Longest lasting OEM Automatic transmissions?

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I wonder besides a good maintenance schedule- if a good auxiliary trans cooler would turn a mediocre trans into a good trans or a good trans into a great trans? Heat kills.
 
I wonder besides a good maintenance schedule- if a good auxiliary trans cooler would turn a mediocre trans into a good trans or a good trans into a great trans? Heat kills.
I believe it has to help a lot. I've got 2 large coolers on my 84 Cutlass and the trans has held up to a lot of abuse for 270k + miles. I believe it has a shift kit in it which also helps a lot.
 
The 4L60 has a poor reputation and probably in factory form this was deserved and admittedly after five iterations finally found a guy who knew this trans and after some upgrades it has lasted, even behind a 383 4x4 with some towing (oe converter). I know what it is and I don't abuse it. Replacement will be a similar but better 4L60E.
I've had the Aisin A340H, I replaced all the solenoids in it- other than a service was ok.
 
The 4L60 has a poor reputation and probably in factory form this was deserved and admittedly after five iterations finally found a guy who knew this trans and after some upgrades it has lasted, even behind a 383 4x4 with some towing (oe converter). I know what it is and I don't abuse it. Replacement will be a similar but better 4L60E.
I've had the Aisin A340H, I replaced all the solenoids in it- other than a service was ok.

4L60-E/4L65-E if it is a GMC has always been a favorite of mine and I like it a LOT. Apparently it has some design flaws that can never be overcome.. but I would own another vehicle (for me it was a 2003 S10 Blazer) in a heartbeat. Fun.

I've never had a GMC.
 
The transmission behind a Buick Park Ave, is what a TH-350C? Or is it something else. (Late 90s.. Ultra etc. Behind the 3800)

It has been mentioned before but Crown Vic and the Panther cars also have a very good one.
 
The 4L60 has a poor reputation and probably in factory form this was deserved and admittedly after five iterations finally found a guy who knew this trans and after some upgrades it has lasted, even behind a 383 4x4 with some towing (oe converter). I know what it is and I don't abuse it. Replacement will be a similar but better 4L60E.
I've had the Aisin A340H, I replaced all the solenoids in it- other than a service was ok.
It gets a bad reputation, but I think it's mostly from people blowing them up with boosted engines, or the odd abused work vehicle, towing heavy loads etc. My work (a land surveying company) hasn't had a failure in any of a 2002 GMC Sierra, 2005 Silverado (now mine), 2013 Silverado. The only failure has been the one owners 2008 f150 recently lost reverse. It hasn't been used for a work truck but occasionally tows a trailer with an ATV in it. I believe it's less than 120k miles. I've also personally seen a lot of high mileage original 4L60E through the garage I used to work at and only a couple failures. I believe they got better in the later years, plus torque management probably helped a lot.
 
No transmission expert, but I have to chime in and praise the Aisin A750E in my 2WD V6 Tacoma. 234,000 miles and running like new. I did a full fluid swap twice - @100K and 200K.

The fact that this unit was and is also used in several V8-powered applications (Tundra, Sequoia, 4Runner, GX, to name a few) gives me a lot of confidence that it’ll last a very long time in my lightweight, V6 application.

For sure! The 1GR-FE and Aisin 750E/F Is a bulletproof combo easily capable of 400k plus With minimal maintenance. 5 years past it’s last use in the Tacoma and you see second gens with 250k-300k+ miles all the time - on original drive train (ok maybe not Original wheel bearings, leaf springs, lower Ball joints, or frames... but you get the idea.)
 
Appreciate the reply.

That ZF 8 speed unit has garnered a lot of respect; my next truck will likely be a 1500 Classic.

The Ram and Hemi 5.7/ ZF8 combo is legit. Super smooth. We just moved into 2020 Rams for several of our work trucks and they are very very smooth drivers.
 
The transmission behind a Buick Park Ave, is what a TH-350C? Or is it something else. (Late 90s.. Ultra etc. Behind the 3800)

Depending on the actual year......4T60E or a 4T65E Transaxles. The earlier 4T60E was a better unit in my opinion as the line pressure was controlled by a Vacuum Modulator, But did have issues with 4th gear hub spline strippage.

The predecessor to the 4T60E was the TH440-T4 which was renamed the 4T60.
 
For sure! The 1GR-FE and Aisin 750E/F Is a bulletproof combo easily capable of 400k plus With minimal maintenance. 5 years past it’s last use in the Tacoma and you see second gens with 250k-300k+ miles all the time - on original drive train (ok maybe not Original wheel bearings, leaf springs, lower Ball joints, or frames... but you get the idea.)

And it’s still standard equipment in a brand-new 4Runner.

I did have to replace wheel bearings (and rear axle seals) in my Tacoma not that long ago. But I’m still on all original suspension components. It’s nice not living in the rust belt. But my roof is trying to rust out on me. I need to take it to a body shop and get a quote.
 
