Help me narrow down choices. GMT800 4L80E

I'm about to go get my truck inspected from my accident. Side I want to know my choices beforehand if they total it can y'all tell me what has the 4L80E?  I'm open to SUVs and trucks. Would those same vehicles come with a towing package?  6.0?

Pretty sure any 3/4 ton GMT800 with the 6.0 will have the 4L80E, including the Suburban 2500.  LQ4 6.0  is the base engine for the 3/4 pickups.  I'm guessing a Chevy Express van is a no go, but if it is, I think the 3/4 and 1 ton models will have the 4L80E, regardless of which V8 engine they had.

Edit:  somehow I missed you were in an accident.  Hope you came out of it okay.

That's my understanding too, and I can confirm that my 03 Suburban 2500 has a 4l80

In reply to eastsideTim :

Yeah hit some ice in NC a couple of weeks ago. I'm fine other than my pride. Advantage is it hit the passenger side and I've noticed people aren't willing to cut in to merge now. 

There are some weird things that GM did with the 4L60/4L80, but yes... it should be the 4L80E.  4L60E has a more or less rectangular pan.  4L80E has a rounded back to the pan.

4L80E pan:

4L60E pan

Anything like all Cadillac Escalades have the 4L80E?  You know I did love my 06 Savannah work van. Anyone tow with one?

Stampie said:

Anything like all Cadillac Escalades have the 4L80E?  You know I did love my 06 Savannah work van. Anyone tow with one?

The Escalades, generation dependent, will have either a 4l65, 6l80, 8L90 or the new 10 speed. None of them got the 4l80. 

Following. 

In reply to GaryC83 :

You know maybe I meant 6L80E. I just want a GMT800 with a strong transmission.

By no means is this a complete list..but. 

The 90/91 - 12 or 13 2500 & 3500 pickups had them. Same with the 2500 & 3500 Suburbans, Express vans, etc. 

The Avalanche 2500HD with the LS in it had a 4l80E.

The civilian H1 had a 4l80.  

2000-2006ish? GM HD pickups with gas engines had 4l80's. 

The 4l85 was in the big block Avalanche 2500HD, the Suburban & Yukon HD with the 8.1, the Chevy Express van with the smaller duramax, the big block Express vans in 2500 & 3500. 

Again, by no means is that an all inclusive list, as stuff like Bentley, Jag & Rolls put them in some of their cars, and so on and so forth, but you're talking trucks. So, that should be a pretty well rounded list of E36 M3 to look for with the 4l80 in it. 

Towing under 10k, a 4L80E won't break a sweat, but I totally understand the urge for overkill.  6L90 is a great transmission and I can't speak intelligently about the adaptation.  I do know that many of the 6L90 electronics are in a separate, standalone TCM whereas the 4L80E is 90% controlled from the engine PCM.  That's about all I know.

4L80E can be found under most 3/4 and 1-ton pickups.  1/2 ton escalades with the LQ9 (as I understand it) all got the 4L80E as well.  Express/Savanah doesn't really follow these rules.  For the most part (before the 6-speeds came around) all of the 5.3L vans got the 4L60E and the 6.0L/8.1L/Duramax vans got the 4L80E.  Oddly, the 3/4 ton work vans with the 4.3L V6 sometimes got a 4L80E.

Stampie said:

In reply to GaryC83 :

You know maybe I meant 6L80E. I just want a GMT800 with a strong transmission.

6L80E was in the GMT900 generation.  I think you want to look for a post-April 2006 build 2007 model year up to 2009 model year to avoid getting AFM in an Escalade.

I've been doing way too much research on this stuff lately.

All 8.1 SUVs, vans, and Avalanches have a 4L85E. Basically the same as a 4L80E but with some internal upgrades, 5 pinion planetary instead of 4, etc. Kind of a minor distinction but important depending on what you're after.

GMT400 and GMT800 gasser 2500 and 3500 trucks are all some flavor of the 4L80E. There was some change to how the TCC works and possibly some other bits in the mid 90s, but I'm not sure of the details. I think there are also 2 different versions of trans cooler line locations in the case.

2007 and 2008 GMT900 suburban 2500s have the 4L80, 2009+ moved to the 6L90E. It is generally agreed upon that mixing the earlier PCM setup with the 4L80E and the later ECM+TCM setup with the 6L80 and 6L90 is not really possible. You need an engine that matches the transmission architecture you are after. The people who have figured it out have basically adapted the later ECU to the earlier engines through tuning, sensor swapping, etc.

GMT800 Escalades/denalis with the 6.0 do not have the 4L80 - they have a 4L65 that is just a beefed up 4L60. I think the later models with the optional smaller engines just had a normal 4L60.

