Brownie Box???

[DieselHilux]

Whats the deal with these aux gear boxes? I have heard alot about them, what kind of gear ratios do they have and where can you find them??

Anyone have pics of one installed in a truck just so I can get an idea??

 

[jperecko]

Just search here and on google. It varies by region but they are generally a little hard to come by as they have not really been made in quite some time and those that have them tend to like to keep them.

Known as Brownlipe or brownlight originally... forget which or maybe both. Dana Spicers till has parts for 'em. They have lots of diff ranges available depending on the model. The most popular ones are the lighter duty 3-4 speed ones as they are best suited for pickups. They will give you at least one over and one under which, as you can imagine, will come in handy even if you are not running a 4wd.

 

[Diesel JD]

I just bought one but haven't installed it yet. They are very heavy, about the same as a T19 or C6, maybe heavier. You want a 5000 or 6000 series with our trucks the bigger boxes eat up more power and are even heavier. I know my install is not going to be easy but I have high hopes for it. As far as I know most brownies we could use would be the 5531 or 5831 3 speed, 5531 and 5831A and 5831(no letter code) are 2:1, 1:1, .73 and the 5831B is 2.35:1. 1:1, .85 and my 5831 D is 2:1. 1:1, .85. Be careful some don't have an overdrive but instead 2 unders and a direct. http://www.6066gmcguy.org/spicer-5831-b.htm
That guy knows them and so does RLDSL from our site. Good luck and I'll be letting people know how my install goes. It's going in as soon as mpney allows it.

 

[magusjinx]

A brownie? ... Now that brings back memories of putting 8 tons of feed in a 5 ton box ... Nothing like shifting up a gear and down a range at the same time while wondering about the log trucks coming up from the rear ...

 

[RLDSL]

Here's a thread of my finished install . I believe there's a link in there to the install somewhere , if not search it. Also search for Foxmans pictures of his old gasser with a brownie in it. That is a clean install. He was lucky enough to find a side shift box so he could mount it up higher.
The available gear ratios are mind boggling. If you PM me your email address, I can send you a file with all the different available ratios and dimentions on it for all the spicer auxiliaries. I have manuals for all of the spicer auxiliary boxes as well as all the old spicer main boxes and PTOs as well.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

>>> A LITTLE OFF SUBJECT <<<

A brownie? ... Now that brings back memories of putting 8 tons of feed in a 5 ton box ... Nothing like shifting up a gear and down a range at the same time while wondering about the log trucks coming up from the rear ...

Just had to say that I really like your quote from J.B.Books.

 

[RLDSL]

a 4 speed brownie just went for $280 on ebay someone scored bigtime on that one

 

[Joejohn]

Does anyone have a part number to a box that would allow the splitting of each gear 3 times in a pattern for a zf 5 speed.

So. The shifting would go like....

1un
1dir
1od
2un
2dir
2od
3ud
and so on is this possible?

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Does anyone have a part number to a box that would allow the splitting of each gear 3 times in a pattern for a zf 5 speed.

So. The shifting would go like....

1un
1dir
1od
2un
2dir
2od
3ud
and so on is this possible?

Far better would be a unit that allowed going through the pattern in LOW, then again in DIRECT, then again in OD.


Most likely not such an animal available, but neat in concept.

 

[The Warden]

Does anyone have a part number to a box that would allow the splitting of each gear 3 times in a pattern for a zf 5 speed.

So. The shifting would go like....

1un
1dir
1od
2un
2dir
2od
3ud
and so on is this possible?

I don't know much about the Brownie boxes, but I can't help but think that, with a shift pattern like that, you're almost bound to have gears that overlap i.e. 2od and 3ud being so close that you don't get an RPM change when shifting. In any event, I don't see much of a need to split each gear 3 ways...I did some calculating on ringpinion.com to see about how many RPM's I drop between shifts on my ZF, since I don't have a tach yet. The biggest RPM gap is between 1st and 2nd, and that gap's "only" 1180 RPM (dropping from 2760 to 1580 RPM at 15 mph). Split that once and you have a 590 RPM drop (assuming the splitter gear splits them evenly), and I tend to think that, unless you're overloaded all the time or want to play around, you shouldn't need to split it any further.

In fact, while I've never driven a truck with a Brownie box, I tend to think that you wouldn't want to use the under-drive gear much at all on one of our IDI's except when starting from a stop while heavily loaded, to save the clutch.

Just my semi-educated opinion on the matter and I'm not trying to say that I don't see the value in splitting gears; on the contrary, I have a gear-splitter myself that I just haven't installed yet. I just don't see a need to split gears more than once...10 gears is fine; I don't think we really need 15 speeds

 

[Diesel JD]

I did the math and it looks like to me that low range is really not needed or useful on a 4 speed with a brownie anyway. Seemed like 4th U would be lower than 2nd direct. I guess some of the basement might be needed with a very overloaded truck, but for the most part I agree with The Warden. When my brownie goes in I could see myself driving it two ways. One, just run through 2-4 direct as I normally do(or 1-4 if loaded or in steep terrain) and then split 4th into direct and OD. The other possibility would be to use it as a range selector and select OD from a dead stop and then shift 1-4 all in high range as per usual. Playing with all the splits would be a lot to think about unless you were heavily loaded or in bad terrain and needed the gears or just wanted to play/practice shifting....that's how I see it. Hopefully I'll soon find out.

 

[FordGuy100]

I will play with the numbers here in a sec but if 4th U is lower than 2nd direct....things could be pretty interesting.

Start out in low range. 1-2-3-4, shift brownie into direct, 2-3-4 shift brownie into overdrive, 3-4. Talk about fun . Of course the low range gears would be so slow it would be rediculous but just for the fun of it.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

I did the math and it looks like to me that low range is really not needed or useful on a 4 speed with a brownie anyway.

You just haven't had a heavy enough load on a steep enough hill yet.

The under-drive is VITAL with a big trailer on a steep hill, and would be my main incentive for the installation.

My 4-speed 6041 has DOUBLE-UNDER, UNDER, DIRECT, and OVER; and, I figure DOUBLE-UNDER will see quite a bit of use on these steep-as-a-mule's-face hills around here.

 

[The Warden]

I will play with the numbers here in a sec but if 4th U is lower than 2nd direct....things could be pretty interesting.

Start out in low range. 1-2-3-4, shift brownie into direct, 2-3-4 shift brownie into overdrive, 3-4. Talk about fun . Of course the low range gears would be so slow it would be rediculous but just for the fun of it.

Combine that with something like 3.08 or even taller gears and you'd have the best of both worlds, methinks all the low gears you could ever want, AND a super-tall gear for cruising on the highway...

 

[towcat]

here's the problem that most of us face when hauling heavy without the benefit of a turbo. When you're pulling a grade, you are often found either taching out or lugging too low. a brownie will give you a choice of a split in between. that's the whole idea of getting a extra gear between the ones you already have.