[1funride]

What place is recommended, cost, shipping, etc.?

[Steve C.]

Pricing available at over 700 dealers or www.gearvendors.com

They really want them sold through installing dealers and allow ZERO discount and police it heavy.


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[Sirrotica]

Any, and all repairs have to be shipped to CA, no exceptions. They do not sell parts for repairs, all repairs have to be done by the manufacturer. They have a tight lock on their products, and how they're sold, and serviced.

Just wondering why you wouldn't consider a 4L80E instead of a GV unit, the 4L80E is only 1 1/2 inches longer than a short tail T 400, The GV unit is much longer than a 4L80E. depending upon what car you put it into, there can be much floor pan work to get it into the car.

Take a look at this thread about GV buying and fitting them under a car:

https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...uy-gear-vendor

First picture is T400 with GV unit:



Second pic is a short tail T400 next to a 4L80E:

[mgarblik]

Thanks for the heads up on their parts and service policy. That removes them entirely from any consideration for future use by me. I would never invest that kind of money in a non-serviceable, complex mechanical device that essentially is a unit replacement when it fails. Good to know.

[i82much]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

Thanks for the heads up on their parts and service policy. That removes them entirely from any consideration for future use by me. I would never invest that kind of money in a non-serviceable, complex mechanical device that essentially is a unit replacement when it fails. Good to know.

Part of me feels the same way. But I’ve also read many, many posts from people who are very happy with them and that they have held up under severe usage.

I’ve got an M23 supercase muncie so if I ever decided to go overdrive, the Gear Vendors would be the sensible thing to do. I just want a muncie in my goat and that’s that.

[mgarblik]

It's just me. I try to fix everything when it breaks, even lots of things I have no business messing with. I like to take things apart to understand how they work, save money fixing them when possible. The refusal to sell replacement parts makes that impossible. I have successfully repaired, my hot water heater, several flat screen TV's, countless washers, dryers, furnaces, water softeners, small appliances, all kinds of outdoor equipment. Not to mention all the car stuff. But you need access to parts. I understand I am in the huge minority of people who try to fix all this stuff. The Gear Vendor unit is essentially a little 2-speed trans. How complicated could it be? I hear they are very reliable as well.

[Formulajones]

You're right, they are extremely durable units.

I know there are a lot of us here that prefer, and even enjoy, fixing our broken machines, tinkering etc.... But this day and age we pretty much live in a society of people that would rather just replace what is broken. Very few of us bother rebuilding things anymore, we are a dying breed.

Hell it's even difficult anymore to get a rebuild kit for your alternator these days. The parts guys just look at you like you have 3 eye balls. In fact the last time my father tried to get some brushes and diodes, he got the comment from one of the counter guys "no one rebuilds those things anymore, we'll just sell you a new one" That is their mentality, and it's driven from the majority of customers that visit these stores. They just won't stock stuff that doesn't sell anymore. People just want the convenience of replacement and don't care about rebuilding anything.

As much as I hate to not be able to support local business, I've completely had to resort to the internet to source the parts to rebuild alternators and starters now.

So I don't think it scares many people these days if Gear Vendor requires a unit to be returned to them exclusively for any service work, because I think most people just don't want to fool with it anyway.

[Formulajones]

As far as where to buy, there are a lot of dealers around the country that sell the units. You likely won't find any "deals" or sales on them that I've seen, but if you find a shop close enough to you that you can pick it up, you'll save in shipping costs. We have a local shop in town that sells Gear Vendor units, pretty much the same price that is in Gear Vendor's website, but it's local and convenient if I need one.

[1funride]

My goal is to simply have an overdrive unit for cruising. Its for a 68 Firebird, people that have put them in first gen firebirds indicate no tunnel modifications.

The reliability of the gear vendor is extremely good, under normal use and the amount I drive the car, I don't see it ever failing, for that reason I am not concerned about the lack of part availability. I know others will argue, but I suspect a gear vendors system is more reliable than a 4L80E system (note I said system which includes all the electronics, controls, and sensors). A TH400 and a gear vendor is simple, the 4L80E controller is quite complex and working in the field I do I understand the struggles of electronics reliability and part shortages.

I do agree the 4L80E is a fantastic unit and with the controller you have endless possibilities of tuning it to your liking and multiple tunes for different applications. But is that benefit worth the cost when compared to a TH400 with a shift kit and manual mode, I can shift it when I want, or let it shift smooth. Yes I have heard that the gear vendor shifts harsh at times. I don.t plan on using it for split shifting, just an overdrive.

I have seen the posts on the cost of a 4L80E, yet the members have not actually done it, unless it was full manual operation which for my driving isn't preferred.

My estimate for GV cost is (GV 2700, Driveshaft mod 125, Exhaust mod 200, crossmember 75) $3100.

My estimate for the 4L80E is (Trans 2850 w/ mech tail shaft, housing adapter 60, driveshaft 125, u joints 50, crossmember 75, exhaust 200, converter 750, trans lines 75, fuel injection TPS splitter 75, shift controller 650, shifter mod 125, dipstick 60, trans fluid 50, wiring 50) $5195.
There may also be a core charge for the transmission, likely the 4L80E will have more nickel and dime items that will add up.

[Formulajones]

I'm doing a 4L80E swap, You are pretty close in most of your pricing, they certainly aren't cheap to do.

Mine is $4116 out the door at Hughes. That's an 850hp unit with the mechanical speedo housing, includes a $400 core charge, $818 for a US Shift 4 Controller, a $59 dipstick (but same dipstick can be had for $30 at Jegs) $30 for a couple of AN fittings because I didn't want to source them separately and pay shipping/tax,
Sales tax on the whole deal is $294.
The converter was $800, a triple disc lockup 9.5" unit 3500 stall.
I'm going to do a completely new driveshaft from our local shop that builds all my shafts for me. Good for 1,000 HP with billet yoke and 1350 joints. That runs right at $600. I already have cooler lines and a cooler on the car that will adapt.
I also spent $200 on the 4 speed shifter modifications and his adjustable cable from Shift Works for the factory horse shoe shifter. I spent $150 for the TPS switch that bolts onto the existing TPS of the Holley Sniper Stealth unit.
There are no exhaust mods needed so other than some fluid I'll buy locally I'm all in it for $5866. For those that want to simply shorten an existing shaft it knocks quite a bit off the price. This will be a bullet proof setup I should never have to worry about, even with the engine upgrades coming.

The Gear Vendor is a great piece. I understand your decision. I have a perfectly working 400 turbo in the car currently that I built years ago, running a very nice 10" Continental converter that drives beautifully. I could have just slapped a Gear Vendor on the tail and been done. But.....I run a 4.10 gear in the car and I don't think I would have been completely happy with the .78 overdrive it offers, while still dealing with a stall converter. I was ready to go this route, and just drop the rear gear to 3.73's, but I decided against it.
So I opted to spend the money. go with the 4L80 with it's .75 overdrive and gain the benefit of a lockup converter that should drop the rpm another 2-300 at least. With this, I can leave the 4.10's, and change nothing about how the car races in the 1st 3 gears, other than the fact I can now program the shift points "precisely" with the push of a few buttons.

I know others that have been completely happy with their Gear Vendor swap on their street cruisers, and I can't argue with the dozens of these units you see on drag week behind 1800-2000 HP cars. It's a stout piece.

[72projectbird]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

Thanks for the heads up on their parts and service policy. That removes them entirely from any consideration for future use by me. I would never invest that kind of money in a non-serviceable, complex mechanical device that essentially is a unit replacement when it fails. Good to know.

Yup. I'll never purposely buy something that cannot be serviced or repaired by myself.

They can get bent.