powerglide vs. others

[jusbo]

I am picking a transmission for my 91 s10 std. cab. It (will) have a 350 (hopefully) pushing 370 hp....not realistic, but I will strive to get there...ok, thats whats going to be driving the transmission.

I will be driving my truck DAILY lotsa driving and I want to be able to get down on it to give other cars a run for their money..(not literally). My co-workers swear up and down by a powerglide..they have lots of good experiences with them and can back their words up. Then a lot of people like TH-350\'s...and finally the JTR manual recommends the 700r4...but the coworkers say they are not very strong. WHAT SHOULD I DO???

[bowtie316]

First off, these are only my opinions. I am in the same delima. How far do I want to take this project?



From what I have gathered on powerglides, just about anything under 3000 pounds will be faster with a glide. But remember only 2 gears, with a high(1.8 or 1.7) first gear. I would think logically for any street driver, a glide would feel sluggish.



Now the 350. Nice first gear. They hold up well with the right mods. Three speeds. But, no overdrive.



Newer 700r4\'s and 4l60e\'s are stronger than people give them credit for. I have recently done a bunch of research on the matter. With the right mods, a stock 700r4 can handle 450 hp. Now by stock I mean no high performance clutches/bands, and no special gears or shells. With all heavy duty internals and pressure mods, they can be good for 600+ hp. Now that sound really nice considering you will have a nice deep first gear and overdrive. But....I speak from experience, That 1-2 shift is really quick. If you drive your truck daily (on the highway) I would suggest you use this tranny. Just do some research to get it to hold up.



Sorry for the novel.

[Scotty_S-15]

OK, here is my take on the situation:



* Powerglide: For all out racing only. Very rugged in beefed up form. 2 speeds only. They work well ONLY when coupled with very high stall speed converters. FYI, when the Powerglides were installed in stock form in Chevys (50s & 60s) .... the were considered the worst POS transmissions in the world. http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_razz.gif

* TH350: 3 speeds. Good, rugged all around trans. Cheap to buy, cheap to rebuild.

* 700R4: 4 speeds, overdrive included. Big plus if you\'ve got steep gears and can use an overdrive. Downside is that they\'re not quite as tough as the TH350, and initial cost, and cost of rebuilds is higher.



Dang! Bowtie316 beat me to it....http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_razz.gif

[jusbo]

i will not be cracking open a transmission anytime soon. So far you guys make very good cases. I am leaning (so far) towards a TH-350....And since I will be driving my truck until the day I die, repairs will arrise. need to do more research....what the gas mileage like with a th-350??

[bowtie316]

Wow scotty, looks like we said pretty much the same thing.



I usually get about 17 mpg with overdrive, but if I had to use drive only, with my 4.11\'s I don\'t think it would be much better than 10 mpg.

[spacecadet]

I dont recomend the p-glide because 2 gears and no overdrive. The t-350 is a good choice for its reliability. Final drive in both the glide and the t-350 is 1to1. The 700 may cost a little more but it can be built bullet proff with a couple hunderd extra bucks. The advantages are it is a 4speed auto. 1st gear is really low so you will have good power off the line without performace gears. 3rd gear is 1to1 also. But with the overdrive you alos get good fuel mileage. So the more gears the more useable the trans seem to be. But everthing comes down to $$$$ and how much you wish to get rid of.



Space

[grimpuppy]

Like they said, powerglide is out of the question for a daily driver.



Since it is a daily driver, if you want the best gas milage, a 700r4 is the way to go. If you have the money to buy a \"quality\" rebuilt 700r4 it will last about forever with your power. If a new 700r4 is out of the budget than a rebuilt th350 will last you about forever and is quite a bit cheaper.

If you are looking at a used tranny, count on rebuilding it eventualy, no matter which one you go with.

[Indiana]

For a daily driver I would suggest this order best to worst: 700r4, TH350, Powerglide.



For a fun in the sun type I would suggest TH350, Powerglide, 700r4.



Weekend street/strip Powerglide, TH350, 700r4.

My 2 cents

[RE-KLUSE]

for a daily driver i would never even think of using a powerglide.if you do decide on a th-350 i would suggest the one from jegs.its rated at 400hp,and thats close to what im pushing in my 88 reg cab.i was a little hesitant to buy the jegs brand,but im dam glad i did.its been one hell of a tranny so far(only 500miles on it so far,but been some rough ones,lol),and it shifts like hell without a shift kit!.for the price i havent seen one better.my tranny\'s are put to the test.

[grimpuppy]

BTW there is an art carr 700r4 tranny in the classifieds for $700. Even has a 3400 stall convertor.

[jusbo]

I am going to the boneyard tomorrow and I was wondering what trucks/cars I could find a 700r4? The good kind 86 and up.I don\'t know howmuch rebuilding it and doing preventitive maintenance would be but summit sells them brand new for 1299-ish...thats a hunk of change, so I am going to try the boneyard for one....they have a flat price for any trans. $45. yes, that is not a typo.

[Scotty_S-15]

On 2006-04-01 18:17, jusbo wrote:

.............................................. so I am going to try the boneyard for one....they have a flat price for any trans. $45. yes, that is not a typo.



Sounds too good to be true. I\'d be careful there. The ones for $45 might be the ones that the rebuild guys didn\'t want.... even for cores.

[racer1182]

Just make sure you get one that you will have to pull out of the vehicle. Also MadDog Transmissions out of Florida has some damn good setups on 700R4.

[speeder]

The 700is easy to ID with the square pan. ALso there are many of them out there. Everything came with one. Just get the one with the right case and even if it is blown, it is not bad to rebuild.

[bwillie]

ever thought of a 2004r? (Buick GN etal) 1st and 2nd shifts closer together than 700r4. check out 2004r.com

[char]

i was running a turbo 350 nothing fancy no shift kits or bands with a 4.11 rear gear on normal s10 rims with cheapo tires and i had a 307 4 barrle. the trans is decent but i dont recommend going witha t350 if ya have high gears on th highway your pay for a 700r4 in the gas you waste. im partial to the to the turbo series i plan on a turbo 400 for my truck when im done with the build but some ppl dont want to deal with the crossmember and drive shaft. btw 700r4 has a nasty fisrt gear.