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bordom inspired drivetrain poll

Which drivetrain is the best all around setup.

  • Total voters
    41
ill throw another nail in your mental coffin..

you mention leaving this rig alone and building another...


Buy a 88-95 tbi nv4500 truck, running or not. Take what you need and part out the rest. If it runs the tbi we be a welcome addition to any 4x4, or you could sell what you dont need for the money. More often than most would think its cheaper to pick up a whole truck than it is to buy the parts.


options:

nv4500-advaced adaptor-atlas 4 speed

nv4500-adaptor-lowmax geared 205

manual valvebody 700r4 and lowmax geared 205


Im assuming you are after a overdrive unit of some sort? But if your now thinking of a trail rig the K.I.S.S. aproach becomes a nice one real quick.

ifs its more performance and trail needs that you want to meet..

manual t-350-2 or 4 speed atlas

whats your budget? Hell if you could find it a 91 chevy 4x4 would have the axles, nv4500 and tbi engine. Do a lowmax in the 205 and your set. Swap all the parts over to your k5 with a simple shackle flip in the rear and 52's or some smooth springs up front and your golden! Some bumpers, recovery points and a cage with seats and call it done!
 
well, ok, to clarify, Im not looking for a trail only rig, i need something well rounded, hence the reason im looking at overdrives, decent CR, but most critical is the 1800rpm range at highway speeds. i live near D.C. so the closest area to get mud on the tires is GWNF 2 hours away. This thing has to be not just liveable, but comforateable on the highway, crusing at LEAST 60mph.

I dont want a gas hog, ive got a TBI engine in the garage right now, and will be happy to get rid of it. Im a diesel guy, i LOVE my 6.2L, even with the horrible setup its running right now.

I was mostly joking about buying another truck for parts... my parents would **** kittens if i bought another car. i need to unload my IROC as is.

I definatly want to go manual tranny, and i want it as simple as possible, and as cheap as possible. hence the desire to keep the NP208 i already have. i like the gear ratio, and dont have any fears about the durability of it.

the mods i want to do, will most likely take a good long while to do, piecemeal. The transmission issue has reared its ugly head because the TH400 is starting to act up, and will most likely need to be rebuilt, and according to the guy who did the NV3500 it cost him less than $400 to do, so id get my manual, better gearing, better highway cruising, and all for less than rebuilding the TH400 that im not fond of anyway.

i bought the H1's cuz the price was right, and i can store those. the rest will have to wait till there is money in the bank, but the tranny, if i can do it for less than $500.00, i can probably put that together, and do the install while im driving the jetta.
 
Sounds like you should just do the NV3500 swap then. Might not be the best long term but you obviously want to do it.
 
AJMBLAZER said:
Sounds like you should just do the NV3500 swap then. Might not be the best long term but you obviously want to do it.
Click to expand...

i wont lie it is the way im leaning, but i also didnt know that the NP208 would bolt up to the NV4500, and after finding that one on CL with all the parts for only 600... i certainly wouldnt mind doing the NV4500 instead. If i can do the NV4500 for a similar price and labor standpoint as the NV3500, Im all for it.

ill be making phone calls tomorrow to the local bone yards and getting prices on parts to compare against each other.

Best quote i got on rebuilding my TH400 was 1800 bucks, so thats my budget. I think the manual swap can be easily done for that much. Just a matter of finding the parts, getting them bought, and then getting around to doing it. im driving the jetta so theres no rush on the swap.
 
K5dreamer said:
i wont lie it is the way im leaning, but i also didnt know that the NP208 would bolt up to the NV4500, and after finding that one on CL with all the parts for only 600... i certainly wouldnt mind doing the NV4500 instead. If i can do the NV4500 for a similar price and labor standpoint as the NV3500, Im all for it.

ill be making phone calls tomorrow to the local bone yards and getting prices on parts to compare against each other.

Best quote i got on rebuilding my TH400 was 1800 bucks, so thats my budget. I think the manual swap can be easily done for that much. Just a matter of finding the parts, getting them bought, and then getting around to doing it. im driving the jetta so theres no rush on the swap.
Click to expand...

1800 bucks wtf????????????????????????????

that is way way high unless you are asking for a performance trans with goodies. A performance 4l80e from hughes is only 2300.00 A 400 should run you as cheap as 400 up to 1000.00 anything above that and it better have some goodies.
 
Eventually I want a nv4500.

