Anyone have any experience with a Summit or Jegs Transmission

Just curious since mine seems to be going out in my '92 Roadmaster. It will be a few months before I do anything but not sure if I will bring it to a Transmission shop and let them rebuild it or if I want to buy one and just have it installed at the shop I work at. I see the 700R4 or 4L60 any where from $800 to $1300. Not planning on getting rid of the wagon so wanting one that will last, which I read most have a upgraded 3rd and 4th that seems to have been a common issue in the premature failure of these. My wagon only has 86,000 miles with service records of 2 transmission services being done, one at 34,000 miles and one at 70,000. I was planning on doing one between 95,000 and 100,000 but it went out with no warning. No funny shifts, no slipping until I stopped for a turning car. When I took back off it shifted fine until 3rd. I limped it home about 4 miles in 2nd. The Tv cable looks good, I checked fluid, it is full and not burnt but looks like clutch material mixed in the fluid on the dipstick.

 

never bought a trans from either one but did get motors from both of them and tons off other stuff. summit has a 0% credit card for big purchases which may help in your decision.

 

I have bought lots of parts from both Jegs and Summit. The problem I see if you are buying something of weight is the fact you better have a way to get it off the truck. If they have to ship it on a truck with a drop down tailgate, it will cost more to ship it.
For what its worth I would just have a reputable shop take it out, rebuild it and put it back in. The cost will probably be cheaper in the long run anyway.

 

I've bought GM crate engines from Summit but they were GM performance parts engines,I was curious about their Summit brand transmissions. I have a forklift at home or I can have it delivered to shop I work at but I am thinking along the lines Chop is talking about. I did have a problem with delivery of one crate motor and ended up needing to go to Fedex terminal and pick it up myself.
Thanks for responses and still have couple months to decide.

 

When buying a transmission via mail order, what are the warranty procedures if something were to go wrong? Would you have to ship the trans somewhere for repairs? Would you have to buy a 2nd one and send in the failed unit for inspection and hope for reimbursement? Buying a big item like that is o-k when it works. You might save a little money if everything goes well. If something goes wrong, it throws a big logistical wrench in the works. I own a transmission shop. I've had to deal with reman trans purchased somewhere else failing and the time it takes to get authorizations, parts and payments to make things work. Transmission repair has a lot of service work involved. You can't buy service over the phone or internet. It's best to keep a job like this local. Going to a transmission shop, you are likely to meet other car guys.

 

It wasn't Jegs or Summit, but my son has bought two different mail order 700R4 transmissions thru mail order. Two different places that supposedly built modified and gauranteed transmissions. One lasted around the neighborhood, about two miles. The other only a short time and this was in a different vehicle.
He had to pick up near where he worked at a farm store. Then when each went bad he had to drive over 75 miles to the nearest UPS terminal.
He never did get a replacement and both wanted almost as much as the original cost for the rebuild and shipping again.
One place is in Jacksonville, Fl.
Personally I'd find a local tranny shop I could trust.

PS Son has bad luck with everything and drives like he's at a demo derby so your results may vary!

 

Transmission shops should be aware of all the pitfalls of performing an installation. We used to build "over the counter units". We've found that whether it's a problem in the trans, or a lousy installation---it's always my fault. Then we would end up with the whole vehicle to pull the trans ourselves, diagnose and fix the problem and do the installation for little or no extra money. It wasn't worth the headaches, cause more often than not it was an installation error. Missing dowel pins, cramming the torque convertor, not making final adjustments. Not putting enough of, or using the correct fluid. Not thoroughly flushing cooler lines......etc. I'm not saying every transmission I build is perfect. But, when we do the installation I can catch my mistakes or a defective part or an external control that has effect on trans operation before a problem snowballs. It really takes just one small thing to make a big problem with a transmission.
Hopefully there is a good reputable transmission shop in your area.

 

As above I'd find a good shop close, talk to local racers and find out who builds their automatics.

 

I will have to look for a quality trans shop around here, that's the problem. I have a guy that built a couple transmissions for me over the years and have been happy with him. Problem is I would pull them, bring them to him and he would build them for me to reinstall. These days I am not able to do this so I am going to let a shop handle it all. I will still wait a couple months, have one graduating High School this year so Senior trip and all the other Senior activities are dipping into my toybox funds!
Thanks for the advice it is very much appreciated.

 

After asking around seems no one can recommend a good transmission shop locally. I have one more in Gulfport, Mississippi to check out. I did contact Jasper and can get one with a 3 year, 100,000 mile warranty. I have dealt with them at work a couple times and may end up going this route and handle it all through the shop I work at. Still waiting before I do anything.

 

3 year 100k is an excellent deal. My Explorer's 4R70W was shop-rebuilt with a 3/36 warranty, and I only have 6k to go in the last year of the warranty. Go with the Jasper one. The ones we installed, I don't recall them coming in on a comeback/warranty issue.

 

if it helps any call summit see if they can get it and on a trans you can get 12 months free financing.

 

Just a little update, I found the guy that built the transmission for our '55 twelve years ago. I have known him since I was a teenager and use to buy Vega torque converters from him. Growing up he built a transmission for a '69 Chevelle I had and a '74 Z28. He has had his modest shop ever since I can remember. I run into him at a dragstrip about a month ago and said he would rebuild it for me. He has had race cars since I've known him and he use to rebuild all transmissions but decided 10 years ago to only build T350, T400, 700R4, 200 4R and the 4L gm transmissions. He told me let him know a week ahead of time so he will get it in...now that daughters graduation is over and parents 50th anniversary is done, I need to make time to load it on trailer and get it to him hopefully in next couple weeks.

 

Since you played hooky from work today get it in the shop before a kid or wife needs something they can't live without.

 

Finally loaded up the wagon to drop off at transmission shop....ready to get it back on the road!