In general, I believe the vans got a 4L60 for all of the 1500 models and everything 2500+ is a 4L80 or 4L85 regardless of the engine.

gearheadE30 said:

In general, I believe the vans got a 4L60 for all of the 1500 models and everything 2500+ is a 4L80 or 4L85 regardless of the engine.

Which makes a weird pairing on some, 4.8/4l80. 

gearheadE30 said:

All 8.1 SUVs, vans, and Avalanches have a 4L85E.

And 3/4 GMT800 8.1L trucks got the Allison.  If you want a bulletproof transmission, that's the one to go for. :)

ian sane said:

gearheadE30 said:

In general, I believe the vans got a 4L60 for all of the 1500 models and everything 2500+ is a 4L80 or 4L85 regardless of the engine.

Which makes a weird pairing on some, 4.8/4l80. 

Now that you mention it, I assume they exist, but I don't think I've ever seen a 3/4 or 1 ton LS-based van advertised for sale with a 5.3.  Only 4.8 or 6.0.

ian sane said:

gearheadE30 said:

In general, I believe the vans got a 4L60 for all of the 1500 models and everything 2500+ is a 4L80 or 4L85 regardless of the engine.

Which makes a weird pairing on some, 4.8/4l80. 

4.3s too, apparently.

If you have to ask why would anyone buy a one ton van with a V6, you aren't AT&T.  

Transmissions are weird-ish in that they don't get specified for engine power so much as expected duty cycle.  So the half tons got the 4L60 and the heavier duty trucks got the 4L80. Same thing happened in cars, the lighter midsizes got 4T40s even with the same engines that got 4T60s in the larger cars.

I look at the wheels, 8 lugs means 4L80e in my mind and 6 lug means 4L60e.  I haven't found an exception to this rule yet.

eastsideTim said:

ian sane said:

gearheadE30 said:

In general, I believe the vans got a 4L60 for all of the 1500 models and everything 2500+ is a 4L80 or 4L85 regardless of the engine.

Which makes a weird pairing on some, 4.8/4l80. 

Now that you mention it, I assume they exist, but I don't think I've ever seen a 3/4 or 1 ton LS-based van advertised for sale with a 5.3.  Only 4.8 or 6.0.

One year only (2003) GM did an AWD 3/4 ton Express/Savana with the 5.3L/4L60E.  They basically put 3/4 ton rear springs in an AWD 1500 and called it a 2500.

RacetruckRon said:

I look at the wheels, 8 lugs means 4L80e in my mind and 6 lug means 4L60e.  I haven't found an exception to this rule yet.

8 lugs almost always means 4L80e.  6 lug could be either.  Many of the 1/2 ton LQ9 trucks got the 4L80E with 6 lugs.  That would be Escalade, SS, etc.  The Escalade that gave up its LQ9 for my LeMans project had a 4L80E

I'll throw in that my 2000 K2500 w/ the 6.5L diesel has a 4L80E.   I don't know anything about the gearing or whatever, but when the reverse strap broke @ 175k, the guy rebuilding it mentioned that they all do that...

I believe that all of the 6.2-6.5 diesels had the 4L80Es, and I believe that line ran from 89-2000 or something?

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

RacetruckRon said:

I look at the wheels, 8 lugs means 4L80e in my mind and 6 lug means 4L60e.  I haven't found an exception to this rule yet.

8 lugs almost always means 4L80e.  6 lug could be either.  Many of the 1/2 ton LQ9 trucks got the 4L80E with 6 lugs.  That would be Escalade, SS, etc.  The Escalade that gave up its LQ9 for my LeMans project had a 4L80E

The Escalades came the 4l65e behind the 6.0 doesn't matter the RPO code of the engine. If that Escalade came had an 80e it was swapped at some point. 
The 1500hd trucks with 6.0 had 8 lug axles and the SS trucks had the 70e. What other 1/2 ton trucks had the 6.0?

In reply to RacetruckRon :

Half ton heavy duty 1500s that had the aluminum 5.3 (IIRC only the four door 4wd models) had eight lug wheels and 4L60s.

The lightest eight lug wheels I have ever handled.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to RacetruckRon :

Half ton heavy duty 1500s that had the aluminum 5.3 (IIRC only the four door 4wd models) had eight lug wheels and 4L60s.

The lightest eight lug wheels I have ever handled.

The 8 lug 1500HD models all had the 6.0 and 4L80e. They're completely different from the 1500s that came with the aluminum 5.3s. I believe the aluminum engine ones were the 1500 crew cab trucks with 5.5ft beds instead of the normal 6.5ft beds. They were all 6 lug and 4L60e equipped. It's very rare to come across these. 

In reply to WillG80 :

Well, huh. Every L33 I have seen in the wild was in an eight lug 1500HD.