Gear Vendor output yoke?

Cubey

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I called the guy at GV back and placed the order.

I paid an extra $10 each for the gasket between the tail housing (I have one but looks a bit funky) and for the installation manual. Good to have, it'll have torque values and all that good stuff. $830 in parts plus whatever for UPS ground, because they won't tell you up front what it'll be. From California to Oregon probably won't be too horrible. Estimated 3 biz days after it goes out, so early next week it should be here.

$175 of that was the deep sump, not something you get by default with a complete overdrive unit kit, so it'll still be around $1000 less than a brand new unit, which wouldn't come with a deep sump.

I got the controller kit as well so I don't have to worry about manually controlling it for under 25mph and worrying about reverse and all that.

Doing the math, based on current fuel prices, it'll fully pay for itself in full about 20-25k miles. (4-5 years). They don't really lose value either and can be swapped to any other C6 easily, so.... it's a good investment I feel.

I also ordered up a gallon of SuperTech 85w140 conventional gear oil for the GVOD since it can use any old gear oil with it's fibre clutches plus and a 4th jug of Valvoline Dex/Merc (plus an oil filter for the genset to get the cost $2 less with free shipping) for the C6. Only other mild concern is any internal seals may be old but considering it has never been used, they might be ok since they have ever had to suffer high temperatures.

Gonna try to source a driveshaft on Saturday from a place that says they have tons of old Ford driveshafts stockpiled, and then hope I can find a place to shorten it for a reasonable price and in a timely manner.
 
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Cubey

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What do you figure will be the MPG gain from the GVOD?

2-3mpg. They say that 3 speeds like the C6 can get 22-30% increase. I get 9.5mpg good months (8.5 bad months), so if I see ~11.5 (~20%/2mpg) at the very least, I'll be very happy.
 

Cubey

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As much as I hate to put off installing the GVOD, I'll have to. Up here in the PNW, shops are too either way too expensive (i guess they are short on work, or don't like doing it) or are too backed up for work (as in, months) if they are cheaper.

There's a shop in Yuma that will shorten and balance steel (only) driveshafts for a pretty decent price, but the guy claims they only need to balance the front one. Hmmmmmm. And he also said no guarantee on the balancing if it's used with a GVOD, because he has had nothing but bad luck with them having vibration on many vehicles that coudn't be gotten rid of. He said he used to sell GVODs but the vibration problem was so bad on many installed, he quit selling them and won't warranty the balance side of things if used with one, basically.

Well, I'd just drop a spare driveshaft off to him for him to shorten and do the installation myself at the LTVA probably. Unless it's cheaper for him to just build one, but I doubt it. It's cheaper to buy a few tools (ie u-joint pliers) than to pay for a GVOD install. Although depending on what he'd charge, I might just pay him to do that too, since you do need to support the transmission and undo the crossmember to pull the extension housing for swapping to the GV one. Maybe a heavy ratchet strap would be enough to support the trans but I'd be working in dirt and rocks (unless I get a huge heavy trap and park on top of it to keep it in place) so it wouldn't be very fun. Better off having it done safely for a few hundred bucks, probably.

Might just have him shorten the existing one and store a spare, so it can be done all at once: pull the driveshaft, replace u-joints, carrier bearing, shorten/balance it, install the GVOD, put it back together.
 
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Black dawg

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The GV does not cause vibration, but people altering mounts, dirveshaft angles sure do......
 

Cubey

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The GV does not cause vibration, but people altering mounts, dirveshaft angles sure do......

Yeah, I was watching a video about adjusting two piece driveshaft angles to correct vibration by shimming the transmission and/or carrier bearing mounts.
 

Cubey

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Since I'm soon going to be flush with extra cash due the trailer damage payout from the parking gear slip/jack knife wreck, I may just see about paying a shop to shorten the original driveshaft and install the GVOD unit for me. It's bloody hard finding a 178" WB Ford driveshaft, at least up in the NW, plus my trailer is PACKED so I really have no room for a spare one right now.

@Nero mentioned a company in the Portland area (Six States Distributors) but that location is backed up for MONTHS they said, when I called a few weeks ago. But, the company has several more locations over in Idaho and Utah, right along the route I plan to take. So, maybe one of their other locations in a less densely populated city can fit me in one day. Their website lists Gear Vendors Overdrives in their "supplier" list so they should be at least somewhat familiar with it. I doubt it would take them more than a day to pull the driveshaft, replace the U-joints, shorten/balance it, swap out the stock C6 tail piece for the GV one, shim/bolt up the GVOD, and reinstall the driveshaft.

I can do the wiring myself afterwards and save the labor costs of that. The sooner it's on, the sooner I pay less per mile to drive this thing.

Yesterday, I tested the solenoid on the GVOD by applying 12v directly, and it clicks like it should when it gets/loses power, so I'm guessing it should be fine, being truly new-old-stock. It has no oil in it yet so I couldn't test to see if it works changing the ratio, since it needs the oil to make it function internally, but I can see about testing that before going all in on the installation.
 

Cubey

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Meh, Six States is worthless. I tried calling the two locations in Idaho.

Boise location:
me: "I'm looking to have a gear vendors overdrive unit installed, is that something you can do?"
him: "no, you need to call the company"
me: "..... I already have the unit, I need it installed"
him: "oh, no, we don't have any mechanics"

WHAT?? Their website says they have a "rebuild shop" at the phone number I called. The location clearly has garage bays when looking at street view and the primary photo on Google maps shows a semi truck up on a lift inside the garage bay. I guess they just don't want anymore business, or don't like messing with GVODs, so they lie.

The Twin Falls location didn't pick up the phone, it just rang forever.

So, I guess I will just wait until Yuma around Oct-Nov at that questionable shop that says he quit selling GVODs due to vibration issues he couldn't solve on some people's vehicles. At least he is willing to do it, just no warranty on the installation basically.
 
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Cubey

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On testing the gear vendor, it needs driveshaft speed to be able to engage.....

Are you sure? I think applying 12v directly without a controller makes it engage instantly. I could be wrong though. The guy at GV didn't advise running without a controller due to that issue.

Perhaps I could duct tape my drill to the input side coupler and test it that way to get it spinning a bit faster
 
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Black dawg

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From what I remember, has to create internal pressure to overcome spring pressure. You can turn it on from a stop, and it won't do anything until around 20mph.
 

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