mrbrink
Full Access Member
But splitters aren't that big. I know its not 10 speeds, but 8 is sure alot better than 4.
9 or 10 speed Trans?
- Thread starter trapper
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Diesel_brad
Dunce
I would consider a splitter on a 5 speed
timothyr1014
Full Access Member
Personally I am getting ready to drop in a spicer eso66-7B (7 speed) along with an AA splitter. To have everything work the way I would like it is going to require about 2.5" of body lift and going to a 3.73 rear end. When all is said and done the truck will be 3" higher, 550 lbs heavier, get an estimated 4 better to the gallon, and have 14 forward speeds....all while lighting my pockets just under $2500
All the parts are sitting on my garage floor...now I just need a week free
All the parts are sitting on my garage floor...now I just need a week free
Diesel JD
Full Access Member
One of these big truck transmissions with the adapters is probably not going to be cheap unless you get lucky and/or have some good parts just laying around and good fabrication skills, however, I picked up m Spicer 5831 for $350 which included the shifter, the shift linkages and the box. I just need to chop and rebalance the driveshafts and find an appropriate end yoke and conversion U-joints or some other way to marry this box that was designed for a bigger truck to may 3/4 ton drive line. The brownies are out there for this price and so are used DNE2 splitters, but you have to be careful as even honest people have a hard time telling you if they have an U/D or an O/D and parts are probably not available from US Gear anymore since they are under new ownership. To me picking up 2-3 mpg would be totally worth a lot of hassle as long as the bill wasn't too high. I currently get in the 12-15mpg range around town and around 16-17 on the highway light or empty. If I could up that to 15 in town and 18-20 highway empty I would probably never complain about fuel economy again.
Goofyexponent
Mentally Unstable..
....Hell, If I were putting a med/heavy duty truck trans in a truck, why not get an old 13 over and a DT466?Or just buy an S1900?
I will agree that you will gain milage on the principal of more gears means more peak power/milage.
But if you are going to be hauling around an extra 1000 pounds of weight, and some are inexpirenced of a non syncro-ed truck trans....you can do a lot of damage if you aren't careful.
I have to agree with this...while having a medium-duty truck transmission would be simpler to shift than having a gear splitter (particularly a Brownie) and would certainly be cool, you're talking about quite a bit of extra weight...which will in turn reduce your payload and most likely your fuel economy as well. Also IIRC many medium-duty truck transmissions have considerably more rotating mass, which will have a negative effect on how much power you're getting to the wheels.
I don't know how heavy a Brownie box is, but a Doug Nash/U.S. Gear unit's relatively light...I've never weighed mine, but it's at the upper limit of what I can pick up myself (with 1 1/2 arms and a bad back). I'd estimate maybe 75 lbs? And, all I'll need to do to install mine is pull the transfer case, bolt it to the back of the tranny, bolt the transfer case to the back of it, and resize the driveshafts and figure out the electrical...the only major PITA there's going to be the electrical work. If my math is correct, I should get about a 500 RPM drop between gears, 10 forward gears (and 2 reverse gears) and a 2.50 effective final gear ratio
(0.61 in 5-Over with 4.10 gears).My only concern (and this is a significant concern) is finding parts if mine dies...which is one of the reasons I asked someone to go through it and make sure everything's happy before I install it...
GOOSE
Happy IDI'er
I don't think it could have been said better!!
I have wanted a brownie since I have read RLDSL's signature and this is all the reason more to want one. You can pull a house and approach 20mpg's empty, what elso is there to want?
Now you're almost getting the same mileage towing that you used to get empty. That's a useful upgrade and something that allows our trucks to easily compete with newer ones making way more power. 
redneckaggie
rebel w/o a cause
I do not understand the need for 10 speeds in a pickup. 5- or 6 is enough. If you need more gear than that you are towing to much. Big trucks use them because they haul 80,000. As someone stated earlier, you drive a big truck like a 3 or 4 speed empty. So in a pick up it is just unnessary. On top of the trans weighing close to 1000lbs and being almost twice the size
You are towing to much????? tell this to the ranchers around my hometown that spend thier lives pulling hay, livestock, and lord knows what else day in and day out. these trucks were made to work so why not work em. Ive never hooked anything horribly heavy to mine because i have not installed my suspension helpers and overloads, but it made its living pulling a horse trailer before i owned it. We bought the truck and trailer as a package and i have netted close to 20 mpg pulling that trailer flat land. The only reason i ever got that high was because me and my dad were headed to a rodeo and we kept it slow as the highway was very back roads and we were in no hurry. The truck stayed around 50-55 mph the whole trip~ 300 miles round trip. i have pulled that same trailer all over the place and if i hit the highway and try to run speed ~ 70 mph Mileage drops to around 12 or 13. this is the exact point that rldsl made. having a 5 speed is perfectly fine when empty although i would like a little higher final drive range with the 4.10 gears but the whole point is getting the best of both worlds.
