5 speed trans choices

[cajun chevy]

Would like to change from my 4 speed Saginaw, manual transmission, to a 5 speed for my 72' c10, 307 v8. May get a bigger v8 in the future. Wondering what my choices are for 5 speed transmissions.

[JJorgensen52]

Depends on what you want to do

Light duty trannies include T-5, NV3500

Heavy duty would be NV4500

None of them are really bolt ins, per se. T-5 is the closest.

Both the T-5 and the NV3500 are true light duty - if you're planning on doing towing or hauling, especially with upgraded motors, you're wasting time with these

That said, for a 2wd truck you might be better off with a gear vendors or similar overdrive unit

[Dingfodgy]

Besides the "junkyard swaps" (T5 / NV3500 / NV4500) for a bit of coin you can get a Tremec TKO or Richmond 5-speed. Both are brand new units built for Hot Rods. Check with these guys....look to be some bad-a$$ 5 & 6 speed kits.


http://www.americanpowertrain.com/GM/truck.html

[Jacfourteen]

If your looking for a junkyard find you'd be better off with a tremec t56 six speed out of a 93-98 camaro or firebird. I've heard that stock they will take about 600 pounds of torque and you can find them for a decent price. there are a few members on here who have done the swap and they say it is pretty straight forward. This is my plan one day. Good luck!

[Toms1968]

If your looking to sell the 4 speed I'm going to be in the market to buy 1. I'm going to swap the 3 speed for the 4. Thanks.

[68_chop_top]

Tremec TKO 600 runs for $2200 and bolts in just different length drive shaft which cost $100 and can take all the hp you can throw at it will require mid shifter kit for bench seat lovers

[Beuford]

I have a NV3500 in my truck and we just came back from a trip to Rifle,Co. and Montana - Wyo and back thru Missori and Ky a total of 57035 miles. I towed my toyhauler weighing over 6000lbs with the full dress Harley in it and with 4:10 Dana rear used 5th gear 85% to 90% of the trip. I have a 400 sm blk with extreme energy cam - headers and a performer int. The trans work flawlessly and RPM was 2000 at 64 mph whith put the engine in the peak torque zone. You can say they are light duty and for racing they probably are but as a driver I'm very pleased. We've put 9200 miles on the truck and I can get 17 mpg without the trailer at 65 mph.

Bob in Pa.

[capev86]

Beauford: that gas mileage is good considering the 4.10 rear. a 3.73 would get you about 18 but with the heavy trailer the slightly steeper gear makes it easier on the truck using overdrive.

it is not a question so much on how much power you put through it but more on condition of the equipment, quality of fluids you are running (synthetics are a good idea), and how you drive that influences lifespan of your transmission. that trans could easily live behind a 1,000 ft-lbs of torque in the right conditions provided you apply the gas smoothly like you should be when trailer towing. stomping on the gas is a quick way to wear out equipment.

[my1st69]

Can someone give me the rundown what I have in my truck and what the trans opitions are?, any of there benifits and other opitions like OD...

I have a 69 C10 350 4spd HEAVY DUTY rear end. base mod everything else.
would it better benifit us or me to put in a overdrive unit.
I'm getting about 12 MPG at best and want better gas millage. thanks hope i am not jackin the thread

[JimmyFloyd]

Originally Posted by Beuford

I have a NV3500 in my truck and we just came back from a trip to Rifle,Co. and Montana - Wyo and back thru Missori and Ky a total of 57035 miles. I towed my toyhauler weighing over 6000lbs with the full dress Harley in it and with 4:10 Dana rear used 5th gear 85% to 90% of the trip. I have a 400 sm blk with extreme energy cam - headers and a performer int. The trans work flawlessly and RPM was 2000 at 64 mph whith put the engine in the peak torque zone. You can say they are light duty and for racing they probably are but as a driver I'm very pleased. We've put 9200 miles on the truck and I can get 17 mpg without the trailer at 65 mph.

