6L80e 6spd Conversion

[adventr]

A really impressive project. Suggestion for the next project: paddle shifter!

I put about 50 miles on it this evening after replacing my radiator. I will probably end up putting the tap shifter in it, but I honestly doubt I'll use it much. The shift points in this thing are spot on for my driving style. And when you place the shifter into the spot just under D, the dash indicator moves straight to "1" and stays there (trans holds 1st gear). That was my only concern since I'll be taking it offroad. For slow stuff and descents I'll still be able to select first gear.

But, I'll try to get some tap shifting going at some point!

 

[derian06]

Curious to see how the gas mileage is affected, how is it looking so far?

 

[Chris Laun]

I'm so glad I found this thread! Congrats on the working swap and now I'll be adding this to the list of mods to be done to my H3! Now to figure out how to swap my I5 for an LS3 and slap one of these behind it...

 

[rsc]

I may have forgotten or it got lost in the thread, but is there going to be an outlet for the output shaft you needed? It would be nice to get the harness and everything from the same place.

 

[adventr]

Curious to see how the gas mileage is affected, how is it looking so far?

I'm really not the best person to get fuel mileage data, as I never really checked what I was getting before the swap. Gas is cheap and I love the sound of the v8. Lol

But, with that said, the performance increase is more than worth the swap. Much better gear spacing, and it feels like acceleration is effortless. That low 1st gear is really noticeable when taking off on a hill, or pulling into an uphill driveway. When you put the transfer case in low range, it's just ridiculous. 4.10 gears 4:1 transfer case and a 4:1 first gear make for a really low crawl gear. Looking forward to wheelin it and seeing what kind of difference it makes.
Now that I have a stout transmission, I'm also kicking around the idea of installing a blower... We just installed a Whipple 2.9 on a Raptor and it sounds amazing.



Overall, I'm really happy that I went ahead and did the swap. All the headache and loss of sleep was worth it.
I'll make some more videos soon. Stay tuned.

I may have forgotten or it got lost in the thread, but is there going to be an outlet for the output shaft you needed? It would be nice to get the harness and everything from the same place.

I currently have 1x extra output shaft that could be sent off and machined to 27 spline. Other than that, I would just recommend sending your own output shaft up to Moser and having it machined. It's cheap, and they do great work.

 

[RamRod]

I'm really not the best person to get fuel mileage data, as I never really checked what I was getting before the swap. Gas is cheap and I love the sound of the v8. Lol

But, with that said, the performance increase is more than worth the swap. Much better gear spacing, and it feels like acceleration is effortless. That low 1st gear is really noticeable when taking off on a hill, or pulling into an uphill driveway. When you put the transfer case in low range, it's just ridiculous. 4.10 gears 4:1 transfer case and a 4:1 first gear make for a really low crawl gear. Looking forward to wheelin it and seeing what kind of difference it makes.
Now that I have a stout transmission, I'm also kicking around the idea of installing a blower... We just installed a Whipple 2.9 on a Raptor and it sounds amazing.



Overall, I'm really happy that I went ahead and did the swap. All the headache and loss of sleep was worth it.
I'll make some more videos soon. Stay tuned.







I currently have 1x extra output shaft that could be sent off and machined to 27 spline. Other than that, I would just recommend sending your own output shaft up to Moser and having it machined. It's cheap, and they do great work.

How cheap are we talking?? I am thinking that the first project that I am going to take on once I move to my new house and set up the shop will be one of these transmissions... very interested as my 60e is making me nervous lol

 

[Ghostbuster]

I'm really glad that this turned out to be a great upgrade. Thanks for taking this on and helping other H3 owners.
If I'm ever in NW AR I will try to stop by and shake your hand.

I would also like to say that a supercharger would be schwwweeeeet!

 

[amrg]

Looking at the crate engines online, an ls3 engine (ls376/430) is cheaper than what a supercharger designed for a alpha costs (5850 vs 6200). Im sure engine pullouts would lower that cost even more!

 

[adventr]

How cheap are we talking?? I am thinking that the first project that I am going to take on once I move to my new house and set up the shop will be one of these transmissions... very interested as my 60e is making me nervous lol

It would be a really nice setup for your rig, especially since you already have a supercharger.
Price for machining the output shaft to 27 spline was less than $100 including the shipping back to me. I think they charge $75 to machine it.

 

[amrg]

At what rpm are the shift points set during WOT?
I noticed on the I5 the engine revs up to 6200 as opposed to 5800 on the v8. (The 6 speed can rev to 6500 - if the engine allows)

 

[RamRod]

It would be a really nice setup for your rig, especially since you already have a supercharger.
Price for machining the output shaft to 27 spline was less than $100 including the shipping back to me. I think they charge $75 to machine it.

That's what I was thinking

Well that ain't bad at all for machining!

Now for a guy to do this switch is it possible to do it without HPtuners? I have a shop 700 miles away that I have already paid the licensing fee so they could do some tuning on my T but now that's too far away for some trial and error lol


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[adventr]

Since my last video, I've had a couple changes and put quite a few miles on it.

The change, was that the t43 was still setup for the 3.42 gear ratio that was in the 2009 Denali. I noticed this when looking around in hptuners. It showed my PCM as 4.10 gears and the TCM as 3.42. I changed the TCM to 4.10, and now the shift points are much better in my opinion.


Overall, extremely happy with the swap. Was well worth the $3k I've got in it. Biggest differences are the off-the-line umph, and the gear spacing. Both allow for much easier acceleration in daily driving. No longer does it bog down when switching to the next gear like it did with the 4l60e.
In fact, the 4.027:1 first gear in the 6L80e, is the equivalent of having a 4l60e (3.059:1) with 5.38 axle gears. Very noticeable difference, especially in low range. With my 4:1 transfer case gears, you can get out and walk slowly beside the vehicle at idle. Looking forward to trying it out offroad soon!



Here's a video showing a some average acceleration:

https://youtu.be/XGELgsIM3ho







And here is a video showing acceleration at ~75% throttle. Was kind of nervous getting on it for the first time. Didn't really know what the shift points were going to look like so I took it easy...

https://youtu.be/fZ8HV6iB1RU

 

[derian06]

Since my last video, I've had a couple changes and put quite a few miles on it.

The change, was that the t43 was still setup for the 3.42 gear ratio that was in the 2009 Denali. I noticed this when looking around in hptuners. It showed my PCM as 4.10 gears and the TCM as 3.42. I changed the TCM to 4.10, and now the shift points are much better in my opinion.


Overall, extremely happy with the swap. Was well worth the $3k I've got in it. Biggest differences are the off-the-line umph, and the gear spacing. Both allow for much easier acceleration in daily driving. No longer does it bog down when switching to the next gear like it did with the 4l60e.
In fact, the 4.027:1 first gear in the 6L80e, is the equivalent of having a 4l60e (3.059:1) with 5.38 axle gears. Very noticeable difference, especially in low range. With my 4:1 transfer case gears, you can get out and walk slowly beside the vehicle at idle. Looking forward to trying it out offroad soon!



Here's a video showing a some average acceleration:

https://youtu.be/XGELgsIM3ho







And here is a video showing acceleration at ~75% throttle. Was kind of nervous getting on it for the first time. Didn't really know what the shift points were going to look like so I took it easy...

https://youtu.be/fZ8HV6iB1RU

Way faster than mine at 100% acceleration, and getting better mpg than mine. Exciting!

 

[05Mudiak]

ok so now I need a outline/parts list instruction sheet for this. As a few know I started this same thing a long time ago with advanced adapters but my deployments got in the way and never came to life. I am super stoked someone completed this swap. While Im here in Afghanistan I will be getting the swap ready to do when I get back. Being a crew chef I need a simplified job guide with lots of pictures. lol Ill b good with just guidance Awesome work!!

 

[rsc]

Yeah, this is definitely worthy of a build thread with everything consolidated together.

 

[SedonaBound]

Overall, extremely happy with the swap. Was well worth the $3k I've got in it. Biggest differences are the off-the-line umph, and the gear spacing. Both allow for much easier acceleration in daily driving. No longer does it bog down when switching to the next gear like it did with the 4l60e.

Yeah...that's the legacy of the 4L60 actually being a 3-spd + overdrive. Makers stopped using "overdrive" to describe top gears w/less than 1:1 ratio some time ago.

 

[High Five H2]

$3,000 is not bad at all. If you have 35" tires this swap is worth a re-gear plus some substantial engine upgrades and some transmission strengthening (and a bit of fuel economy, but is that really near the top of any hummer driver's list?). I know where my tax return is going for sure.


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[adventr]

Just had to fill up with fuel. Ended up with 278 miles on this tank! Doesn't sound like a lot, but this was all "around town" driving and testing, so lots of stop/go and playing around.
Before, I was filling up every ~200 miles or so.


Super happy with the setup. The more I drive it, the more I like it. Transmission made more of a difference than I thought it would. Always seems to be in the perfect gear for the situation (no hunting or anything like that).
I'll be sure and put together a DIY Swap Parts List soon for you guys!



All that said........ I've got an opportunity to buy a H1 (HMC4). Literally the only vehicle that I'd consider selling my H3 for.. So, I'm considering offering it up if someone seriously wanted to buy it. Lol

 

[RamRod]

The H3 or the Trans? lol

 

[bigwilliedw01]

How cheap are we talking?? I am thinking that the first project that I am going to take on once I move to my new house and set up the shop will be one of these transmissions... very interested as my 60e is making me nervous lol

On the output shafts machining, does Moser already have the specs?


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[adventr]

Lol the H3.




And yeah, just tell Moser that you are needing this output shaft turned down to GM 27 spline (same as powerglide/th350/700r4/4l60). Only takes them like a day or so to do it.

 

[bigwilliedw01]

Adventure do you have info for Moser? I've been in contact with the guys at TBMS about performing such a swap on the list but didn't know where to have the out put shafts machined.

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[adventr]

These guys: http://www.moserengineering.com/

They're out of Indiana. Great company to do business with. Have had them make us custom axle shafts, cut down and respline axle shafts, and then the transmission output shaft machining as well.

 

[bigwilliedw01]

Thanks! !!!

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[amrg]

Just had to fill up with fuel. Ended up with 278 miles on this tank!

This is how much my I5 used to get on stock tires! My V8 with 32s used to do 265 miles on a tank, and I used to drive it easy!
Great improvement! Im sure with the first two gears now you dont have to give it as much throttle to move as u used to before!