Looking to beef up your E4OD? Here are some comments from David85 that may help you.
I don't keep any secrets about my build
remembering what I did does get harder but I'll try and list them.
Gear train:
In 1997 ford offered a "superduty" build up E4OD that had all steel carrier planetary gears. Main forward was a 6 pinion, overdrive became 4 pinion, and reverse was 6 pinion. This is a factory Ford upgrade, but they are so popular that aftermarket suppliers carry them as well for decent prices. For your info, the C6 has all 3 pinion aluminum carrier planetaries and all E4ODs originally had them as well.
I bought the steel gear upgrades for the forward and overdrive planetaries. The overdrive planetary comes with a new stronger input shaft in most cases. What is interesting is that the power enters the transmission through the overdrive planetary so its always under load even if you are in 1st gear. Cost was about $100 off of Ebay for the OD gears and shaft.
I didn't bother with the rear planetary since that isn't subject to much load and at the time all you could get was a complete universal kit that was over $250, however now you can get only the planetary for around $100.
The torque converter:
I paid about $735CAD locally and had the following upgrades:
billet front cover,
internal structual brace to prevent balooning,
tripple clutch (no amount of power changes the lockup time)
furnace brazed internals (factory ones are crimped together)
Something about a bigger torrington bearing, don't quite remember.
Have seen comparable TCs on Ebay since then for less, but I wanted to buy something closer to home in case something ever goes wrong. Been perfect so far.
Center support:
One of the most critical internal upgrades came with a change of the center support bearing. 89-94 transmissions had a bushing where later ones had a ball bearing. You can get an upgrade kit that includes the center support, steel forward/overdrive planetaries and new imput shaft for under $400, or parts can be found seperately. If the transmission was rebuild after 1994, it should already have the roller bearing center support so its best to tear yours down before ordering upgrades.
Pump:
The front pump was changed in 1995 to have 15% more capacity. Got a used one off Ebay for $70 but had to change some of the valves in it. Since I spend a lot of time below 2000 RPM and above 70 MPH at the same time, I was concerned about cooling and pump pressure.
Rebuild kits:
Prices vary from $100 to $300 usually depending on how complete it is.
Shift kits:
After all is done, get a shift kit that makes changes based on orifice holes in the separator as opposed to just adding stiffer springs. The spring based shift kits are easier to install and remove, but they put more strain on the valve body valves and rise line pressure causing more heat. Opening up orifices allows fluid to more quickly fill clutch pistons allowing a faster shift without added strain on other transmission components.
Controller:
I am running an aftermarket controller that uses fewer input signals and will never throw a fault code or go into hard shifting. It costs close to $600, but I can't imagine using anything OEM after using this. Mine is set up more like a 5 speed than a 4 speed because the TC only locks up at about 50 MPH and overdrive engages roughly at 65-70 MPH. 3rd or 4th are perfectly viable at 70 MPH thanks to the 3.08 gears. 3rd works great for towing at 70 MPH.
OK, now about the fuel economy question. Simply put, an E4OD backed up with the right gears will give better peak MPGs than a C6 GV combo no matter what gears. The C6 cannot lock up the torque converter, so there will always be slip no matter how tall your gearing is. 2000 RPM is about the lowest you can get with an open torque converter in these trucks before slip negates any gearing advantage you might have (and making heat). The E4OD also has a wider overdrive ratio than a GV overdrive. Its also a myth that you can't tow with an E4OD in overdrive.
wiew, long post.
Hope it helps
I don't keep any secrets about my build
remembering what I did does get harder but I'll try and list them.
Gear train:
In 1997 ford offered a "superduty" build up E4OD that had all steel carrier planetary gears. Main forward was a 6 pinion, overdrive became 4 pinion, and reverse was 6 pinion. This is a factory Ford upgrade, but they are so popular that aftermarket suppliers carry them as well for decent prices. For your info, the C6 has all 3 pinion aluminum carrier planetaries and all E4ODs originally had them as well.
I bought the steel gear upgrades for the forward and overdrive planetaries. The overdrive planetary comes with a new stronger input shaft in most cases. What is interesting is that the power enters the transmission through the overdrive planetary so its always under load even if you are in 1st gear. Cost was about $100 off of Ebay for the OD gears and shaft.
I didn't bother with the rear planetary since that isn't subject to much load and at the time all you could get was a complete universal kit that was over $250, however now you can get only the planetary for around $100.
The torque converter:
I paid about $735CAD locally and had the following upgrades:
billet front cover,
internal structual brace to prevent balooning,
tripple clutch (no amount of power changes the lockup time)
furnace brazed internals (factory ones are crimped together)
Something about a bigger torrington bearing, don't quite remember.
Have seen comparable TCs on Ebay since then for less, but I wanted to buy something closer to home in case something ever goes wrong. Been perfect so far.
Center support:
One of the most critical internal upgrades came with a change of the center support bearing. 89-94 transmissions had a bushing where later ones had a ball bearing. You can get an upgrade kit that includes the center support, steel forward/overdrive planetaries and new imput shaft for under $400, or parts can be found seperately. If the transmission was rebuild after 1994, it should already have the roller bearing center support so its best to tear yours down before ordering upgrades.
Pump:
The front pump was changed in 1995 to have 15% more capacity. Got a used one off Ebay for $70 but had to change some of the valves in it. Since I spend a lot of time below 2000 RPM and above 70 MPH at the same time, I was concerned about cooling and pump pressure.
Rebuild kits:
Prices vary from $100 to $300 usually depending on how complete it is.
Shift kits:
After all is done, get a shift kit that makes changes based on orifice holes in the separator as opposed to just adding stiffer springs. The spring based shift kits are easier to install and remove, but they put more strain on the valve body valves and rise line pressure causing more heat. Opening up orifices allows fluid to more quickly fill clutch pistons allowing a faster shift without added strain on other transmission components.
Controller:
I am running an aftermarket controller that uses fewer input signals and will never throw a fault code or go into hard shifting. It costs close to $600, but I can't imagine using anything OEM after using this. Mine is set up more like a 5 speed than a 4 speed because the TC only locks up at about 50 MPH and overdrive engages roughly at 65-70 MPH. 3rd or 4th are perfectly viable at 70 MPH thanks to the 3.08 gears. 3rd works great for towing at 70 MPH.
OK, now about the fuel economy question. Simply put, an E4OD backed up with the right gears will give better peak MPGs than a C6 GV combo no matter what gears. The C6 cannot lock up the torque converter, so there will always be slip no matter how tall your gearing is. 2000 RPM is about the lowest you can get with an open torque converter in these trucks before slip negates any gearing advantage you might have (and making heat). The E4OD also has a wider overdrive ratio than a GV overdrive. Its also a myth that you can't tow with an E4OD in overdrive.
wiew, long post.
Hope it helps
