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83 K5 diesel manual trans options

M

mwood1985

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Marietta Ga
im budget building a 83 diesel blazer with a 6.2. i wanna use a manual instead of the 700 but im not sure where to start. will a gasser trans work with the diesel and does the diesel starter still work with the gas transmission? a gas starter wont have the power to turn the higher compression diesel. and will the transmission have any issues with not being street drivable? i dont wanna top out at like 35 lol
 
I ran a SM 465 behind my 6.2 for about 5 years. If you aim your gearing for between 2000 and 2200 rpm at 65 you'll like it just fine. I was running 39.5's with 4.56's and it was really good around town, but on the freeway the R's were too high for my liking...~2600 at 65. That's high enough to frazzle your nerves listening to it, and doesn't leave much more if you need to pick it up to pass someone. You can use any of the online gear calculators to see what combo is gonna work for you. Basically plug in the tire size and see how the various ratios pan out.

The 6.2 is governed to 3600 rpm max, and you'll be using most of that range with the SM 465 as there is approx a 50% reduction in rpm's with every shift. i probably shifted at or near 3000 rpm mostly.

Great offroad IME...

Diesel starter is the only option, and it works just fine with the SM 465 bell.

Rene
 
what flywheel ould be the correct one? like at the parts counter how would i tell them which one i need?
 
tRusty, how'd you feel about the SM465 with the 6.2L on the street? Still pondering one for my K5 as I'd never have the fundage for a NV4500. Likely will never see larger than 35's and probably just 33's and light wheeling and general truck/SUV duties.
 
thats what i wanna know most. im street driving mine and i wanna know how the sm465 acts on the street behind a diesel
 
mwood1985 said:
thats what i wanna know most. im street driving mine and i wanna know how the sm465 acts on the street behind a diesel
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Heres my 2 cents on the sm465. The gears are really spread out. If you have never driven one its nothing like a car manual trans or even a ZF 5 speed or nv 3500/4500/5600.

The sm465 is crude, slow shifting, AND STRONG AS ALL HELL! Its really more of a medium duty trans in all honesty.

I run 36in TSLs with a true diameter of 35in. I have 3.73s in the axles and I find that between 2nd and 3rd gear I'm not geared low enough but once I'm in 4th its just about right.

The sm465 cant just be shifted and the clutch let off like most light duty vehicles. I've gotta feather 3rd in when up shift from second for it to not completely lug the engine. And the same goes for 3rd to 4th most times.

Its something you get used to but these issues are with a 355 gasser. The diesel is only going to amplify the wide spread gears. Granted I usually shift my truck right around 3000 rpms which is completely doable in the diesel.

IMO if you have the money go with an nv4500, or hell even a 3500.
 
The non-low 1st of the NV3500 along with the durability issues bugs me. I know Russell swears by them but we've also heard of him having gearing issues due to it so...

NV4500 I've seen a lot of folks mention but it definitely wouldn't be a bolt in swap as tRusty and a few have mentioned. Aftermarket parts, mods, and basically you have the same "big truck" gear spacing as the SM465.

My cheap/trans-swap-noob-self would almost rather do the SM465 and be able to use all factory parts first. Then one day maybe a Ranger gear splitter to solve some of the gear spacing and no-OD issues.

Just my not completely experienced but lots of reading based 2 cents.
 
for you 4.11 gears and 33 or 35 would be perfect. i have this trans in mine and i really think you will like it. your diesel will have more than enough torq even if you have more highway friendly gears.
as for town driving it is perfect since you wont go that fast and the ratio will be perfect for you. its a stout tranz even used behind 1.5 ton dump trucks so its plenty strong
 
mines already got a 6 inch lift 36 tsl's 14 bolt/dana 60 and 4.10s the gears might have to go but im using the truck for a mud bog/ toy trail truck so the only time id really need to drive faster is about 65ish on the way from marietta ga to Rockmart ga to Seney mud bog
 
If you want to shift in the mud forget about the 465.
Otherwise 6.2 465 with 4.10s and 36" will be fine I think.
 
I never feather the clutch when I shift my SM465. I rarely use the clutch. Especially after installing a hand throttle.

