gearvendor, us gear behind zf5

[coletrain777]

hey all,
I am ready to take the next step with my truck, I am wanting a GV or US gear unit for my truck. It is a zf5 4x4 so I am just needing something that can work with that. I don't care if the unit works in 4wd (not needed for me), just that I can use it with my current setup.

Does anyone have a line on a complete setup, or know where I can get one used for a good price? I would be willing to pay cash or trade (low mileage 7.3, zf5 trans, dually rearend,...) just looking for a good setup for a good price.

 

[Full Monte]

I own both overdrives on two different trucks. For hauling and towing, the US Gear is pretty bullet-proof..rated at 30,000 lbs. It's tougher to shift smoothly than the GV O/D.
The GV behind my C6 tranny acts like another gear, auto shift and all. I don't think the GV is as strong a unit, but much easier to drive.

 

[RLDSL]

If you can find it , a US gear is a lot stouter unit and is not prone to the hydraulic failures and cone clutch failures that the laycock units are prone to. I used to work on Volvos and those laycock units are stock on those things ( except the cone clutches on the itty bitty 4000 lb Volvos are actually stronger than teh ones that GV sells supposedly for towing heavy loads and they would generally hold up about 150k miles or so in a light duty application before folding, and that's only if somebody didn't screw up and have teh thing in gear at teh wrong time or in reverse etc., but eventually, they all quit pumping internally and loose pressure and sometimes you just loose od and others you are dead in teh water
The USG unit is a lot more straight forward, it is much more like a 2 speed brownie, just in and out gears. A lot less to go wrong.

 

[hesutton]

I have a US Gear Underdrive on my crew cab. I'm adding a ZF5 for the overdrive. That way I'll have both under and over. Another vote for the stout US gear design.

US Gear units are getting very hard to find.

Heath

 

[coletrain777]

So I guess I should be looking for a US gear setup!

What are the rear ratios in the US Gear units? The final overdrive of the Gear Vendors setup combined with our diesel ZF5 is a .59 overdrive. Is the US Gear the same?

This is the main reason I want a under/overdrive unit, I can keep my 4:10 gears and have the lower rpm's than a zf5 3.55 setup. Plus I do use my truck to tow from time to time and I like the idea of having the extra gears to keep it in the right rpm range (again though, my main concern is low rpm cruising).

Any help in finding a setup is greatly appreciated (looking for fairly cheap/used if possible).

 

[The Warden]

I have a US Gear Underdrive on my crew cab. I'm adding a ZF5 for the overdrive. That way I'll have both under and over. Another vote for the stout US gear design.

US Gear units are getting very hard to find.

I agree with the U.S. Gear units being stronger...and, unfortunately, also that they're getting hard to find. Something else I should note is that parts are getting difficult to find...AFAIK there's no one out there manufacturing parts or offering support for them anymore. So, you want to find a unit that's in good condition and is well-cared-for. I got lucky with mine; I found someone who was able to fabricate thrust washers for mine and confirmed that everything else is in good shape, but even still, I'm gathering up the $$ to buy a second unit (this one an underdrive) for spare parts for mine in case (for example) the electric shifting motor ever fails.

FWIW GV's are still supported, but they aren't cheap and, as others have noted, aren't as strong.

Hope this helps a bit...good luck!!

 

[Diesel JD]

The main problem I have seen here on the forums and experienced myself with the US Gear/DNE2 units is that there isn't any easy way just by looking at it to tell if you have an O/D or U/D sitting in front of you. Also I don't know if US Gear will still deal with the public or what they have left in new old stock but whatever that may be in the way of spacers and adapters you're probably stuck with. If I remember right the ratios are 1.25:1 U/D and 1:1 direct for the U-drive unit and 1:1 direct and .8:1 for the Overdrive.

 

[RLDSL]

So I guess I should be looking for a US gear setup!

What are the rear ratios in the US Gear units? The final overdrive of the Gear Vendors setup combined with our diesel ZF5 is a .59 overdrive. Is the US Gear the same?

This is the main reason I want a under/overdrive unit, I can keep my 4:10 gears and have the lower rpm's than a zf5 3.55 setup. Plus I do use my truck to tow from time to time and I like the idea of having the extra gears to keep it in the right rpm range (again though, my main concern is low rpm cruising).

Any help in finding a setup is greatly appreciated (looking for fairly cheap/used if possible).

The ideal setup is to pop an old brownie in there out of a big truck like I did. I've got 15 forward gears and 3 reverse. Always exactly the right gear for the job when towing heavy and when running empty real nice double OD, not to mention being in just the right gear when towing picks up quite a bit of fuel mileage. Only drawback is it is quite a bit more fabrication intensive than the other alternatives.