Trans Brake Question
1 - 9 of 9 Posts
Joined
·
22,931 Posts
Requires a different valve body also
Joined
·
1,794 Posts
My best advice is to find someone in your area that has built more than one transbrake to do the job. A 400 transbrake requires that the front clutch hub has a .060" hole drilled in it, needs the proper clutch drums, line pressure upped, the snap rings that hold everything in place should be tack welded to the clutch drums to keep the clutches from blowing out, accumulators and the kickdown bands are thrown away, needs a transbrake valve body, heavy duty sprag, some flat bearings replaced with rollers. A transbrake is a very specialized transmission. Either find a specialist or buy a transbrake rebuild video tape. Anybody can do it with the proper guidence. Although I have always repaired all of my own transmissions, I paid someone else $600 to build my transbrake. Switching to a TH400 transbrake will cost between $1500 and $2000, IMO. You will need a transbrake converter, heavy driveshaft, shifter with funtioning neutral safety switch and reverse lockout, oil cooler, a deeper pan, fluid that won't boil, and probably rear end beef up and traction improvers, a driveshaft safety loop. But after you have done all that, you will have a very dependable setup that will handle about 1200 HP.
I have the Turbo Action Cheetah brake and command console, which I like despite the cost. I think it has the best spaced detents. Also, there is no engine braking with a transbrake in 1st and 2nd.
From an engineering stand point, the TH400 is an unusal transmission because it is driven from the extreme rear and the power is transmitted forward and then back to the rear again. The design of it allows the long input shaft to absorb some of the shock that is placed on the gears. GM would have been much better off if they had the TH400 engineers design the rest of their cars. I had a friend with a big block Caprice that would rev his engine to 6g in neutral and jerk it into 1st when the light turned green. He raced like that for a year and a half before TH400 broke.
I have the Turbo Action Cheetah brake and command console, which I like despite the cost. I think it has the best spaced detents. Also, there is no engine braking with a transbrake in 1st and 2nd.
From an engineering stand point, the TH400 is an unusal transmission because it is driven from the extreme rear and the power is transmitted forward and then back to the rear again. The design of it allows the long input shaft to absorb some of the shock that is placed on the gears. GM would have been much better off if they had the TH400 engineers design the rest of their cars. I had a friend with a big block Caprice that would rev his engine to 6g in neutral and jerk it into 1st when the light turned green. He raced like that for a year and a half before TH400 broke.
Joined
·
82 Posts
kirkwoodken said:
He's nailed a lot of the points. My TBrake has engine breaking in 3rd gear only. I had a complete th400 tranny built with a Hipster brake for 1000.00(no core) thats with a 1 year unconditional warrenty
Joined
·
82 Posts
ssal396 said:Unconditional warrenty on a trans with a trans brake?? Thats a BOLD warrenty :thumbsup:
Scott
HeHe...you know it. I just took out the sprag. No problem he said....bring it in and it's fixed...no charge
WOW, aren't you a sight for sore eyes :waving: I was thinking about you the other day, was going to shoot you an email but I didn't have it handy & never got the chance to look you up..Milan said:
I was at the Brunswick cruise a few weeks back, thought I might have seen you there..
We need to get together sometime for a couple of :beers: ..
Scott
1 - 9 of 9 Posts
Join the discussion
