Bersaglieri

I was thinking about getting a spare trans and building up my 47RE with a billet input and dropping it in down the road if my trans takes a dump. While I was talking to a local guy about it he suggested trading me his NV4500 5 speed setup plus a couple hundred bucks. If you had the oppurtunity would you do it and why? Sounds like a good deal to me to be honest. I plan to pull a trailer down the road, but I am also very competitive and like to win races. I might take it to the strip and sled track 5-6 times a year. I plan on doing New Era 435 injectors and a HT3B below my HX35 someday. What would it take to get a NV4500 to hold some 500-600hp twins? Now I am just weighing the pro's and con's on Auto vs Manual.

Auto
+ Easier to sled pull with
+ Better mileage? [lockup and gearing]
+ Drag Racing / Boosted Launches
+ Anyone can hop in and drive
+ I already have a good converter and valvebody
- Takes some work to get these to hold power
- Difficult to rebuild on your own

Manual
+ Better for towing
+ Rowing Gears is fun
+ Engine braking
- Slower overall
+ Optimal gear selection
- Replacing clutches
+ Easier to rebuild DIY

Guys?

-Dustin-

CODODGE2500MAN

Yes, I would do it! (or would have done it as of yesterday....today I'm getting a DTT trans)

I'd like to do it because I want to row gears, i think you have more control over the truck and I'd rather replace a clutch than a tc.

As for racing.....stick with the auto (I think sled pulling too)
As for towin.....stick with the manual IMHO.

Best of luck

CODODGE2500MAN

I'm sure others will be chiming in soon.............

:hint hint

logskidder

I changed my 94 shop truck to a 5spd........if I had to do it over,I would have built the auto. The 5spd feels like it needs 4 more gears and makes it hard to kill ricers from redlight to redlight.

Big Blue24

Well said logskidder, I am another 5 spd guy that gets killed in any kind of a closed course 0-35 mph race.

35-100 MPH roll on, totally different story!


If you race, you will regret the stick. If you tow, you will love it.

And who said manual trannies are easier to rebuild than autos? Any tranny guy will tell you that tolerances are much more critical and difficult to deal with in manual transmissions. A slush box is just that, a box of slushy gears that can have a ton of play and still work.

Bersaglieri

I appriciate the comments guys, keep them coming. I drove a bone stock NV5600 in a 24 valve tonight to get a feel for stick trucks. I like it, but not as much as the converter flashing on my truck and it tearing off in a cloud of white and black smoke. I am thinking about holding off on the tranny swap, building the auto, and buying a NV5600 24 valve 3500 for towing in the future. The only true way to have the best of both worlds it to have both right?

-Dustin-

Tate

Ummm, what?

91rangerturbo

Honestly i am in the same boat as you. The main reason i bought my automatic was for comfort of driving. Sure a manual is fine and you can get a south bend clutch that will hold some serious power. But a auto is so nice and smooth. If you drive in traffic alot then a manual can be a pain. But a auto is faster.

I can't wait to purchase my built trans from dave or dusty. Still in the air on that one. But $4500.00 and never look back is what i am doing.

Big Blue24

Tate, I'm not trying to step on any toes, but most tranny rebuilders that I've been around say it is much easier to rebuild an auto tranny. Sure it has a ton of ports, solenoids, etc, but it is not as precise as a standard transmission. If you run a manual dry, most guys wont touch it, too hard to really tell what needs replaced and what doesn't. In an auto, look for burned clutches, and discolored steels, clean out the valve body etc. Sure it has springs and small parts but just not as precise of an art as building a reliable manual.

My opinion you are entitled to yours.

RowJ

Auto may be easier to sled pull...but much more likely to tear it up too. They don't sound good when they downshift under full sled load towards the end of a run!

Better mileage w/ an auto? Don't think so.

Finally, I agree with above comments. Autos are easier to rebuild, even if they are more complicated.

RJ

wadecool

If he's offering an nv5600 I'd say yes. Nv4500's are notorious for lot of problems. Quad4x4 makes the only ones I know of that are bulletproof. Also, even if you know how many miles he put on this tranny, you don't know what shape it is in. If you are taking the time to swap from auto to manual, I'd get a 6 speed or a quality reman.

Brian Lent

My brother had to rebuild his 4500 at 130,000 and did not upgrade the input shaft. At 550hp+ it only lasted to 170,000 and went again. Get the 5600 or beefed auto. Good Luck!

renopker

I say g56 but after all the reading on this form I have yet to see any one use a clutch flite ( auto with a clutch in front) I ran one in my A/gas car 513 hemi and loved it ran 9.50 et have I missed something or are the trans shops just in to selling converters?

Bersaglieri

Years later this is back on the table, except a local guy wants to swap my built 47RE for his NV5600 with a dual disk clutch. Although I've had a built auto for 2 years, towing in this high altitude makes me wish I had a deep first gear instead of a smoke show with 15000lbs. I know it's going to be slower, but this tighter racing converter makes even towing something small a pain. The auto makes racing or messing around real fun and that's hard to want to give up. I will say I have a 10 second street/strip camaro, so it's not like I can't ever go fast if I want.

I'm looking at NV5600 swap with a dual disk or a looser converter. [I have a billet input, etc, now]

Thoughts? Common problems with NV5600's?

-Dustin-

gorms

I don't think the 5600's have too many problems! It's a full 100 lbs heavier than the 4500, all I've heard about is needing to overfill if you tow heavy. I've heard of a few 4500 failures due to HP exceeding 600 (stripping gears/breaking inputs etc.), can't recall any with 5600 because of power personally. I have the 4500 and it can go quick, not as fast of course as the auto, but it is just more fun in my opinion. I still have the auto sitting on my bench, waiting to be built, but I'll save that for my 96 Dakota 4/6BT project. Personally I'd jump on that deal.