Sm465 to 4l60E swap

[Kyle Childress]

I have a 4l60E out of a z71 I used to own and 4.56s and a sm465 are killing me in the drivability dept. Anyone else swapping one in? I have no doubts it can handle it, just seeing what other people encountered when doing the swap. It's no trouble controlling it. I have Holley efi and a dominator already. GPS speedo. Need to know nitty gritty mechanical stuff.

 

[4WDKC]

1 you need to know if you have the 27 or 32 spline tcase
2 if you have the 32 spline its less work to swap in a 4l80, 4l60 is not recommended, sell it to someone that needs one and find a 4l80
3 both will require cross member relocation, shortening of rear drive shaft and lengthen of front shaft, 4 speed column or floor shifter, radiator with cooler or aftermarket cooler.
4 why not go nv4500? Its supposed to be like the sm465 but with over drive.

 

[78C10BigTen]

1 you need to know if you have the 27 or 32 spline tcase
2 if you have the 32 spline its less work to swap in a 4l80, 4l60 is not recommended, sell it to someone that needs one and find a 4l80
3 both will require cross member relocation, shortening of rear drive shaft and lengthen of front shaft, 4 speed column or floor shifter, radiator with cooler or aftermarket cooler.
4 why not go nv4500? Its supposed to be like the sm465 but with over drive.

Can you clarify that for me? What is the nv4500? Is that the 5spd from the gmt400's? Im just curious because i see it and im not familiar what it is.

 

[Kyle Childress]

Can you clarify that for me? What is the nv4500? Is that the 5spd from the gmt400's? Im just curious because i see it and im not familiar what it is.

The NV4500 is a 5psd that came in the GMT400 trucks and dodge full size trucks, great transmission but pricey around here. It was my original plan to swap In a NV4500 but I just want to get away from a manual entirely the more I think about it.

I have considered a 4L80, but changed my mind because I already own a 4L60. Was trying to use what I have, my 4l60E is out of a 96 Z71. so it should have the 32 spline shaft, which means I couldn't run my Tcase as I have a NP205. Could I get a NP241 out of a 87-91 blazer/suburban? They came behind a 700R4 and should work with my 4l60?

 

[CSFJ]

A NV4500 is often said to be heavy-duty lime the sm465, but with an overdrive gear. They require running a special fluid, you can't simply dump some 80-90w in and call it good. The half ton gmt400 trucks ran a NV3550 trans. The problem you're going to run into, is your transfer case is going to have the coarse 10 spline input shaft in it, and I don't believe you'll be able to use your existing adapter either, it may depend on which trans you end up using. The easiest solution may be to source a complete trans/t-case assembly.


A later 205 with the round pattern adapter would also have a 32 spline input.

 

[Kyle Childress]

If I source a 4l80 what transfer case is the easiest to adapt to it?

 

[Kyle Childress]

1 you need to know if you have the 27 or 32 spline tcase
2 if you have the 32 spline its less work to swap in a 4l80, 4l60 is not recommended, sell it to someone that needs one and find a 4l80
3 both will require cross member relocation, shortening of rear drive shaft and lengthen of front shaft, 4 speed column or floor shifter, radiator with cooler or aftermarket cooler.
4 why not go nv4500? Its supposed to be like the sm465 but with over drive.

My radiator has a cooler made into it, but I also have a little 13row wide oil/trans cooler sitting here I had planned on using for a LS swap Camaro I had. Car is gone but a lot was left over from that. Can I adapt a tilt column I have out of a 80 model truck to work with a 4spd auto? if I can do that shifter is sorted no problem. Moving cross member is easy too, its just some holes drilled. Main concern is transfer case and adapters id need. I want it to be as seamless as possible once I get to go in.

 

[4WDKC]

The NV4500 is a 5psd that came in the GMT400 trucks and dodge full size trucks, great transmission but pricey around here. It was my original plan to swap In a NV4500 but I just want to get away from a manual entirely the more I think about it.

