Brooke's 87 V10

[LTZ C20]

Jump on over to to suspension thread. I'll cover it all there.

[philo_beddoe]

Got it.

[Captain Swampy]

The skyjackers actually aren't that bad of a shock. It would ride A LOT smoother if we would put new springs in the front.

Yes it would. Glad to see you on the forum! You want to do the springs next?

[Bedazzled]

I would prefer to get my windows fixed since it's going to be summer. I don't think my tape job is going to hold up much longer. lol

[Captain Swampy]

I keep forgetting about the rear window. I think the passenger window is the switch. I don't know where to get a rear sliding window. I did some research when it broke, but don't remember what I found. Maybe Curt, Carquest, or Glass to Go can get one.

[Captain Swampy]

Well, we got  a new sliding window in, new BD springs in the front, and fixed the right side windows. She got the dual exhaust put on also. I still haven't put the pictures on my new laptop yet. Sorry. I'll try to load them when I get home. I know, "pictures, or it didn't happen". LOL

[Captain Swampy]

So when we first got it running we had a few issues. The first was that one of the new injectors didn't spray properly. It ran pretty good after that, but not quite right. I know better than to throw parts at something, yet I did it anyway. LOL. We bought a new distributor and all new sensors. It turned out the TBI unit was worn at the throttle shaft and sucking a lot of air. Pete sold us a used base and it ran great. I kept the old one to send in and get bushed and bored out to 46MM someday.

[Captain Swampy]

So after a month or so of everything running good, I was tired of the tranny fluid leaking from the torque converter seal. It would have been so easy to replace before we installed the tranny and engine, but let's not throw salt in that wound, LOL.  So I was busy and hired someone to drop the tcase and tranny to change the seal. And then a couple weeks later the tranny puked  . So we bought a GM reman from Handel's and put it in.

[Captain Swampy]

We put a new rear main seal in also.

[Captain Swampy]

When we assembled the front axle, the pinion was looser than it should have been. With winter getting close we decided to fix it. We tried tightening it to crush the collar, but it wouldn't budge. Mike figured out that the radius on the pinion from the threads the the splines was larger than the stock pinion. It  has 4.56's. What happened is the washer between the nut and the yoke was hitting the radius on the pinion before it hit the yoke and tightened against the crush collar. He put the washer in the lathe and chamfered the inside hole. That was enough to let the pinion come out farther and tighten properly. Hard to believe whoever set it up originally didn't catch that. Sorry I didn't take a picture of the pinion to show what I'm talking about.

[Captain Swampy]

We took the truck to Handel's and they adjusted the TV cable. It works good now,but you don't really feel the shifts. In my opinion they should be firmer. They said that's as far as they can adjust the TV cable. What do you guys think? It works fine, but that smooth of a shift is hard on the clutches, in my opinion. I'm after a firm shift,  not bone jarring. I was thinking of putting a shift kit or if Sonnax has a Surecure for it. I'm sure from a GM standpoint it's working properly. Some opinions please.

[LTZ C20]

The trans is going to feel soft if it's a factory unit, like the SeRTA you bought. The only way to get it to shift firmer is to modify it in some way, voiding the warranty of course. If the shop properly adjusted the cable based on the GM procedure then there is no reason to change it. It will not damage the clutches as long as it is not abused and service schedules are followed. Note: I did notice the tail shaft housing was installed 90° off but obviously you fixed it. I have the same trans currently being rebuilt. I do recommend an external cooler be plumbed inline with the radiator cooler.

[hatzie]

If the TV cable is properly adjusted then don't mess with it.

A properly maintained TH700R4 will run well over 150,000 miles trouble free.

Any modifications will void your warranty.
If you want firmer shifts you can change out the 2-4 servo with a "Corvette Servo".
A shift kit can be installed.  It will require you remove the valve body and precision drill the separator plate according to detailed instructions.  It may also require different sized check balls that will be included in the kit. 

[Captain Swampy]

 I adjusted the TV cable following the manual. I bought the GM service manual, it's a 3 book set. The trans didn't work correctly. I can't remember exactly what it was doing, this was last October I think. S o we took it to the dealer we bought it from, they test drove it, and tweaked the TV cable. It has been working good ever since. I am not complaining in any way, shape, or form about Handel's. Their service was excellent. They got it in quickly and resolved the problem. IIRC they didn't even charge us because we bought it from them.

The tail shaft housing was on for shipping purposes. It's not used on a 4x4.

I'm sure it's working exactly as GM designed it, and will last a long time. I guess it's a personal preference thing. The clutches are slipping until they lock up. To get super smooth shifts, they allow a longer time to do that. That's why I prefer a firm quick shift. There is less wear and heat generated. In our application the tranny shifts a lot. It's Brooke's daily driver, I'd say almost half of her driving is in town between work, school and dance.There's one 5 mile 55mph section between us and town. I guess I think a firm shift is better and may slightly increase the life of the transmission. I'd like to hear your thoughts and suggestions.

[Captain Swampy]

Thanks LTZ and hatzie. I may leave it the way it is. I'm just after thoughts and suggestions. I like the servo idea. I don't remember if it has a 1 or a 3 year warranty. I did take an automatic transmission class in a Tech school many years ago, so some disassembly doesn't scare me. I wish you guys could test drive it. I don't want much, just a little feel of the shift. I'll do some reading on my own also.