MJDiesel

OK, this is the deal. I have recently started a couple of posts here recently about a transmission upgrade. I looked at all options, including souping up the A518, switching to an A618 with lockup, and an NV 4500 conversion. These are all nice ideas, but after thinking about it, I just cannot spend the money. I already have too much invested into this pickup, and I want it to stop. An 03+ 4X4 Dodge with a Cummins is looking better every day, so I might not keep the 92 for many years and many miles. I might keep it, but if I do not, I don't really want to get ripped off too badly if I sell it. However, I will not buy a new Dodge diesel for a few years at the least. I am in college, and I need to wait until I have a job and I am making money.

The thing is that the rear main is leaking and, consequently, I will need to pull the transmission to fix it. Lets just say that I have a $500 budget, and this must include the seal and a 94+ flywheel (thanks to whoever recommended this ). I was told that the seal was about $30, and a used flywheel may be pretty reasonable. The rest of the money can be used for a torque converter. Yeah, I know, its not much money for a torque converter. The thing is that I am going to stick to my budget, even if this means no torque converter.

Does anyone have or know of a very cheap TC that seems to be a worthy upgrade over the stock piece of junk? I am happy if the TC makes the tranny a better towing unit, and maybe helps the mileage a little bit. I have seen a few around, but I question their integrity.

I apologize for the long, unneeded story , but I figured that it might illustrate my situation more clearly. Anyway, thanks for any advise that you can give me, or have given regarding this project. And, no, I cannot "break down" and spend more than my current budget. I'm Stickin to my guns!

carl20320

Hughes 24XFM. $224 from Sallee Chevrolet

I've heard good things about them for the money.

Carl

6Lpowerstroke

i too am in college, and short on money. i know you really would like to save some cash but that is exactly the reason im in the boat iam in. i had a TH400 out of a late 70' chevy behind my engine.i went ahead and bought the stock GM diesel TC. after wrecking my truck and having to put a TH350 the TC grenaded after maybe a total of 1500 miles. i could have spent 110 morea nd gotten an allison TC. Wish i owuld have. so dont go cheap it might not be worth it in the long run. and if you were to switch to a nv4500 it would be worth more cuz more ppl want a 5 spd behind these engines. and the rear main seal is 36 when i bought mine a couple weeks ago. and i guess im lucky cuz with having to buy a dodge NP205 and the conversion kit for my truck im only gonna end up spending a total of like 2500 for everything from engine to the driveshafts. all the extra stuff im doing right now is preventative maintenance. so if there is anyway you can i owul spend a little more, not like 200 more but a lil more to make sure you dont have to pull it again. just my .02

fishin fever

Yes there are better than stock TC's at a good price out there. should also add shift kit. If you can do the work your self GREAT. IF NOT re/re tranny & tc about 5 hrs at $75hr give or take , install shift hit 1 hr complete rebuild about 7 to 8 hrs . Parts are cheap! labour and taxes are allways the killer good luck ps mine is in shop now completely torn down[I updated my signature early ] .No damage to gears and hard parts,cluthes are still good shape [175,000km/110,000miles] 1 torrington bearing in od unit has slight wear . These are GOOD trannies. So is the tc , just not the proper stall speed for the cummins. She has carried a camper or pull a 2 horse trailer 70% of her life

MJDiesel

The NV4500 would be my favorite upgrade, but I decided that it would just be too much money. If I were certain that I will be keeping this pickup for many years and miles, and if I had the money to spare now, it would be a different story. I know that there is a greater chance of problems in the future if going my route, But I figure that I will take that chance. If I want to do something else, I can always wait until I have a steady paycheck, and more time on my hands.

I am going to do this project myself. I like doing mechanical things, and I will have some time this summer, so i should be able to eliminate the cost of labor. I will need to build a bracket or something for a floor jack, in order to remove the t-case and tranny, but that shouldn't be too hard. It will be a project, to say the least. I have located a low price TC and a shift kit, and I will also check out the Hughes unit, since I have heard good things about them from others also.

6L, that sounds like a sweet project. Is your Chevy an old body style with the straight axle, or the new design? I have some interest in maybe getting a newer Chevy/GMC and putting a Cummins in the future. I read in Diesel Power that the IFS might make the conversion slightly more difficult.

Anyway, thanks for the replys everyone, and if anyone has something to add, feel free to do so.

6Lpowerstroke

Yep, She is the old body style and has a Dana 60. I personally hate IFS but thats just me. Take a look at my gallery.

kennedy

do share, I've been converter shopping for the past month trying to find the right deal.

I to have a rear main leaking, and why I have the tranny and tcase out I am going to do a converter and get the tranny rebuilt with some beefier parts. I will probably use the 48RE sungear bell and carrier for added strength, plus the carrier from the 48 holds more disks and clutches.

MJDiesel

One of my neighbors sold a 1990 GMC dually like that for $1200 or so. I wish I would have known, because that was a STEAL! The coolest thing is that the buyer put a Cummins and NV4500 in it! I like solid axles, but I have been around IFS quite a bit, since my dad has two Chevys with it, and the system has been virtually trouble-free. We do quite a bit of towing and offroading (often both at the same time) since we are ranchers, and the only isssues have been a damaged CV boot and steering stabilizers. A solid axle is definitely more rigid, but the problems with steering systems and ball joints (newer pickups) causes me to suspect that GM IFS is just as good as the late model outfits with a straight axle.

I found a kit on Ebay. I called them up, and it sounded like the individual parts in the kit could still be bought for a low price. I was thinking about this entire kit, plus parts from the OD assembly of a 47-48RE, but I decided that I have never worked on the internals of a transmission, so it wouldn't be a good idea. For now, I am going to stick with a new TC and maybe a few other simple upgrades.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HD-Up...QQcmdZViewItem

This is the website for the company.

http://www.txchange.com/

BTW, where did you get the main seal, 6L? Though Cummins, or otherwise?

fishin fever

re sun gear and carrier ..... not sure about the 92's but the many of the 93's were upgraded prior to the change over for the 94's any way as mention in my post my tranny is in shop now and it has the straight cut sun gears with the 5 pinion carrier ,factory [as apposed to the 4] in mint condition it pays to open it up and get your base line see whats wearing and what's not and up grade from there my .02

6Lpowerstroke

i got it through frieghtliner. which ironically sells the parts cheaper than Cummins. here are some other places i checked:

Cummins: 39.16
Napa:49.99
O'Reilly's: 46.99

Plus my dad gets a deal through freightliner becasue of the parts guy he knows and where he works.And i paid a bit more than that for mine but i was basically buying the engine. Around here you cant really find a 12v engine and i could have bought the 98.5 i was looking at with the money ive put into this truck. but it will save on the insurance.

kennedy

the 48 uses a 6 pinion carrier though, so thats what I plan on using...

fishin fever

Kennedy ,I'm not sure about this ,but i believe the 6pin have a differant spline count and you may have to change the output shaft as well as sun gear ....I posted a lot of ques along the same lines ... but look for posts from txs I believe he is a tranny tech on here who has done this mod

ruquik

The rear main seal is only like $12 from cummins

kennedy

I got my information from a guy at Chrysler that builds the trannies. Kokomo, where I am from, is home to all three of Chrysler's transmission plants. I guess that guy could be wrong though.

MJDiesel

Bump

I checked this torque converter out, and found that it is listed for a 727. I suppose that it will work, but does anyone know if there will be a problem?