Bob in Pa.

What year trans did you get for your truck? And what all was required to use it? Thanks.

[treveiger]

Ive been searching for a tranny for a while now an have decided to go with the nv4500 i have a thread talking about it and guys telling me what i would need and would have to do to make it work and if you want to look it over the link is at the bottom. I hope your truck is like my tranny because i had to look and look for what i needed to do and the thread discribes it and tells you how to do it and what you will all need, theres a guy on there going to switch his truck to a nv4500 from a early 90s GM 1 ton truck some time in the very near future that posted on my thread so im waiting for him to post up his thread on when he does it to give me a idea of how hard it will be, if your truck is 2wd an pretty much original the nv4500 swap should be fairly easy. Next year is when im doing mine because winter is about here and i just bought my truck a few months ago and want to get the "having fun" out of my system before my new clutch and tranny lol. I hope this thread helps, i have looked at a few different trannys and have threads about how hard they would be to switch, if you click on my name an go to where it shows you all the threads ive started most of them are on trannys with OD an switching them out.
I hope this helps.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=415769

[LockDoc]

-
Don't rule out the Jeep AX15 or the Toyota Supra Turbo R154 5 speeds.(basically the same trans) There is an adapter kit available to bolt them up to the Chevy bellhousings and they are supposed to be a pretty stout manual 5 speed. The adapter is a little pricey but it is milled and the kit comes with a GM bellhousing locator/throwout sleeve and mounting hardware.

http://www.novak-adapt.com/catalog/kit_gmax15.htm

I bought the kit and I have a Jeep 2WD AX15 trans, All I have to do is figure out what I want to put it in...

If you need a bell housing adapter ring get it from here:

http://www.dennymac.com/mod.php?mod=...103&page_id=54

The Novak one is $32.10 plus $15 shipping and the Dennymac one was $28 shipped when I bought mine.

LockDoc

[chevy_mike]

Great info LockDoc. I think this might be the way to go as it appears to be much stronger than the GM T5.

Any issues with shifter location and a bench seat?

Thanks!

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by chevy_mike

Great info LockDoc. I think this might be the way to go as it appears to be much stronger than the GM T5.

Any issues with shifter location and a bench seat?

Thanks!

I will have to re-check that Mike. I measured it once but I can't remember the measurements.

LockDoc

[Beuford]

Originally Posted by JimmyFloyd

What year trans did you get for your truck? And what all was required to use it? Thanks.

I used a `90 transmission which has 3 shift rails. A trans after `93 would be cheaper and easier to rebuild should you ever need to as it has only one shift rail. You need to install a hyd clutch master cyl and slave cyl. You need a front yoke from a 400 turbo to fit the spline on the trans tail shaft. If you have a short tail turbo350 now you won't need to cut your driveshaft. You'll need a high hump but the hole for a 4 spd is in the correct location for the NV3500. You'll need an electric speedo as the 5 spd has a speed sensor instead of a cable. I had a small brake booster so adding the clutch master cyl was no problem. If there are any more quesions please PM me with your e-mail address and I can send some pics and answere anything else if I know the answere.

[GMCBubba]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

I will have to re-check that Mike. I measured it once but I can't remember the measurements.

LockDoc

LockDoc, did you ever get a chance to check measurements on this transmission and the shifter location compared to the bench?

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by GMCBubba

LockDoc, did you ever get a chance to check measurements on this transmission and the shifter location compared to the bench?

Man, I completely forgot about this thread. I will go out and do that now... Sorry about that!

LockDoc

[LockDoc]

-
If you look at my Green '67 in this thread (post #20)

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=412435

the AX15/R154 shifter sits back 1 1/2" farther so it shouldn't be a problem with the bench seat.

