Throttle to Tranny Linkage: Purpose???

[cleithau]

What is the purpose of the linkage that goes from the IP to the tranny (C-6)? I'm just curious, its long gone and I duobt I'll put it back on, the truck seems to shift fine without it. But what was it there for in the first place?

 

[Agnem]

That was the "kick down rod". It's job was to downshift when you stomp on it. I don't like em' myself, and when I built up my C6, I left it off on purpose. I agree, you don't need it.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Kickdown linkage, does just what Mel said - I also hate it being there, and I ain't never seen one work right (cable setups are fine tho, if adjusted properly). On my old Chevy with the TH350 transmission I yanked the kickdown cable out, that truck has been in more off-the-light runs and freeway fly-bys than I can remember and I never felt the need for the kickdown. On my mud truck (429-C6 drivetrain) the kickdown was just getting in the way all the time, removed it from that one too, again never felt the need for it. basically if you're smart and downshift before you get on it hard then all is good.

 

[cleithau]

Should I be downshifting manually whenever the truck needs to downshift or just when getting on it? There's a hill at 35 mph that the truck downshifts on, is it ******* the transmission for it to downshift on it own?

 

[LCAM-01XA]

The kickdown is strictly a WOT thing or at least it should be - unless you put the pedal to the floor it will not affect the way the trans downshift, that's the VRV's job. Really the VRV tells the trans how much line pressure is needed, and thus when to upshift and when to downshift. You can adjust your shift points through the VRV but it ain't recommended, instead you can tweak the vacuum modulator on the side of the trans - just follow the vacuum line from the VRV to the rear of the trans case, pull the line and trough the vacuum port you can access a screw that adjusts the whole shifting action - turning clockwise delays the shift points and makes the downshifting easier, turning it CCW makes for lower shift points and slower downshifts. That screw takes a flat-blade screwdriver, but the NP208 might make it a bit hard to reach.