So, I have jumped into this rebuild and am now replacing my bands, how do I go about replacing the forward (kickdown) band? Also is it the same as the A727 forward band? I'm trying to order from autozone and having a hell of a time..

 

You have an A-518 46RH. That may help the morons behind the counter figure it out. The A-518 is an A-727 with an overdrive unit attached. I would suspect that the bands are the same. Take your old band in and compare it to the new band.

Many rebuild kits include the front band so you may not have to worry about it depending on the kit you order.

Have you torn down the old tranny? What was the final conclusion on the problem?

 

https://www.wittrans.com/Schematic.a...sion=A518/A618
I got the majority of my parts from them fast and at a reasonable price.

 

Yes I tore it down already and that's what I thought it would be pretty much the same as the a727.. Final conclusion after dreading the worst and thinking gears and the over running clutch were bad issss...

My valve body is sticky and worn bands so I'm beefing up/cleaning my valve body with a B&M heavy duty transpack and replacing the bands and band struts.. All in all the B&M transpack was on sale at jegs for a whopping $74.94 after tax so it was a no brainer and still looking for bands and struts that are a little heavier duty than oem.. Also would like to swap in a better torque converter and add a drain plug

 

Go for a deep pan as well. Some of them come with the drain plug already installed. Trans temp gauge wouldn't be a bad plan either.

 

So are you just replacing what's broken, or is it in for a full overhaul? If your just gonna fix what's broken, it would be very wise of you to replace all of the snap rings. Especially those in the O.D. unit. There notorious for snapping into two pieces.

 

Thats what caused my stock transmission failure a few years ago. OD Snap ring broke and found its way into the clutches. No fun.

 

I do plan on replacing the snap rings while I'm in there as well as possibly doing a deeper pan, I'm still on the fence about the deep pan due to the fact I live on a farm and do sometimes venture into some iffy areas where I have set my truck on the frame, or had branches/log fly up in the wooded areas.. However I have been looking into the b&m transcooler as well.. I have seen some pretty good reviews for the product so we will see, I just hope all this goes well