12valvin

Ok so ive got a stock 518 and it sucks.....I wana put something different in there but idk what.

Im tryin to figure out the options on all these trannys

avaliability, difficulty to swap, and all of yalls opinions.
I dont care which transmission i have i just want to upgrade whether it be rebuilding or swapping.

I do drive on the highway some and only haul a single car hauler every once in awhile but I do plan to do some more upgrades to the truck.

Crossy's son

Well rule the 727 out. no overdrive. Doesn't sound like you need a 5spd, all the trouble to swap it in. find the parts.. etc.

You should look into a Trans rebuild with a maybe a shift kit and some kind of GOOD torque converter (goerend,dtt etc.). the a518 is a good trans.

12valvin

One guy quoted me 1900 for a rebuild on the 518 and i havent looked anywhere else.

does that sound right ?

peobryant

Rebuilt back to stock? If so, then that is way to much, in my opinion.

I would pay around that for a built 518, including a Goerend converter.

12valvin

ya thats what i thought, Im a mechanic but in no way a tranny mechanic.

I live in NC and would be willing to travel a little bit to have it built right for a good price, any suggestions?

Alwaysworking

personallly i like the 5speeds for anything i do. getrag 360

12valvin

Ya thats what i really wanted to do.

whats involvled besides pedals, master cylinder, and cutting a hole the floor?

reblerider20

i would put a 47rh in it there is 2 articals in the sticky and i am workin on findin parts for my swap now

peobryant

There are quite a few threads on it, but do you want the 'Rag or NV4500?

In most cases you can buy a cheap donor truck, and do the swap, then part the donor out and either break even, or sometimes come out ahead as far as price.

A built auto is real fun too though.

oilcan64

cannot complain about the "rag" - i love it! my friend has a 90' dually 2wd with the "rag" over 400,000 original clutch and it's still honking! the creeper gear is fun too, i use it at stop lights when people get right under my bumper just to annoy them

good luck with the swap

my opinion, autos can be expensive to rebuild (my dad is having his done in his F250, minimum of 1500 depending on how bad it is) IF they go on you - but a stick you cant go wrong, you might put a clutch in it once and i think manual trannies get better fuel mileage?

oilcan64

i found this post earlier and I think you'd like to read it, i saved it because of all the valuable information

be sure to read it all (this is a quote)

mysteryman wrote:

The bearing that fails is the rear main shaft bearing.....This happens due to some of the things I mentioned earlier in this thread....

What you have is a Timkin tapered roller bearing pressed onto the main shaft.....the race is then placed into the rear of the case partially sticking out. Then the tail shaft housing goes over the part of the race that sticks out pressing it down onto the cone....There are shims that go between the race and the tail shaft housing that adjust the bearing clearance..

The failure comes when the clearance is too tight (TOO MANY SHIMS)
This loads the bearing too tight.....When the trans heats up things expand...
This causes the race in the case to lock on the cone and rotate in the case...
This wears out the case and causes the trans to get real hot real fast...Then often times the case will crack between the main shaft and the countershaft bearing bores..... Party over !!!

The bearings in the Getrag are Timken tapered roller bearings just like the front wheel bearings. On front wheel bearings you adjust the clearance with the spindle nut....On a Getrag you stack thin shims.....For new bearings you want a +.006 preload . For used bearings you want .000 clearance.....

Back in the early 90's we were having problems with the remans getrag was sending us...I had about 20 or so that we tore down to find out what had happened...I found that all of them had +.030 to +.045 shim packs.....I thought that I was not calculating it correctly or that the failed units were too bad off to be accurate...
I went to the getrag reman plant way back when to get to the bottom of what the problem was..... I pulled 3 off of the line and tore them down to check the clearance....They all had +.030 to +.045 shim packs in them as well..... Oh sh** ! I called for the production manager ....We discussed my findings...He said that they set them up this way intentionally because they felt .006 was too lose and caused excess gear rattle during testing...OMG !!!

I promptly told him that he was to stick to the spec that WE told them to use and that I was going to write my report to my superiors that Getrag was the cause of the failures and should be back charged for the failures of the remans that Chrysler had had to eat in the previous 3 years!

For those of you that have had one of the Getrags apart . You may have noticed the the rear main shaft bearing race was excessively thick....
The reason for this was that when we were testing the very first Getrags we found that under excessive load that the standard race would split and crack the case...So we reduced the size of the cone and had Timkin make a special thick walled race....It worked and hence the reason for the strange heavy race...
The best thing to do is rebuild the Getrag PROPERLY and put it back in....
There is nothing wrong with the Getrag if you know how to build them !
I have written quite a bit on this subject in the past...Look up the posts...

I know that many think that the NV4500 is a better trans....But we did have the 4500 several years BEFORE the Getrags were used...The 4500 was only used for gas trucks originally....We used the Getrag because it was found to be a better trans during testing.....The 4500 was later used behind the diesels...It had a few small changes made to it before it was used in the diesels but that was it....
The 4500 replaced the Getrag for only one reason...cost !

Rebuilding the Getrag is not hard you just have to pay attention to details...
The Getrag's problems were few but vital... The things that made them fail were as follows...
1) OIL LEAKS
A) drain plug dripped , run out or run low on oil
B) No gaskets on early models , more leaks
C) pilot bushing failures,,, bronze was too soft
D) over loading , trailer too heavy
E) too much hp , turning up the fuel/air
F) overheating ruining the oil
G) wrong type of oil , no 90 weight in the Getrag ! !
H) not knowing how to shift , rattling the gears,, too high a gear at too low a speed

2) Poor assembly
A) setting shim packs too tight , Getrag even did this themselves at times
B) uneven shim packs between main shaft and countershaft causing tail shaft housing not to hit squarely
C) bell housing misalignment

In conclusion, I personally have never had a Getrag fail in any of my personal trucks nor have I ever had to rebuild one twice that I built,, I have seen them go hundreds of thousands of miles in fleet trucks without failures.....

If you still decide to replace it with some thing else I would be glad to buy whats left of your Getrag.. I could use the spare parts ...

Good luck and be sure to replace the pilot bushing. Preferably with a ball bearing... The flywheel will need to be bored out for this...I do my own but the guys at South Bend clutch do them all the time for people.....

As for the pilot bushing....Engineering knew it was not going to work before the first one left the plant...But if you did not haul trailers it would work long enough to get out of warrantee....Engineering wanted to use a ball bearing but . We were shot down due to cost ...
In 94 it was decided to go to a Torrington needle bearing...Great in theory but it just made matters worse....They ate the imputs alive....

As for the worn out ends on the imput shafts...What I do is put them in my cylinder grinder and make them round and back on center..Then I make a steel sleeve on the lathe and press it onto the shaft end.... Then I put them in my cylinder grinder again and finish them to the correct diameter for the ball bearing I am going to use ...The tolerance is .0001 ot centerline . And no your Craftsman engine lathe you got from dad is NOT going to do the job accurately enough !

Getrag G360 Gear Ratios
1st.........................................5.53:1
2nd........................................3.04:1
3rd.........................................1:67:1
4th.........................................1.00:1
5th............................................77: 1
Reverse..................................5.61:1

Crossy's son

Yea mystery man used to build them at a chrysler dealer.