It gets a bad reputation, but I think it's mostly from people blowing them up with boosted engines, or the odd abused work vehicle, towing heavy loads etc. My work (a land surveying company) hasn't had a failure in any of a 2002 GMC Sierra, 2005 Silverado (now mine), 2013 Silverado. The only failure has been the one owners 2008 f150 recently lost reverse. It hasn't been used for a work truck but occasionally tows a trailer with an ATV in it. I believe it's less than 120k miles. I've also personally seen a lot of high mileage original 4L60E through the garage I used to work at and only a couple failures. I believe they got better in the later years, plus torque management probably helped a lot.

Torque Management helped tremendously....... I've seen countless late model 4L60E's run 'til they have a hard part failure, NOT a Clutch/Friction burn up issue.
The 2002-2007 units have an issue with the bearing under the front planetary carrier giving up at extreme high mileage, My theory is......The issue was always there but few units made it that far before the 3-4 clutches got smoked or the reaction sun shell broke/stripped.
GM changed the bearing design to allow better lubrication sometime in the 2007 production run & I haven't seen a failure of the updated bearing yet.

If you feel your unit bind-up, Get it towed right away because that bearing will destroy quite a few other parts.
 
It gets a bad reputation, but I think it's mostly from people blowing them up with boosted engines, or the odd abused work vehicle, towing heavy loads etc. My work (a land surveying company) hasn't had a failure in any of a 2002 GMC Sierra, 2005 Silverado (now mine), 2013 Silverado. The only failure has been the one owners 2008 f150 recently lost reverse. It hasn't been used for a work truck but occasionally tows a trailer with an ATV in it. I believe it's less than 120k miles. I've also personally seen a lot of high mileage original 4L60E through the garage I used to work at and only a couple failures. I believe they got better in the later years, plus torque management probably helped a lot.

Clearing this up---> 4L60 aka 700R4 with pita TV cable, 4L60E 1992 and up.

And with Toyota, no way around it- you pay for that reliability compared with domestic vehicle pricing- which normally I am happy to do. But recently having a hard time with the price of admission and Nissan is looking like a better value.
 
Clearing this up---> 4L60 aka 700R4 with pita TV cable, 4L60E 1992 and up.

And with Toyota, no way around it- you pay for that reliability compared with domestic vehicle pricing- which normally I am happy to do. But recently having a hard time with the price of admission and Nissan is looking like a better value.

Can you clarify? Which Nissans? Just “Nissan” is a very broad statement that encompasses a wide range of quality of vehicles, from the Versa to a top of the line Armada.

Do you think, for example, a Titan‘s transmission will be as reliable, long-term, as that of a Tundra?
 
Sorry I think trucks. Titan, around 2015 before they really got ugly. Supposedly very good transmissions- not one of the problem areas in that truck, Toyota and Honda all have their issues. I have a Honda Accord also 2015 and where I lived I did not feel that their CVT was a good choice, so a MT6 was ordered- ratios are screwy, but with a fill of Pentosin I've been pleased.
 
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Torque Management helped tremendously....... I've seen countless late model 4L60E's run 'til they have a hard part failure, NOT a Clutch/Friction burn up issue.
The 2002-2007 units have an issue with the bearing under the front planetary carrier giving up at extreme high mileage, My theory is......The issue was always there but few units made it that far before the 3-4 clutches got smoked or the reaction sun shell broke/stripped.
GM changed the bearing design to allow better lubrication sometime in the 2007 production run & I haven't seen a failure of the updated bearing yet.

If you feel your unit bind-up, Get it towed right away because that bearing will destroy quite a few other parts.

For a near future build of a 1996 one piece case I wanted to beef up the input drum, Sonnax drum is just too $$ but their reinforcement kit or 4L79 option, any experience with the 4L79....I liked it better when they used TH350 clutches instead of custom made.
 
I have no experience with the 4L79 drums, But it looks promising! How much is that set-up as I couldn't find any pricing online?

I've been very successful running 7 High Energy Borg Warner 3-4 Frictions with the latest GM apply & backing plates up to 500 ft lbs. Leveling the 3-4 apply cage & apply plate to +/- .001" helps tremendously.
We're still dealing with a small 3-4 apply piston area & that's a major roadblock to these units handling more torque reliably in a heavy vehicle.

The reinforcement collar is really only needed if you're running a converter without cushion springs on the TCC Piston.
 
All of my vehicles still have the original transmission the two oldest are manual so I will go to the rest. My 1994 Ford Econoline 5.8 V8 has the original automatic transmission never been rebuilt or anything just fluid changes. It did start slipping at one point and talked to a guy in a reputable transmission shop and he told us get some LubeGard Shudder Shock and put in and it would fix the issue guaranteed, me and my dad were kinda skeptical but we done it and it worked and to this day hasn’t had another issue. The other vehicles with regular maintenance on the transmission have never had any issues at all.
Funny you mention this econoline, I have a really sweet low mileage 94 5.8l E4od I found a few years ago with 19,800 original miles garage kept. I’ve heard so many E4od horror stories it’s always had me paranoid. Currently at 35,000 miles now and running great. Curious of your mileage and what fluid you run along with your service intervals.
 
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