feature. The 6-ball version went from 1965 - 1987. The 7-ball was 1988 - 1990.

J. J.

I swear to god we were separated at birth!

I'm going to play with a stock unit first to get a feeling for things and to evaluate some torque converter stall speeds, but eventually I'll be searching for a fwd pattern auto VB that has firmish but not harsh shifts, good compression braking, and is able to hold 1st and/or 2nd to any rpm and allows for a quick shift to reverse...so I'm watching this to see what people have to say.

sorry, NOT TH400 specific...

but I've played quite a bit w/ C6's...

and for what your talking about Bill, I've never liked full manual VB for just that reason, when you're just putting around, slamming between gears just seems completely un-necessary.
I've found the Trans-Go 'shift kits' to be the best, so far as providing what feels like the 'correct' shift firmness. My last one would still chirp my 42 on pavement 1-2 shift at WOT, but just putting around would just shift 'normal' and not be slamming between gears all the time. I've liked the trans-go stuff much better than the B&M and TCI kits I've tried.

--B