I would have given the world for a splitter when we made a load of alfalfa with my bros dodge cummins. final wieght on that run was somewhere just barely south of 28 or 29k truck trailer and all. coming from missouri back through ok and south on i 45 to my hometown(bought 45 mins south of houston) we constantly had the prob of 4th was racked out but 5th was lugging the truck.
It is just the simplicity and ability to be able to do anything with one vehicle and like i said before having the best of both worlds that makes this idea so appealing.
Well, when are you guys are going to install air brakes? All these modifications to go go go, and all of you will admit the braking system on these trucks is terrible. Sounds like hydro-boost saves your leg muscles but that's about it.
I know it's a ego boost to say "I pull 15000 lbs with my pickup" but no one will admit it's a very careful ride with no room for error when pulling that much weight. Pull the same weight with a medium duty truck and you do have more control when someone happens to pull out in front of you in an intersection. Yes I did it once because I had the attitude "I have a diesel and can pull anything", but I will never do it again.
Ok, reality session is over, back to the enthusiast bench towing session. Yes I am attacking all of you
Not trying to get into a fight, and I'm actually one of those who's rather strict about not overloading a truck unless it's absolutely necessary, but I do have a few things to say about that.
As I understand it, hydroboost (coupled with an F-450 master cylinder) will actually increase your stopping power, for two reasons. First, as I understand it, a properly working hydroboost allows you to put more pressure on the pedal than would be physically possible with a vacuum system. Second, if you use an F-450 master cylinder, each stroke of the pedal pushes more fluid down the lines than would go through with a stock master cylinder for an F-250/350. So, these two modifications will help with your brake hydraulics...at which point the weak point becomes the pad material. I don't know if anyone's had any abnormal failures with the pad linings? In any event, as I understand it, the problem spots with the brake systems on these trucks lie in the self-adjusters on the rear brakes, and on the RABS valve and the hydraulic system. With that said, you still have to be careful about not overheating your brakes.
With that said, if there was a way to retrofit air brakes onto these trucks, I would do it immediately!! As it is, except for not wanting to deal with the fabrication or the 10-lug rims that this mod would require, I would happily have converted over to F-450 brakes..
Hit the scrap yards, a couple weeks ago I saw a 80's IH day cab (looked like a yard truck) with a 10 speed and a 6.9L IDI in the scrap yard. the tranny really wasn't that big, only 3 or 4 inches longer and about the same width and height as my E4OD.
david85
Full Access Member
Any chance you can get some photos of that setup?
Worstenemy453
Full Access Member
Well, when are you guys are going to install air brakes? All these modifications to go go go, and all of you will admit the braking system on these trucks is terrible. Sounds like hydro-boost saves your leg muscles but that's about it.
I know it's a ego boost to say "I pull 15000 lbs with my pickup" but no one will admit it's a very careful ride with no room for error when pulling that much weight. Pull the same weight with a medium duty truck and you do have more control when someone happens to pull out in front of you in an intersection. Yes I did it once because I had the attitude "I have a diesel and can pull anything", but I will never do it again.
Ok, reality session is over, back to the enthusiast bench towing session. Yes I am attacking all of you
I understand this. I had an 1989 F150 with the 5.0, 5 speed, 4.10 gears and F250 springs front and back. I thought just because i had a brake controller and stiff springs in the back that i could pull anything with ease. Until one day i had a 64 Impala 4 door on a trailer and the trailer brakes failed and let my truck sliding to a stop. Luckily i was able to stop because it was a red light and traffic was already moving. More power to pull should be the last thing and more power to stop should be first.
Diesel JD
Full Access Member
I think I'd be too scared to pull really heavy with my truck unless it was an emergency. Sometimes she has a hard enough time stopping empty, but that's only when the vacuum pump doesn't help out occasionally.... I think they are probably good or way more than the factory gives them credit for as long as the brake system is in perfect shape and especially with a hydroboost upgrade. I'd say more gears gives you more control in a towing situation as well, to always be in the right gear. These brownie boxes are heavy but only about as heavy as a T18/19 or C6. I wonder if those US Gear or DNE boxes use standard sized bearings and seals and other wear parts or if they're special.
I bloody well hope they're standard size bearings and seals! If they're not, I could find myself in big trouble in short order.
With that said, apparently some 1980's Corvettes left the Chebby factory with a Doug Nash gearbox behind the tranny (note 3rd paragraph under "Overview" talking about the 4+3 tranny). I don't know if the internals are the same as on the ones built for our trucks, but it might be worth looking into...parts for those may still be available from GM?
I just hope mine gets a clean bill of health!!
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