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Am I crazy for wanting a SM465 tranny truck?

J

Jesse Jaymes

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I have had on in the past. I had a '86 with 350ci, 465 tranny and 208. I loved the truck. Headers and custom exhaust, intake and matching cam. Truck ran strong. Divorce forced "giving" it away.

Been trying to replace it for a while, but now seriously trying.

I am or was pretty specific in what I want. Now I am wondering if I am crazy or not.

I am seeing several trucks in the local area that are 3/4 ton trucks, but most have auto trannys.

I guess I was wanting the 77ish combo of 350/465/205. Not at all interested in a 203. Have one now in my '73 K5 that sucks.

I also have a TH400 in my CUCV. But I am not sure I am giving that one a fair shake since it is so underpowered(the 6.2).

I know some people rave over the TH400. And I know the debate for the auto vs manual is covered extensively.

I just think dumping the clutch and either roosting some mud, or turning a tire, or just balls out rock scrambling is much easier or appealing with that 6.5 to 1 tranny. In my experience it seems hard to put the power to the ground with the TH400.

Am I crazy or just have some not-fair experiences with an auto off road?
 
Hell no your not crazy. 465s are practically bullet proof. I dont think it would be a good idea behind a 6.2 though seeing as how you would need a perfect gear and tire ratio to make it sustainable on the hi-way.

The nice thing about the 465 is that in some peoples eyes you can put on much larger tires and not need to regear since you have granny to start in.
 
You're not crazy. The pump, clutches, etc. all use a bunch of power.

Manuals are significantly more efficient than autos, its the primary reason trans coolers are so important on autos (people often add bigger, aftermarket coolers for better longevity) while manual transmissions almost never need coolers.

The clutches, pump, torque converter, etc. all create tons of heat. That's basically energy from the fuel being dumped right into the atmosphere rather than being applied to the wheels.

This is part of the reason that manual transmission cars/trucks will nearly always put more power to the ground AND get better mileage than an auto equipped one.
 
My understanding as to why the TH400 seems to take so much more power to use is in the 1-2 shift. One of the heavy drums inside is spinning at the same speed as the forward drum, when it shifts to 2nd the other drum stops, then reverses the direction it is roataing, and then begins spining at 85% (if I remember correctly) of the speed the forward drum is.

If Im wrong somone please correct me, it has been a long time since this was explained to me.
 
Stomis said:
Hell no your not crazy. 465s are practically bullet proof. I dont think it would be a good idea behind a 6.2 though seeing as how you would need a perfect gear and tire ratio to make it sustainable on the hi-way.

The nice thing about the 465 is that in some peoples eyes you can put on much larger tires and not need to regear since you have granny to start in.
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I had a 465 behind my 6.2...it was awesome but you are correct that without an overdrive you'll need to shortchange something somewhere. Great in town, but buzzing on the highway, or better on the highway and a little less power around town (and less crawl ratio).

I'd say the 6.2 is fine at 2300-2400 rpm at cruising speed. Mine spun at 2600 or so and it got old in a hurry and hurt the mileage. I still got 16.5 mpg average on the highway running 39.5" TSL's and 4.56's though.

Rene
 
tRustyK5 said:
I had a 465 behind my 6.2...it was awesome but you are correct that without an overdrive you'll need to shortchange something somewhere. Great in town, but buzzing on the highway, or better on the highway and a little less power around town (and less crawl ratio).

I'd say the 6.2 is fine at 2300-2400 rpm at cruising speed. Mine spun at 2600 or so and it got old in a hurry and hurt the mileage. I still got 16.5 mpg average on the highway running 39.5" TSL's and 4.56's though.

Rene
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Damn I didnt think they did that good. Thats not bad at all considering my truck is getting 15mpg on 36's...
 
I can get almost 20mpg outta my TBI 350/465/205 combo with 3.73's and 33x12.5's, but I have to keep it under 60mph to do so. Anything over 60 and you can literally watch the gas gauge move!

I liked the 465 so much that I have three Burbs with them. One 4wd, one 2wd, and one 2wd with a Ranger OD. If I'm daring enough, I'll get another OD for the 4wd and a triple sticked doubler (5 sticks!:eek1:) and have the best of all worlds!
 
How do you like that Ranger OD? Do you use it for the spliting gears or just shift into OD once in 4th gear?
 
75GmcJimmy4x4 said:
double granny...........:D:D
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double reverse.....put both trans in reverse.....oh and the rear one will almost instantly break the front input when you romp on it hard.....unless you were to step up to the 1 3/8 grain truck shaft or a billet input shaft.....

I would love to be able to put one of the Ranger OD units in a truck, twin stick every gear in the tranny.....if anyone has never seen someone twin sticking, go to youtube and type in twin stick shifting, should have some video pop up of guys driving twin sticked semi trucks

Here is how it would go:
Start out with the tranny in 1st/low and the splitter in 1:1, start accelerating, now shift the splitter into OD, accelerate more, now up shift the tranny into 2nd and down shift the splitter to 1:1, accelerate more, shift the splitter into OD, accelerate more, now up shift the tranny into 3rd and down shift the splitter box into 1:1, accelerate more, now upshift the tranny into 4th, accelerate more, now shift the splitter box into OD......you are now in overdriven 4th gear (technically would be like 5th gear overdrive) and you have mastered the art of twin sticking.....*

imagine if you bolted a GV underdrive (not overdrive, underdrive) unit to the back of the tranny.....you could run a twin stick with a splitter knob on the handle....















*results may vary, end user assumes all responsibilites of operation :haha:
 
77crewcab said:
How do you like that Ranger OD? Do you use it for the spliting gears or just shift into OD once in 4th gear?
Click to expand...


When I'm towing I use it as a splitter, but otherwise its just for the OD. If I'm in stop/go traffic, I'll leave it in OD for a higher 1st gear so I dont have to shift to 2nd right away. To me, its the best $1800 I've spent on an upgrade. And the twin sticking is cool, but I'm still trying to work a setup using an air shifter and a switch on the stick, sorta like the 2-speed rear axle trucks have.

And dont get me started on the underdrive thing. I wanted to build the ultimate tow rig utilizing a C4500 chassis with an OD, UD and 465 and possibly a 4x4. My drivetrain would be as long as the truck:haha:
 
Thanks, been waiting for someone with actual experience driving with the Ranger to post up before I get one.
 
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