first impressions FT valvebody

[98lariat4x4]

Well I got my Factory Tech valve body (shiftkit) yesterday and installed it today. - First - I'll say I expected the box to be bigger. Mostly due to my lack of knowledge of my 4R100 and being used to one piece valve bodys in other transmissions. After inspection it seems there are 3 seperate section to what one would refer to as a conventional valve body. Anyway, in the "kit" you get the most forward section that has the 4 valves and the springs in it. - Second - It is fully assembled when received and comes professionally packaged with a company logo type sticker. It is a VERY simple install. I once had a hot rod Nova (forgive me please) with a 383 stroker and a 700R4 tranny. I bought(60 bucks) and installed(4 hours) a B&M street/strip shift kit for it. It worked out well but if someone like FT made something for it like he does for the 4R100 and I had know about it, I would have gone that route. -Thrid- The shift is uniformly smooth. No gear shift from one to another is more harsh than any of the others. My 3 to OD shift feels pretty much as it did pre kit but all the others feel really good. I told FT I wanted a nice firm shift in all the gears but I didn't want to chirp the tires under normal driving conditions. I got EXACTLY what I asked for, under normal acceleration it shifts nice and firm (your ol' lady probably won't like it but it ain't for her is it) it chirps the tires in the 1-2 shift only under very heavy acceleration. My truck is bone stock with the exception of a K&N filter and my motor is the 235 HP version(98). I read on here while I was in the "research" phase of this about a few of the guys that thought the 1-2 shift was to harsh and how their truck would chirp the tires all the time and to soften the shift they had to put their stock 1-2 spring in the new valve body. To tell ya the truth I don't see how that could be true unless FT built mine special. The shift is firm but not neck snapping and we're talking about a 5K lb truck, not a race car in street dress. -Fourth- My primary motivation for installing the kit was 2 fold. 1 being tranny life, I figure without the wasted time between shifts there should be less clutch wear and less heat buildup. 2 was the ability to swap in my old stock valve body should I ever have to have warranty work(I bought a 100K extended) done on the tranny. -Fifth- I spent 61 additional bones on tranny fluid and filter to change while doing the swap. I bought 18 Qts of fluid but only used 15 and a filter(all from AutoZone). All said I'm very pleased. I would recommend one of these for you performance oriented guys and the guys that tow alot as well. If you can change your tranny fluid, you can do this mod, it is the easiest performance mod I have ever done to a vehicle. If you have been thinking about it go ahead and do it. I'm very hard to please, especially if I didn't do the work, and I am pleased with the result. Thanks FT!

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[wryan]

How much was it?

[98lariat4x4]

225.00 including shipping. Another 61 for a tranny filter and fluid.

[only one]

what type of tranny fluid are you guys using in a fluid change. The autozone computer says mercon ma, do not use mercon 5. We don't sell mercon ma at my autozone and none of the other bottles say anything about being compatible with this type fluid. I was thinking about B&M trick shift or mobil 1.

I am also having tranny problems and a FTVB is in the near future.

[02XLT]

I read on here while I was in the "research" phase of this about a few of the guys that thought the 1-2 shift was to harsh and how their truck would chirp the tires all the time and to soften the shift they had to put their stock 1-2 spring in the new valve body. To tell ya the truth I don't see how that could be true unless FT built mine special.

You probably saw one of my posts, and I can assure you it's neck snapping on my 1-2 shift. But maybe my truck configuration is lighter than yours? (Not to mention we have different transmissions with different internals) I didn't check what your signature said before I posted this. Overall I am totally satisfied with my VB from Gregg, but if I did it over again I would of had him soften up the 1-2 a bit. But no worries here. I would without a doubt recommend this mod to anyone. Good post!!



-Brian

[98lariat4x4]

Only One,

I use Mercon V in mine. It is what is called in my service manual, now have 55K with no problems, just wish I had done that shift kit swap sooner.