I have considered a 4L80, but changed my mind because I already own a 4L60. Was trying to use what I have, my 4l60E is out of a 96 Z71. so it should have the 32 spline shaft, which means I couldn't run my Tcase as I have a NP205. Could I get a NP241 out of a 87-91 blazer/suburban? They came behind a 700R4 and should work with my 4l60?

use the adapter fromthe 4l60 with a 241 from a 87-91 or possibly a 208 with VSS sensor swapped in tcase instead of tcase. 4l60 and 700r4 same trans.

If I source a 4l80 what transfer case is the easiest to adapt to it?

Make sure you get the adapter with it from the donor you will need it, you want a 32 spline 241 or 208 with vss like mentioned above.

My radiator has a cooler made into it, but I also have a little 13row wide oil/trans cooler sitting here I had planned on using for a LS swap Camaro I had. Car is gone but a lot was left over from that. Can I adapt a tilt column I have out of a 80 model truck to work with a 4spd auto? if I can do that shifter is sorted no problem. Moving cross member is easy too, its just some holes drilled. Main concern is transfer case and adapters id need. I want it to be as seamless as possible once I get to go in.

as long as the cooler hasnt been used before otherwise it should be flushed so no risk of something getting in your new trans. I has to do with the PRNOD21 selector cable/rods. You will also need the shifter linkage to swap the column.

 

[Kyle Childress]

how difficult is it to swap to the later column? I have one from a 88 K5 that is loose, but I can tighten the tilt back up.

 

[4WDKC]

not entirely sure but off the top of my head the turn signal switches are different, steering shaft to gear box is different, ignition switch might be different.

 

[Kyle Childress]

Ok, thank you all for the helpful advice. At this point I'm going to stick with my 4l60E I already own..... I know its not ideal and a 4l80E would be better but I've got this one just here. Going to get a NP241 from a k5/burb that came behind a 700r4 and roll with it. I don't do anything stupid with the truck, its just a driver that looks like it could haha. Seeing how I already have a hole in my floor pan I'm just going to use a floor mounted shifter too, seems pretty straight forward once you all explained the trans/transfer case combos that would work. Thanks again for the advice and knowledge, as always you guys come to the rescue.

 

[HotRodPC]

You can't get that 700r4 that came with the NP241? You're willing to buy a controller just to use the 4L60-E? I could see the expese for a 4l80-E, but for a 4L60-E, the 88 and up 700r4's are as durable as the 4L60-E, don't need the controller and share all the same internals. The 700r4 and 4L60-E are equal with exception one uses a TV cable and governor to determine shift points, the 4L60-E uses the ECM to control shift points.

 

[Kyle Childress]

You can't get that 700r4 that came with the NP241? You're willing to buy a controller just to use the 4L60-E? I could see the expese for a 4l80-E, but for a 4L60-E, the 88 and up 700r4's are as durable as the 4L60-E, don't need the controller and share all the same internals. The 700r4 and 4L60-E are equal with exception one uses a TV cable and governor to determine shift points, the 4L60-E uses the ECM to control shift points.

My truck already has Holley EFI, which means I can control the 4l60E with my EFI set up, literally just a plug and play harness which I have right here at my desk at work, so no extra controller is needed in my application. My main question is what Transfer case can run with as little modification as possible, and I believe its the NP241 from a 87-91 K5/Suburban should work if I understand everything I am reading above, should be the same spline count and will bolt up to my 4l60E, just have to have my drive shafts modified, move my crossmember back a bit and hammer down.

 

[bucket]

With your GPS speedo, you can open up your search. You can use an '81-'88 np208 or an '89-'91 np241. If you specifically needed cable or electric speedo, '90 and '91 are the only years for electric.

 

[Kyle Childress]

With your GPS speedo, you can open up your search. You can use an '81-'88 np208 or an '89-'91 np241. If you specifically needed cable or electric speedo, '90 and '91 are the only years for electric.

Yup speedo isn't a concern. Which is the better transfer case? I have a lead on a 208 from a mid 80s k5 and I can get it dirt cheap.