But my th350 will have to do for a while


Question: How long should the driveshaft for a th350 be?
My k5 originally had a 700r4, looks like I still have the original driveshaft.

and to me it looks to short, slip joint is sticking out a bit and leaks a little.
 
blazin_blazer said:
man, i just got quoted $1250 for a rebuild on my 4L60e w/24 month 24,000 mile warranty
Click to expand...


I have seen SOOOOO many rebuilt 700R4/4L60E/4T60E failures that I wouldn't trust one as far as I could throw it. The GM remanufactured transmissions are the only ones that I've seen last.


Even though some people seem to have it out for the NV3500 it will be much more reliable than a 4l60E, no question. Its a good trans and will be very reliable if you use it for what it was meant for (i.e. not towing tons of weight).

My .02 of course ;)
 
i agree this 4L60e has been rebuilt once before, about 40k miles ago/no warranty...this time i get a little warranty ..when it dies again its gettin sas'd and sm465 and np205 w/my 3/4 ton axles for my cattin around town rig, now that i have a set of true 1 tons for my beat on rig
 
K5dreamer said:
i wont lie it is the way im leaning, but i also didnt know that the NP208 would bolt up to the NV4500, and after finding that one on CL with all the parts for only 600... i certainly wouldnt mind doing the NV4500 instead. If i can do the NV4500 for a similar price and labor standpoint as the NV3500, Im all for it.

ill be making phone calls tomorrow to the local bone yards and getting prices on parts to compare against each other.

Best quote i got on rebuilding my TH400 was 1800 bucks, so thats my budget. I think the manual swap can be easily done for that much. Just a matter of finding the parts, getting them bought, and then getting around to doing it. im driving the jetta so theres no rush on the swap.
Click to expand...


I bought a Phoenix Transmissions ultimate stage 3 th400 with all the 300m goodies, advanced adapters output shaft and pretty much everything else upgraded internally for $1800. For that price they also took down every possible specification about my build and custom made my torque converter as well. The tranny is rated for 900 hp.
 
Sounds like the OP is leaning towards a manual trans, but if automatic I would really lean towards a 700r4/208 or 241 combo. The combination of the lower 1st gear ratio and the ability to run a much lower axle ratio while maintaining a decent highway cruise rpm gives a nice combination.

I know the 700r4/4L60 have a bad reputation and I do see a lot of failues on rebuilds, but they are typically installation errors (can't count the number of people who don't flush the cooler, replace the torque converter, or set up the TV cable correctly).
 
That TV cable is supposed to be tricky to get right or so I have heard as I have never had anything more complicated than a standard kick down cable.
Also I heard if it is not setup right it will cause the tranny harm.
 
Ok, well, the overwhelming suggestions seem to be the NV4500 and related hardware, far be it from me to question the wisdom of the forum. :bow:

As it stands, i have indeed decided to go with a manual swap. Im not sure how that will go with offroading, as ive never offroaded a manual transmission, but i dont do anything very technically challenging, so i dont think ill have too much trouble, especially with at least a 43:1 CR.

As to the NV3500 vs NV4500, ill probably go with whichever i can find for the best price (probably the NV3500, although there is a guy on CL selling a NV4500 and nearly all related stuff for 600 obo, i just dont have the cash right now, and dont know if its 2wd or 4wd). According to yall, the NV4500 and NV3500 are the same size pretty much, so even if i do the NV3500 now, the 4500 should be an easy swap in later.

Also, while the poll says 203/205 doubler, ill probably try to get away with just keeping my NP208 for now, and see if i can possibly get away with my stock driveshafts, even modding those will cost less than getting the doubler setup and new driveshafts.

I appriciate all the advice, this thread is a goldmine of information.
 
Any time you change tranny length, you need to lengthen one driveshaft and shorten the other. I'd also really check the details of what stuff costs cause $600 sounds way too low for the swap. You can check my blog/sig for a parts list of the 4500 swap. Your final drive shaft length can significantly affect the cost.
 
well also, in all fairness, the guy that swapped the NV3500 into his rig was replacing a 700R4, and they were about the exact same length all said and done. so he could re-use his old driveshafts, and cross member and all that jazz. And he custom fabricated alot of his brackets and all instead of junkyard scrounging, so he pulled it off for like 350 bucks.

the 600 was just for the parts, who knows, maybe the guy was planning the swap, and wrecked the truck, and is now just getting rid of the stuff. The 600 was just for the parts relivant to the NV4500, clutch assembly, shifter, clutch, flywheel, only thing missing was the master and slave cylinders. i would still have to source driveshafts, and perform all modifications necessary to the swap.

bp71k5, i will be reading that blog after this post.........
 
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