I would like to post a question to the group about swapping my 04.5 automatic out for NV 4500 . For better fuel mileage , and for better towing . Or is it not worth the effort , Or would it be better to invest in a Smarty JR , to get more fuel mileage and better performance ? What's your thoughts ?

 

Not so sure your gonna get better fuel millage with a manual. An automatic will always get better fuel millage over a manual. Now when it comes to manual being better than a built auto at towing, I'm not going to open that can of worms. If it were me, I would look at building my auto. I think a fully built auto will smash a manual at towing and millage

 

Totally agree with you cincydiesel!!! would not trade my built auto for a stick!!!

 

Build your auto......an auto can actually put out more torque than a manual......it is a better towing tranny.

 

John,

Why would you choose a NV4500 instead of an NV5600 with 6 speeds?

I think towing heavy in the mountains would work a lot better with a stick and I have thought for a long time that I should have chosen the stick. Now I'd like to put in a G56.

There's a lot more to towing than mileage and I'm not sure an auto will get better mileage than a stick, but a stick allows you to hold a gear and avoids the hunting and slipping of the auto. All that slipping of the TC generates heat, wastes fuel and is annoying.

The 48RE does not have enough gears or the right ratios for serious towing. First is too high and it needs more working gears. So you can build it up all you want, but it still only has four, poorly spaced ratios. It's is fine for light duty use such as commuting and grocery getting or even 4 wheeling. Good for sleepy driving from point A to B, but not hard towing.

The conversion is not very easy, but at least it can be done with off the shelf parts. I have decided to wait as long as I can (currently have almost 200,000 miles on my '04) and see if I can retro in an Aisin 6 speed auto when a controller becomes available.

A Smarty is a good addition, but you will soon find out that the TC lockup clutch cannot take the added torque and it doesn't make up for the limited gearing. Mileage will be better and driveability will be better. Simply saying the auto will always do better than the stick in mileage is not correct. The auto is inherently less efficient than a manual because it has a slipping torque converter and an oil pump that constantly maintains hydraulic pressure. It even needs a cooler to blow off excess heat to keep from burning up under heavy use. Heat that came from burning fuel.

 

NV parts are also hard to find and expensive to buy.

 

Well , I have actually ran across a couple nv 4500 , for a decent price as far as nv5600 haven't seen one . I like a stick , but I feel that you still lose more with an automatic then you do with stick . As far as the conversion goes I can do it myself it's not that big of a job . Is there anyway to get an more performance out of an automatic . If so how much ?

 

Lose what? And how much can you get the sticks for......how are the clutches if they come with the tranny?

 

www.quad4x4.com/

 

http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/d...threadid=53100 2004 dollars


Depending on your state, it may be illegal.......EPA emissions.......tranny is part of the emissions requirements.