727 band adjustment

would like to pull the trans pan to take a peak and readjust bands. 727 specialist like bands on the tight side and most just use the old mopar performance spec. Just looking for opinions on how you guys do it and the spec you use. Thanks

Tighten all the way in and then back off 2.5 turns.

I do it the Gil Younger method, I used a lot of his kits, and I did his school by mail for transmission techs back in the day. Assuming you'll be doing both bands, loosen both lock nuts and snug the adjusters. You should now notice that you can no longer turn the drive shaft in either direction. Loosen either of the adjusters until you can barely turn the drive shaft by hand. Once this happens, loosen the adjuster another ½ turn and tighten the lock nut. Now, do the same with the other adjuster, only this time you should be trying to turn the drive shaft in the opposite direction. Once you can barely turn it by hand, loosen the adjuster another ½ turn and tighten the lock nut.

And when you tighten it all the way in just go snug

Does it matter which band you loosen first? If I remember correctly that's similar to what 727specialist told me. Finger tighten then back off one turn.

4.2 lever? Like 2-2 1/4 turns out from 72 in.lb. If the pan is off, use a pry bar to pry the lever off of the pushrod and firmly apply the band. Measure the gap at the pushrod. Conversely, I think you could use air to apply the band and measure the difference between relaxed and applied at the pushrod. 5/16" is the number.

It's always interesting to use all of these alternate methods to adjust the thing. Then go back and mark the adjuster and go through it again using the 2 or 2 1/2 back from 72 in.lb. method, then compare where you end up.

Yes, its a 4.2 lever, a solid band and full metal jacket drum.

If you have the trans pan off, then I like to use a 5/16" allen wrench as a feeler gauge. Pull the lever by hand at the servo, and put the allen wrench between the servo pin and the lever. This eliminates the feel of tightening, then backing off a set amount for each lever ratio.

I set my bands according to what the vb manufacture calls for.

Just found my notes from Keith over at 727 Specialists. 1.5 turns front bank and 1/4 turn rear. I have a cope VB. I believe cope follows the standard 2-2.5 turns.

Do a standard 2 or 2 1/2 turns off from 72inlb. Then measure it. Then you know exactly what the right adjustment is when the pan is on it.

I’ll give it a try. The pan will be off for inspection.

WOW this is very tight, might be the missing HP problem

I have always use the 5/16" spec, I would call and verify that 1/4 turn on the rear, maybe 2-1/4? I would think 1/4 would cause drag, wear, and a bunch of heat. If the pan has a bunch of crap in it I bet the rear band is worn.

It is my feeling if the servo has enough travel the band "grip" will be the same. Grip/hold is based on band type, material, lever ratio, servo size. The apply timing may change with adjustment. So a couple of thoughts. No need to run the rear band tight. Its already applied in 1st if you run LBA. If not it's only used in reverse. Why create any extra drag? As far as the front band. Last year I fought a 1/2 shift timing issue. My car runs an old T/A stock based valve body. On the tach replay it showed over 1100rpm between the time the 1/2 shift light came on and the actual shift. Tried tightening the band various amounts, zero change. This trans (and others with this valve body) have always taken 500-700 rpm to complete the shift. The quicker the car accelerates the more rpm it takes. The time the servo clamps the band is basically a fixed value. So why now was it worse? After researching from some of the smartest Torqueflite guys I could find the initial issue was located. The trans is a cable shift (push button). The cable adjustment was slightly off. The manual valve was partially blocking the 2nd gear servo feed land. At this time the band was inspected (red material, aluminum drum) and looked like it just came out of the box. However it still took approximately 700 rpm to shift. The problem with that is the converter flashes to 6100rpm. The lowest you could set the shift light was 6200. Thus 6900-7000 shift. Wanted to try a lower shift rpm. Took the valve body to a very smart guy. He modified the feed passages for the 2nd gear servo feed and couple of other items. Now the shift rpm lag is 400-500. Wise advise I also received. If you loosen the band and it doesn't hurt itself or slow down its a positive move. This band has close to 500 passes and still looks new. My 2 cents. The 5/16" spec works well

Doug

I wondered that myself a while back, but the fluid is not burnt.

I had a flare up like that with a cope RMVB. I sent it back, he gave me another, it flared up too between the 2-3 shift. I sent it back and got an A&A brake from him, problem solved. I now have his latest RMVB and no issues with flare up.

might that be 1/4"? iirc Kunkel had me adj one of the (904) bands to that clearance at the lever

Its been a few yrs since I spoke with Keith, but I thought he said 1.5 turns on front and 1/4 turn rear, but maybe I wrote that wrong and it was 2 1/4 turn rear from snug. I will find out this weekend when I get the pan off. I'm thinking I will just use the 72"# spec and 2 turns on each if I can get in there with a torque wrench. Thanks guys

Just dug out my 727 trans manual from CRT. Forgot I had that. Band adjustment is 2 1/4 turns with 4.2 lever and 2 turns on rear.

Sounds perfect to me. It should end up close to that 5/16". If you just snug it with a short wrench you are good.

ok, I will give the 5/16 hex wrench a try for measure. I just drained the fluid and it looked brand new. Thank's for the info guys.

Cleanest pan I ever seen. 3/16 gap at the front lever/servo.

Set front band to 5/16 gap as instructed from just snug. I had it at 3/16 from snug and it didn’t seem to hurt anything. Rear band was set to spec at 2 turns from 72”#. Ran thru the gears up on stands. All seems well. Thanks guys