i need help choosing a tranny please
 

ok i have an 82 silverado and it has the th700r4 trans and it blew out 3rd gear on me not to long ago and i need to change the trans bfore summer

so anyways i need to know wat trans i sould go with its a short bed reg cab c-10
and it has to be really straong cause the cruise around here is comin up and theres about three burnout contest that i joined (tips on how to make it easy on my trans while doin a burnout would be cool)
and i really wouldnt mind o/d :hmm:
all help would be greatly appreciated

o yea its got a 305 in it now w/ 38 thousand
but over next winter ill be droppin in a semi built 350

A 9 inch Turbo 350 is a straight swap for your 700R4 that you have now. I've swapped a heap of bad overdrives to turbo 350's in these era trucks. Most had 2.73 rear gears, so not having an overdrive isn't that critical.

The length is the same, so the driveshaft doesn't need any mod. The yoke is the same too.

The cooler lines and shift linkage and speedo cable will all bolt up.

All you have to do is move the crossmember and drill a couple of holes.

Your shift indicator on the dash won't read exactly right anymore either.

If you try, you can do the swap in 3 hours or so.

but i thought that the 350 was one of the weakest trannys???
i need something strong enough to withstand alot of wear and tear
and from wat i hear the second version of the 700r4 was pretty strong

(tips on how to make it easy on my trans while doin a burnout would be cool)

CONFUSED

the th350 is pretty good as far as trannys go. You can have one modified and it will be as sstrong as any other transmission. the overdrives are great for blowing out too 700R$ was horrid for that. If youre going to do burnouts and all id make sure ya got heavy duty parts put in and a trans cooler you may want to look in like a jegs book to find out which rebuilt unit would best suit your needs

do u know of any other good manufactuers for strong trannys besides jegs cuse there a lil pricy

thanks alot for the help

I have two TH400's and two tranny coolers(double cool!) 4sale?
Cheers
good luck

lol i sent u a personal message

A stock th350 will handle either of the motors you mentioned for your truck, as will a stock 88+[87?] 700r4 with the 305 and a mildly worked 700r4 for the 350cid motor depending on what "mildy built" means on the dyno.

TH400 with a shiftkit and external cooler wouldnt hurt to have for what you wanna do.

cool thanks alot y'all have been very helpful

cb

I have a beater plow truck that for the last 16 years pushes an 8 1/2' Western ProPlow, 33/12.50/15 BFG Muds, 3:73 gears with a bored 400sb and a Turbo 350 with no problems. I've got/plowed with Turbo 400's and had lots of 4wd's with overdrive trannys. I'll take a 350Turbo over a 700 series anytime. Never had a broke 350 but many broke/wore out 700r's.

Th400---if you want a trany that with what you have will not brake go Th400 but you will have to change the drive shaft move the cross member and you will lose a little Hp to the rear wheels

Th350--- this trany is much stronger then the 700r4 but when you get up close to the 300rwhp in these truck there bad about braking the sprag and blowing out second gear so i would have it built up alittle bit

700r4--- very weak trany enless you spend lots of cash to have it built

as for the burnouts i dont see that hurting the trany very much but i would use blocks or something to hole the truck back not the brakes but keep your foot on the brakes just in case put it in first gear and hold rpms at like 3500 to 4500rpm dont shift to second tell close to the end of the burn out that way when the tires get hot it wont start to grip and bog the motor down so right when your about to stop the burnout floor it and hit second then wait a few seconds and hit thrid then slowly back out of the gas tell it stops spining do it that way and 1 you will pop a tire and win or 2 you will just win and have really bald tires =)

Consider a 200-4r the launch is better than the others. These were put in the Buick GN and the Monte Carlo SS in the mid 80's. What ever you do Put an external cooler on them also spen a few more dollars and put a shift kit in them if your 700 didn't have a shift kit and an external cooler and a stall converter you will burn it up buy doing the burn outs.

Line lock wouldnt be a bad idea either takes the stress off the rear brakes.

Line lock and a water injection for your rear tires will help

The 2004r in the Buick GN's and T-Types were the weak spot in the driveline, they to have to be built to take abuse. Good ones built for the Gn's cost upwards of $1500-$2000.

How much would a "built" 700 run?

I was quoted $925 to rebuild mine with heavy duty this and Corvette-that (if I remove and install it myself).

Sound fair?

Sounds about right to me, have heard of a cheapo rebuild on a 700 locally run about $1100 and the shop did the R&R

I've been quoted 900 for mine also which include a stall conveter.

You can rebuild your own for 1/4 that price, but as a suggestion get the turbo 350 with a shift kit and stall converter to install for your burn out days along with the line locks. run your 700 the rest of the time.

ironically enough, the 700R4 is based on the TH350. there are two things that kill a 700R4, heat and gear hunting. gear hunting happens most commonly between 3 and 4, and most of the time kills the direct clutch. with enough gear (read: NOT 2.73s or 3.08s) and a big enough cooler, the 700R4 could easily be equally as strong.

Turbo 400= Done.

Turbo 400 and gear vendor overdrive