I have one in my 1982 K30, 1988 V10 Suburban, 1987 V10 pickup, and I am going to swap one into my 1985 K5. Then again, all of mine are gas burners.

Martin
 
82355 said:
I never feather the clutch when I shift my SM465. I rarely use the clutch. Especially after installing a hand throttle.

I have one in my 1982 K30, 1988 V10 Suburban, 1987 V10 pickup, and I am going to swap one into my 1985 K5. Then again, all of mine are gas burners.

Martin
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i was thinking about a hand throttle on the shift leaver i figured it would be helpful while crawling over stuff
 
i leave it in 1 gear when i mud. my little Ranger is a 4.0 4x4 with 35s and ive never had a problem with the 5 speed in it. im not a big fan of spinning tires too hard i just want a general play toy with the Blazer. im not gonna hard core bog it out there. ive got my buddy Eric Whittens Chevy for that haha 632CI big block 74 inch tractor tires and 5 ton rocks to hold up to his lead foot.
kdk_0177.jpg
 
Yeah, my hand throttles are mounted on the shifter.

This is the one in my 1982 K30.
0225091734a.jpg


Martin
 
I've never feathered the clutch shifting to third, or fourth with the 6.2 and 465. ~2800-3000 rpm, shift, let the clutch out normal and carry on. The 6.2 has more than enough bottom end torque to deal with pulling out of the basement after each shift. Frankly i thought the 6.2 did better in front of the 465 than the 355 I had before, at least for normal driving.

I found I could easily shift as low as ~2000 rpm, and once in the next gear just gently roll into the throttle and it'd pull no problem. Lugging to a gas engine is operating range for a diesel.

The only advantage to the NV4500 is smoother shifting, and you can gear the diff's lower and still run with traffic on the highway. Aside from that the 465 is pretty much identical in gear spacing, and is probably a bit more durable/strong. If you gear for the lack of overdrive the 465 is easily as good a choice IME.

Rene
 
tRustyK5 said:
I've never feathered the clutch shifting to third, or fourth with the 6.2 and 465. ~2800-3000 rpm, shift, let the clutch out normal and carry on. The 6.2 has more than enough bottom end torque to deal with pulling out of the basement after each shift. Frankly i thought the 6.2 did better in front of the 465 than the 355 I had before, at least for normal driving.

I found I could easily shift as low as ~2000 rpm, and once in the next gear just gently roll into the throttle and it'd pull no problem. Lugging to a gas engine is operating range for a diesel.

The only advantage to the NV4500 is smoother shifting, and you can gear the diff's lower and still run with traffic on the highway. Aside from that the 465 is pretty much identical in gear spacing, and is probably a bit more durable/strong. If you gear for the lack of overdrive the 465 is easily as good a choice IME.

Rene
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You are right on. I think a lot of people fail to realize how close the gears are on an SM465 and an NV4500. The 2nd gear is actually a hair lower in the SM465 making it slightly more useful as a "1st" gear, but when we are talking a tenth of a point on ratios for the rest of the gears, it's almost negligible.

NV4500 (early)
6.34, 3.44, 1.71, 1, .73

NV4500 (late):
5.61, 3.04, 1.67, 1, .74

SM465
6.55, 3.58, 1.57, 1


Biggest issue with the SM465 is that 2-3 jump. I'd take the strength and cost advantage of the 465 with proper gearing, IMHO.
 
JeffsJeep04 said:
You are right on. I think a lot of people fail to realize how close the gears are on an SM465 and an NV4500. The 2nd gear is actually a hair lower in the SM465 making it slightly more useful as a "1st" gear, but when we are talking a tenth of a point on ratios for the rest of the gears, it's almost negligible.

NV4500 (early)
6.34, 3.44, 1.71, 1, .73

NV4500 (late):
5.61, 3.04, 1.67, 1, .74

SM465
6.55, 3.58, 1.57, 1


Biggest issue with the SM465 is that 2-3 jump. I'd take the strength and cost advantage of the 465 with proper gearing, IMHO.
Click to expand...


whats the 2-3 jump issue?
 
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