woodrat

The parts thing was another complaint of the tranny shops. They said that the rebuild parts for the getrag were hard to find and very expensive.

angelfire7

What is preload and how is it set? How much do I overfill my Getrag?

dpuckett

woodrat- the shops you spoke with didnt know where to look. I got bearings, synchros, and an input shaft SHIPPED to me for a little over $300. I had local shops tell me the same thing last fall- they just replace them with a reman ($1400), because parts "are so hard to find and expensive." BS.

anglefire7- preload (I think, someone will correct me if I'm wrong) is the pressure put on the bearings to keep the slack out of them. You set the preload with shims at reassembly. FSM gives detailed instructions. People here overfill by 1-1.5qts. I just put in 5qts of my favorite oil at change time.

DP

1stGen545

What I meant was when the G-rag blows apart. I believe in tossing parts that have a known prob of braking and replacing them with better parts. I know lots of guys that swearer that the G-rag is a better trans but I worked at a semi transmission repair shop that also did 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. The G-rag has a thiner case that I think lets it flex under heavy load. To each his own but I will never run a G-rag again. Not trying to make any one mad but I have worked on both and prefer the NV.

angelfire7

Thanks DP,
A NEW NV4500 cost right at five grand. That and a splitter from Gear Vendor and I am looking at $8000 for a tranny. Man that's too rich for me. Right now my Getrag is working fine.

woodrat

When I did mine I got a changeover kit with a rebuilt NV4500 and the bellhousing and what not for about $2600 exchange.

Ron E

If you're going with the Gear-Vendor, what's the chance of using one of the earlier mentioned near bullet-proof 4 sp's? (I don't have a clue, just wondering...)
But, the one time I drove a NV, the short throw of the shifter was great. Almost no noise through that shifter, quiet at hot idle, etc. It's a very civilized piece. I just hope my Getrag doesn't force the issue.

Bill Tomlinson

The getrag is just fine IF you treat it right. It will not lose fifth gear like the NV's. You must respect it's unwillingness to tollerate low rpms and heavy loads. If you are pulling heavy, keep the rev's up cuz the gut doesn't have enough bearings to cope with low rev's and ultra high torque. Also remember that it has preloaded bearings which are adequately lubed but inadequately cooled. Add an extra litre and a half of good 5/30 oil to improve cooling of the pilot shaft bearing. Preferably synthetic but dino if it drips too much. Use an upper bolt on one of the pto covers to over fill. Change the oil far more often than "normal". Parts and rebuild kits are available and follow the instructions CAREFULLY. Pay close attention to pre-load. Some transmission shops don't do them well. Never use gear oil or atf. I should have replaced my pilot shaft because it has the bearing race built in. It is never a great idea to add a new bearing to an old race. I found that the 3200 gov spring was a good idea because it let me build up rev's and not go too low on the upshift which keeps the getrag happy.

My do it yourself rebuild resulted in smoother shifting and better synchro action. The reason for the rebuild was I stepped up the power and was doing some fairly aggressive starts with a ton of gravel in the back. The output shaft snapped. It was my fault and my parts bill was in the 600 dollar range for a new mainshaft and a rebuild kit. I was very impressed with the beefy gears but not so impressed with the bearings.

woodrat

I have seen where folks have screwed in a plumbing street elbow where the fill plug goes and pointed it up to get the trans to take the extra fluid . Then just screw the plug into the elbow when you are done...