Quote:
Originally Posted by hatzie
The NP203 & NP205 are roughly the same ratio in low range 1.96:1 IIRC.
You can get 3.6:1 gear sets for the NP203 range box. Or just run a NP241.
The thing that killed more than a few of the 208/241 boxes was leaving out the brace between the transfer case and the engine.
The 89, if stock, would've had one of the less reliable Getrag forefathers of the NV3500. I've forgotten what they were called, HM290 maybe??? IMHO The 1st & reverse ratios in those gearboxes were more suited to an automobile than a pickup truck. They work OK within their limitations. The 300ft-lb limit was fine in a V6 S/T 10/15 truck but it had no business in a fullsize truck if you intended to tow with it. I've broken a couple of them towing in early 1/2 ton T400 trucks.
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Yeah (sorry to digress into a different vintage), I didn't
know about the different five speeds when I bought it cheap from a neighbor after a divorce. It ran good, but it had no 4wd and the brakes were bad. I shimmed the front axle actuator and spent a small fortune getting the rear brakes totally rehabilitated. I still don't have a parking brake because I need to find the part in a junkyard.
It works "okay" for getting firewood and running to the dump, but I hate to put much more money into it since it's only a half ton and I discovered that I don't like the x-cab for the purpose that I'm using it for. It's just too long and that vintage IFS doesn't turn too sharp anyway, compared to the open knuckle squarebody pickups.