6L80E Clutch Drum Removal and Installation Tool T-47781AC

This is the clamp that makes the 1-2-3-4 and 3-5-Reverse drum a one-person job on a GM 6L80E. It is the aftermarket equivalent of the GM special tool T-47781AC, and it fits the 6L50E, 6L80E and 6L90E family used behind Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac rear-wheel-drive applications from 2006 up - Silverado, Sierra, Tahoe, Yukon, Suburban, Escalade, Camaro, CTS and the Colorado/Canyon 6L50E cars.

The drum in these units is tall, heavy and has nothing to grab. Techs try to pinch it by the outer shell and it slips, or it goes in cocked and the clutch splines never line up with the hub. Worse, dropping it on the way out nicks the piston bore and puts a leak in the unit you are about to warranty. The clamp closes on the drum body and gives you a solid handle on the centerline, so it comes straight up and drops straight back down.

Bench use is two steps. Squeeze the arms onto the drum and lock the manual switch, lift the drum clear of the case or set it over the shaft, then release the switch and pull the clamp away. Because the load stays centered you can feel the clutch hub index instead of guessing, which is where most of the tear-down and reassembly time goes on this unit. The body is stainless steel so it will not spring out of shape after a few hundred pulls, and it wipes clean of ATF.

Keep it with your 6L80E tooling next to your drum leak tester and your input shaft seal ring expander - those three cover most of what is awkward about the hard-part side of this transmission.