NV3500 4x4 swap

[Gulfcoastaggie]

New member here with a new project. 72 K20. I wanna drive it more than just neighborhood trips so any help to swapping transmissions would be great. All the threads I've seen were 2wd. The trans I have is a '97 internal slave , don't care if I stay NP 205 or have to go 208. Thanks in advance. And no I'm not going NV4500 as my motor is dead stock.

[Bigdav160]

I don't think the nv3500 would tolerate the weight of the np205 hanging off the back of it.

[cleszkie]

Originally Posted by Bigdav160

I don't think the nv3500 would tolerate the weight of the np205 hanging off the back of it.

In the stock 4x4 configurations (either auto or manual tranny), the adapter between the transmission and transfer case has a "foot" that bolts to a cross member. This takes a lot of the stress off the transmission. However, I cannot speak for the support of an NV3500 mated to a NP205. As pointed out above, going with an aluminum 208 might be the better alternative.

[franken]

My guess is the 3500 like the 4500 has the adapter built into the 4x4 tailhousing. Google seems to agree w/ me. There are aftermarket mounts for the 205. There are passenger drop NP241s out there that are a bit better than the 208.
One thing to be aware of is the round pattern on the 3500 may not quite line up with a 208/241. Not many of either were made for passenger drop and round pattern. The 205 will need an adaptor for sure unless you hunt down a round pattern one, which are also rare. Then there's the issue of spline count on the 3500; 27 is very light duty and 32 is less bad.

Pic of 4x4 3500: https://www.google.com/search?q=4x4+...wugmFoWLZy9GM: