corn binder

i just bought a 90 CTD with a strong running cummins with 324,000 miles on it. the transmission is in need of a rebuild, it's grinds going into third gear, and 4th is on it's way there too! what's going rate on the 5.spd for my truck. my truck is a 4x4. another question, i've been reading about a manual trans upgrade to a nv 4500. is that a good upgrade and what's needed to upgrade to the 4500 trans? what price differential is there between the two? the truck is all stock with a slight increase on the rebuilt pump, enough to get rid of the stock dogginess! thanks, i would appreciate any help, pete

vette95

Your truck should be equipped w/ the getrag 5 speed which is a good tranny. I ran one in my old 1st gen just fine. I would just get a rebuild done while it still works. When alot of parts gets damaged is when the getrag gets expensive. Plus yours being a 4x4 making a rare find. Good luck.

G1625S

You'll spend 3 times as much converting to the NV4500, give or take. If nothing is broke in your 'rag, I'd say you're looking at about a grand to have it done right.

edit:welcome to DTR!

BHD

I just had a rebuild done to the Getrag I swapped into my truck. A local mechanic did it for me on the side and I got the major kit from Standard Transmission in Texas, and I had to replace the 1-2 fork which I got from Z-BAG in Montana(?) Both those places have web sites for more help. Total cost was a little less than $800.00.

Ace

Getrag's looking better and better these days with parts available and prices becoming affordable again.

dpuckett

I have never been into a NV4500, so I cant say for sure, but I like the design of the Getrag better. Plus, the Getrag and NV4500 have close to the same size bearings, and gears, and ratios. So you really arent gaining anything. Remember the 5th gear nut, and the Syntorq for the NV4500. The Getrag will give many years of trouble free service, provided you dont lug it under load, and keep the fluid overfilled by a qt or so. Some people have recommended R&R and reshimming every 100-125K at your convenience, to keep it all lined up and happy.

The only thing I would upgrade to is something from Eaton, et al, with a double overdrive and bigger everything.

Daniel

wannadiesel

The NV4500 does do away with the giant ratio spread between 2nd and 3rd - but a 3200 RPM governor spring is a cheap band-aid.

My Getrag is holding a decent amount of power, but I don't work the truck.

MJDiesel

If you want to go with the NV4500, advance adaptors has a kit that will allow you to use many of the parts that your Getrag has. Unfortunately, it is probably kind of spendy. Also, a company out of the twin cities has delevoped an nv 4500 that will not have the OD problems. But, hey, if the Getrag can be repaired for very little, it would not be such a bad thing. You have just heard the opinions of a bunch of people who are smarter than me!

Here is a link to the advance adapters catalog

http://advanceadapters.dirxion.com/Main.asp

corn binder

thanks for your input guys!!!! i had a guy offer me a "g rag" that was recently rebuilt for $600. that sounds fair,eh? thanks, pete

wannadiesel

Sounds like a good deal. You can slap 'er in and then rebuild the old one with no pressure.

BearKiller

CornBinder,

You don't list the state you are from; but, with a handle like that, I am assuming possibly Indiana, or Illinois.

I don't know the name of the shop; but, there is a transmission shop, somewhere in Anderson, Indiana, that is supposed to be well-versed in both Getrags, and NV4500s, also they have done numerous 4500 conversions.

The reason I know this is that I recently tryed to buy a 1st.Gen. 4x4 in Indiana that they had converted to NV4500.

The truck owner said that they did almost nothing else, except Dodge/Cummins manual transmission repairs.

If anyone else knows the contact information to this shop, maybe they will post it.

woodrat

"The NV4500 does do away with the giant ratio spread between 2nd and 3rd "

That was one of the best things about switching to a NV4500. My getrag bit the dust at about 220k and at the time, I was getting outrageous quotes to rebuild it, almost $2300. Parts were expensive and no one I could find around here liked to work on them. So I spent $2600 on a NV4500 kit from an outfit in Texas (standard transmission, maybe? can't remember the name.. ) and paid a tranny shop $400 to put it in (I didn't really feel like messing around with that heavy tranny on top of a floor jack on the gravel floor of my shop... ).

It's been over 40k miles now with no troubles and I do like the gear ratio spread much better than the getrag. If I had found a rebuilt getrag for $600, though...