10 speed eaton fuller or road ranger behind a 7.3 IDI has it been done

I have a SAE 2 bell housing for my Allison AT545 It came from a school bus. It has a ring to change it to SAE 3 and a longer spacer and torq converter plate to make it all fit. The Flywheel is masive on the SAE 2 bell and so is the starter. I just had everything balancend to within .8 grams cost me 216.00 bucks. The bells are easy to find at bus wrecking yards, You just need to make sure the guy knows that the IDI has 9 holes not 10 like the PSD. I was lucky I found one on CL 90 miles from me.

the old 10 speed can be made into an OD by pressing the input and fourth speed gears off the countershafts and swapping them, and then reassembling the mainshaft accordingly, the second gear back from the front of the trans is the pto so basically its just a spacer. and somewhere, eons ago. I saw an od splitter on the back of one for 17 speeds with 3 overs.

Greg5OH said:

people keep mentioning these brownie boxes, can you give me some more insight? how much do they go for? is it same style as a divorced transfer case?

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, no not a divorced T case. The brownies are the old auxilliary transmissions out of older semi trucks from the 40s- 60s . The best ones to use are from the mid 50s to 60s , i.e. twin sticks . the 5831b spicer like i have a is a real good match for a zf5 with 4.10 rear Its a 3 speed , deep reduction direct and OD. They make 4 speed brownies as well, but really, the three speed pretty well keeps it in range , the 4 speed would allow a 3 way split in the upper gears , but would probably only gain you maybe 3 mph on a hill with a wide range engine like this.. The 3 speed allows a 2 way split on the upper gears, direct and over, with 5 gears below 1st for real tough pulling. I found that towing on the interstate, in 4 over saves a ton of fuel and shifting, where 5th was always too tall and 4rth was always winding out before.
installation is not for the timid

MIDNIGHT RIDER said:

And, for what it's worth, my 4-speed auxilliary, 6041 I think, has two under-drive gears, a direct 1-to-1, and an over-drive.

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Sounds like a manual E4OD. haha

Something else to take into account. The 8,9, 10 speeds, 13 speeds ad 15 speeds require air to shift them. You need on board air to split between high and low range.

Now, teh brownie box route is fully mechanical with no air required.

If you were goign the route of a 9 speed, grab yourself an 8LL instead. It's virtually the same pattern and swquence of a 9 speed, but where a 9 speed only has one low...the 8LL has low, and then low low. The little blue button on the side of the shifter handle is for deep reduction. Basicallt, the dump truck with 4.11 rearends, 42" diameter drive tire and an 8LL in deep reduction will idle along at 1 mph. About 1/4 the speed of your average walking person.

Too bad someone don't make a small 18 speed single counter shaft. If you can't find the right gear to be in with that combination, you should be riding a bicycle!

MIDNIGHT RIDER said:

And, for what it's worth, my 4-speed auxilliary, 6041 I think, has two under-drive gears, a direct 1-to-1, and an over-drive.

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Actually that baby should have a deep reduction range, then under direct and over. . You pop it in first in the brownie then go through the gears in teh main box, then to 2nd in the main and under in the brownie, 2dir, 2od- 3ud 3dir , 3od-4ud, 4dir, 4od- 5ud 5dir, 5od . on my 3 speed brownie its basically the same minus the under drive split . Its rare to have them with the actual 4 way split on the single countershaft boxes but they are out there If you do have teh 4 way split, you could do some interesting re gearing on that thing

Anotehr option nobody has mentioned is a 7 speed EZ shift. For daily driver its a pretty sweet box, seven speed straight shift pattern fully synchronized 2-7. Would make for something the wife could drive without wanting to take a ball bat to you

Greg5OH said:

^holy cow my left leg would fall off! but i bet you could pull ANY load with that thing

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Nope, cause with that setup you slip shift (no clutch) as it isn't a sycro trans. I LOVE my 10 speed in the semi, only touch the clutch when I start or stop. It takes a little training, but it is soooo much better.

ZF5 and a US Gear OD or UD and you've basically got a 9 speed. Got 4 lo if you want really deep reduction.......

jaluhn83 said:

ZF5 and a US Gear OD or UD and you've basically got a 9 speed. Got 4 lo if you want really deep reduction.......

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But, you would not have the brute strength of a genuine Fuller, nor the progressive ease of shifting.

The main reason for the swap is not so much to gain gears, as to gain strength and reliability.

The ZF transmissions, be they ZF-5 or ZF-6, are not well suited for a truck application and are not long-lived when pulling real loads.

thanks for all the input i want to thank all of you for giving advice an knowledge .....i had thought about the 7 speed but i loved driving the big rig an rowing gears is just something i think you should do in a truck ...plus automatics an me never really get along never had good luck with them ..........i had also thought about the air selector an thats not a big deal since i will be adding some air horns i will have an onboard compressor so the air is taken care of .........i am compiling a list of goodies that will be needed ......so as this thread goes an if you think of it toss the idea out there im gonna try an talk to some techs at a international shop outside town about what models would be the best as far as trans go .......also an this jus kinda hit me ....our motors are at peak performance between 1400 and 1800 rpm right .....so i am wondering with a 9 , 10 , or 13 speed what my hwy rpms would be with my stock 410 rearend ..i guess i would need to know the gear ratio's for the trans in question right

I agree with midnight rider. It seems like the bearing setup isn't that great. Not to mention the case material. Sure they can be okay and go for a long time, but I'm almost to the point of going to auto's with ford. I like the 4r?? Whatever it is in the newer 7.3 psd. I would probably swap someone. Don't get me wrong, I love being able to choose what gear I'm in. But the zf's don't seem to come close in durability (by feel) to say a sm465. Jmo

Goose was that your truck in Diesel World ?