LockDoc

[chevy_mike]

I ended up buying an AX15 but before I did, I confirmed on a Jeep board the shifter location. From the front edge of the trans (not bell housing) it's at 12.5" back. The Novak adapter is about an 1" thick so 13.5" is the full amount back. Based on info I found online, the SM465 puts the shifter back about 6" from the edge of the trans. A quick measurement in my truck shows I can move back about 11" max from the current setup and clear the bench seat (with it all the way back). The AX15 should still give me about 3-4" of clearance from the seat.

After we finish our house refi, I will be getting started on this swap and will post up details then.

Thanks for the info LockDoc. Until looking at that link you posted, I thought you had an AX15 installed, not a T5. Doh!

[bigguy69]

good read.thinkin about switchin mine back to striaght drive.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by chevy_mike

I ended up buying an AX15 but before I did, I confirmed on a Jeep board the shifter location. From the front edge of the trans (not bell housing) it's at 12.5" back. The Novak adapter is about an 1" thick so 13.5" is the full amount back. Based on info I found online, the SM465 puts the shifter back about 6" from the edge of the trans. A quick measurement in my truck shows I can move back about 11" max from the current setup and clear the bench seat (with it all the way back). The AX15 should still give me about 3-4" of clearance from the seat.

After we finish our house refi, I will be getting started on this swap and will post up details then.

Thanks for the info LockDoc. Until looking at that link you posted, I thought you had an AX15 installed, not a T5. Doh!

Mike,

You are correct. A total of 13 1/2" is what I came up with for the AX15 with the adapter in place. The S-10 Tranny shifter measures 12 1/2" with the spacer plate on it.

I don't have the AX15 installed in anything yet. The Green '67 has an '89 S-10 5 speed behind the six cyl.. Made a world of difference...

LockDoc

[chuckmc8]

I want to run a 5 speed with a 5.3 for my Blazer project. Anyone know if the Jeep trans be the best candidate for this swap? I thought that I could just buy a 5.3 with a 5spd that came together from GM, but I am having little success finding that combo.

[chevy_mike]

Originally Posted by chuckmc8

I want to run a 5 speed with a 5.3 for my Blazer project. Anyone know if the Jeep trans be the best candidate for this swap? I thought that I could just buy a 5.3 with a 5spd that came together from GM, but I am having little success finding that combo.

It's getting harder to find late model stuff with manual trans anymore.

Based on my research, the AX15 is stronger than the GM T5 so of those two, the Jeep one would be my choice.

Don't quote me but I thought most of the newer GM engine (LSx based) use a different bell housing mounting and not the old style bell housing. The adapter for the AX15 mates it to a old GM setup. In your case, you would have to get an adapter bell housing AND the adapter for the trans. Not 100% sure but Advance Adapters or Lakewood makes a bell housing for the LSx engines that has their own trans adapaters that can be swapped for different trans. None of these options will be cheap though.

You might be better off finding another size LSx engine with manual trans (like a 5.7 or 6.0 from a GTO or '98-'02 Camaro) but these will be 6 speeds. Not sure what the line up was for the trucks. In the end it will likely be cheaper.

[raycow]

Originally Posted by chevy_mike

Don't quote me but I thought most of the newer GM engine (LSx based) use a different bell housing mounting and not the old style bell housing.

The difficulty with using earlier manual transmissons on the LS engines is really caused more by the crank than the bellhousing. They have a normal bellhousing bolt pattern, but the crank flange is about 0.400" farther away, relative to the bellhousing face. Aftermarket fixes include special flywheels, bellhousings, pilot bearings, spacers and starters. All of this is covered in fairly extensive detail in the LSx swap forum.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/f...play.php?f=206

Ray

['72customdeluxe]

Originally Posted by chuckmc8

I want to run a 5 speed with a 5.3 for my Blazer project. Anyone know if the Jeep trans be the best candidate for this swap? I thought that I could just buy a 5.3 with a 5spd that came together from GM, but I am having little success finding that combo.

they only made 4.8/5-speed combos