Well I lost 5th gear for the third time.

NV4500

1st time - torqued nut back on , tack welded it.
2nd time - got the Dodge split clamp nut, cleaned threads thoroughly , applied JB weld to the main shaft threads, torqued nut on with lock tite on the set screw then put fat double wide tack welds 180' apart on the shaft and nut.
3rd time ? Im done !!!

I am going with the shaft up grade .

Has anyone had the nut back off of the Full Splined upgrade shaft from Standard Transmission? Has anyone broke one of these shafts ?

Now I like to think that I baby my truck , I aint woopin' on it all the time . I do pull some fat loads up some pretty steep grades though . I have a 60 HP chip in it from Edge products, 4 inch exh. K&N filter, thats it.

I have read from another site that the full spline isnt the real answer but that THEIRS is. Its much more $$ ( its the Torque King) I have read their article and I understand their point(s) in it. It is a good article.

I have 240K mi on this truck and want at least 100K more out of it .

Am I OK to go with the full spline AND the bearing/synchro rebuild kit from Standard Trans ? ( bout $500 ) Has anyone used their parts for a rebuild ?

I just want a few more years of reliability out of this thing !
I always lose 5th gear at the worse moment !!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks in advance to all of ya'll !!

Dew

 

Go with the fully splined shaft. Yours probbobly had some were on the splines. Get a new gear to just to be safe.

 

wondering what you mean by 5th went - more to the point how did it go? I lost 5th but all others are fine, no noise or differences when it went. I wasn't pulling or hauling either. So just wondering if I'm looking at the same thing you had happen the 1st time - nut came off? what do you think?

yalakomjohn

 

Hi Yalok,

I have lost it a total of 3 times. 2 times while pulling a hill with a load, once on the straightaway , no load. The nut backed of 2 times, the last time I stripped the 5th gear splines. The first two times it made no noise , just lost 5-th. the 2nd time, when losing the splines, it made a little noise. But I just quit using 5th till I got it fixed.
When it was torn down this last time, my nut had held. How did I make it hold ?
I cleaned the shaft/gear very well. I applied JB weld to the threads, torqued the nut on, put lock tite on the nut clamp screw. Then put two fat opposing tack welds on either side of the nut , to the shaft. If you decide to take this route, look very closely at the splines and shaft on the 5th gear area ( which is located outside of the main tranny housing. If it is galled much , go to plan B , which is what I had to do ( after my splines completely stripped.)

I upgraded to a fully splined shaft and gear from Standard Transmission out of Texas. Being that I have 240k mi on my stuff, I opted to also get a full bearing set for both the trans and X-fer case. My buddy did a full rebuild on both and I am back on the road.
If you do the nut fix like I did, you just need to pull the trans case (if so equiped) and the extension housing off to make the fix. You dont need to pull the tranny.
Hope this helps, if you have any questions , I will help anyway I can

Dew.

 

Some may disagree, but after doing serveral fixes with updated shafts, nuts, and locktight, with problems down the road. I got out my mig welder and spot welded the nut on in about three spots. I havent had a truck come back in yet, and have probaby fixed 15 trucks this way. If the transmission ever has to come apart, the weld will have to be ground off.

 

Make sure the nut is tight and weld that baby 12:00-4:00-8:00 positions !(Works good in the 97')
Brandon

 

I welded two nice tacks 180 degrees apart, and so far it's been good. I feel the the only real fix is the fully splined mainshaft. You could lay a full bead around the nut, but I dont think the heat would be good for the mainshaft, so a couple hot tacks does the trick.

Before:


After:


But remember if u weld it to the mainshaft, ull need to grind the weld off and replace the mainshaft if u need to rebuild the trans. Which should probably be done anyway cus if ur gonna pay to have it rebuilt, get the fully splined mainshaft.

 

Why not double nut the thing? Looks like there is ample room to do so. And you could still weld the outer nut to the shaft. And you wouldn't be welding to the threads, making future removal easier. Thats my plan of attack when I rebuild mine.

 

When my 5th gear fell off I immediately went to Standard transmission (only a 2 beer drive from here). It lasted 160k miles before I managed to implode the whole box. Since then I have been thru 3 or 4 more (lost count), but the failures are due to the nature of my use and/or the cheap clutches I used before switching to South Bend. None of the fully splined shafts have allowed 5th gear to fail. I just replaced mine again, like today. The rear main seal leaked and ruined my clutch so it had to be replaced, and the trans had a little over 99k on it, but had not failed. I had it rebuilt because it was out of the truck, so why not. It needed new synchros and had a chipped gear. 99k to most people is 8 or 9 years of use. Go with their kit, I don't think you will be sorry.

 

160k IMO is pretty good for a transmission, especially behind this power.

 

Hey Great Ideas Here Mine Just Came Out For The 4th Time Today. Pulling A 24ft Goose Neck Empty. Was On My Way To Get An Tractor Went On But Was Only In 4th.going To Spot Weld This Time.

 

Hey Guys, I had many of these problems myself. I believe I have done everything possible to stop my implosions. However it is on the way out again, I have been trying to find anyone who knows anything about putting medium duty trans into these dodges (like out of freightliner or ford with CTD). Any ideas or leads PLEEEEESE!!!!!!

 

Great stuff here guys! Thanks a lot! Think I'll pull that transfer case etc and have a look, great pics by the way. I'll see how the splines look and go from there...

 

K Its Time. Going To Tear Down Tommorow Nite An Fix This Thing One More Time. Wish Me Luck Will Take Pics When Get Down To It.