Transgo shift kit and transmission rebuild

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1973Guppie

1973Guppie

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I am going to be installing a supercharger and intercooler soon for my 1996 toyota landcruiser FZJ80. Recently I have noticed my tranny has been slipping and missing some on acceleration. I have decided to install one of the transgo kits, some info here:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/731930-a343-transgo-reprogram-kit-install-1995-1997-a.html

sounds like this kit basically gets you what you would get anyhow from a vendor like west coast cruisers for much less money.

While I am in there I am wondering what else I should have serviced? my truck has 180k miles now. I am somewhat a newbie to auto transmissions. If I have a shop do the work I am thinking of having them replace any other worn items. Will this shift kit fix the slower shifts OR do I need to also replace the torque converter or other wearable parts? again, somewhat a newbie with autos, have always dealt with the older manual tranny's.

here is the transgo kit:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/trg-340-hd2

Another question I have is if it is worth it to go with a kit like this one from west coast cruisers? I am thinking this would help 4x4ing on steep decents? but from the wheeling in the 80 I have done I don't think I remember the tranny ever shifting out of deep low range? Also, I do tow so maybe it would be helpful there? Although I only tow a small pop up trailer but thinking it could be helpful on mountain decents? seems somewhat expensive though for a basic switch and some wiring. Opinions greatly appreciated, pan down the page a bit:

Manual Control Lock-Up Unit
http://www.westcoastcruisers.com/transfer.php

Thanks!

Noah
 
Like I said in the other thread I am super happy with my transmission after doing the transgo kit. I emailed WCC and Level10, and IPT to find out what their upgraded valve body offers over the transgo kit and what all they would be doing. That was months ago and I still have yet to hear from anyone.

As for wear items, there really aren't any easily accessible without doing a transmission rebuild. It you are going to do a rebuild get new clutches and a new torque converter but I don't think you will have issues with either after the shift kit.

The lockup is a nice thing to have if you are towing in the hills often. I don't see it being that useful off-road unless you were going to flip it on for every decent. And yes I agree $210 is overpriced for a switch and relay..... But $1200 is also over priced for a valve body that has $100 with of parts and 2 hours of labor in it.

Good luck you will love the 80 even more with a little extra power!
 
thanks scottyrana, for the most part the tranny I have seems to work fine, it misses sometimes but not too badly, how many miles did your tranny have when you installed the transgo? thinking that I might just do the transgo kit and call it a day, from what I have read the 80 series tranny's are fairly stout. May have to do the marlin gears when I am in there as well.
 
My transmission had 149,000 miles on it and a month and a half of beating on it with twice stock hp and torque, it was slipping badly, but now shifts great, firm and quick after doing the kit.
 
Be careful, when I tuned on mine, got it nice and firm for the street. Once I got on the trail, would spin all four on the 1st to 2nd shift, even with light throttle, not good for holding the line, being smooth, etc. Had to back way off of the adjustment and that was just upping the system pressure and adjusting the cable, playing with the stock adjustments.

If it's only street that you are worried about, it's easy. If you are concerned about trail performance, be sure you do testing in low range. The 1st to 2nd shift is already pretty harsh, doesn't take much to make it undesirably harsh/firm.
 
A bit confused here fellas, so you are saying that the tranny with this kit may shift up too quickly when in 1st and 2nd gear off road? but it should stay in L when you put it in low, right? the mention this right here:

Automatic shift, transmission will stay in low gear with lever in manual low position.

correct? I am going to be off roading this, but when in the rocks and actually picking a line I will always be in LOW in the TC and then just play with the L/2/D on the transmission. When they mention that the manual Low will stay in Low do they mean the low in the TC or the low in the transmission?
 
Tools is commenting on the hardness of the shift from L to 2nd when you are in low range. I didn't think with the kit it was that bad, but even when it was stock, when I was offroad, 8 out of 10 times when I was in low, I would use the 2nd gear start anyways. But when you need it, you just drop the transmission in L and it holds L, so the hard shift doesn't happen. I have found it to be a non issue. If you need the wheel speed you can start in 2nd or even shift into H. When you need the slow control you will want to be in L anyways. There might be a circumstance when it is noticeable but I am not sure what it would be?
 
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yeah, anytime I have wheeled in the 80 (big bear / moab), I have always just had it in Low range in the TC and low in the tranny and then just popped up and down from L/2/D in the transmission, never had any issues. Tranny has always seemed to stay properly in the gear needed with no problems, just wanted to make sure that should not change with the transgo kit.
 
Oh and Tools, I just checked out your thread, and I remembered I had seen it before. Good info and I think for a slight change, maybe NA guys that are towing it is a great idea. So when you adjust the PR Sleeve, you are putting more pressure on the PR spring, the kit has a new stiffer spring in it. So while your trans is out of adjustment, using the new spring and setting the sleeve at medium still gives you a way to adjust the pressure a little higher later if you need to.

Additionally the kit has stiffer springs for the accumulators and this is where I think you would benefit. The springs act like shock absorbers smoothing the application of clutch and bands. The pressure goes up you need to have stiffer springs.

Also the kit, shows you where to drill out the 1-2, 2-3, 3-4 shifts to allow more fluid to flow for less heat.

I agree the 4 springs and the 2 drill bits that you actually use out of the kit are not worth the $100, but the over all effect of the kit definitely is. :)
 
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Noah,

That won't change. There will be no change in the way the transmission operates, for our trucks it isn't like the AX15's in the jeeps. Which don't have hold L from the factory.

So word of warning, there are going to be a lot of sealed plastic bags with springs and spacers etc in the kit. That is because it is a universal kit for A340, A343, AX15, etc. Don't get overwhelmed, you don't use them all. You only use the PR spring, the 3 springs for the accumulators and 2 drill bits from the kit.
 
Noah,
don't be afraid of the valve body... If you had to reverse engineer it and whatnot, yes. But removing and modifying, don't sweat it.

Just rebuilt a A440F trans from top to bottom, and valve body is really the least of the technicaly challenging parts.

I'll swing up and help. the only thing that's gonna suck is the ATF dripping all over the place when your trying to remove and reinstall.
 
The benefit to installing the kit is to provide more clamping force on the clutches and bands in the transmission so that when you increase the power via turbo/SC/V8/etc you aren't slipping the clutches as much, creating more heat leading to shorter life.
 
cruiserbrett said:
Noah,
don't be afraid of the valve body... If you had to reverse engineer it and whatnot, yes. But removing and modifying, don't sweat it.

Just rebuilt a A440F trans from top to bottom, and valve body is really the least of the technicaly challenging parts.

I'll swing up and help. the only thing that's gonna suck is the ATF dripping all over the place when your trying to remove and reinstall.
Click to expand...

thx brother, will let you know, I am off school fridays so let me know if you are up in my area.
 
In my opinion if you aren't getting a crisp shift it is excessive.


1FZj80 said:
Does this help in all circumstances or only if you have excessive skipping. How do you determine if slipping is excessive, seat-of-the-pants?
Click to expand...
 
Because of this thread and the one Tools started in 2010, and (to a lesser extent) because I have the dreaded late-model "screech" in reverse (in high range under heavy load), I started experimenting with my transmission today. Timid so far, as all I did was adjust the trans throttle cable to tighten it a mm. I did not detect a change while driving. I will try tightening it a bit more, then try adjusting the primary regulator valve. If this does do it for me I will try the transgo kit. Thanks, Jon
 
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