A friend of mine has a 1992 Dodge Ram 2 wheel drive with the Cummins and automatic trans. He had a noise that seemed to be coming from the transmission, so he pulled the trans and tore it down. He found the tailshaft housing that contains the overdrive unit had severe damage with the splines stripped out completely. He tried to buy a couple of them on E-bay but did not win. He then called me and I checked with the local Dodge dealer, but the part he needs has been discontinued and when they searched inventory of dealers across the country, there are none in stock anywhere.

Does anyone make an aftermarket replacement tail shaft housing for a 500 or 518 series trans?

Will a later model transmission fit without either a lot of electrical problems or fabrication needed?

Is conversion to a stick shift a reasonable alternative, and how easy is it to find the necessary parts used?

He would like to repair the truck, but isn't sure which direction to go in to complete the repairs.

 

I can't tell you for sure but some of the aftermarket places or transmission shops should have the parts he needs. I'm not a fan of automatics in trucks so I'm kinda biased. To change over to a 5sp find a NV4500 out of the 2nd gen trucks make sure it came out of a diesel. He will need the trans, the plate that bolts to the engine "adaptor plate", flywheel, clutch & pressure plate, hyd clutch assembly, and starter. I got lucky and found my setup for $500.00 but haven't installed it yet, too many projects going on at once. I'm sure some of the others will chime in and give more info. Good luck with it.

 

tell him to drop a 5sp in it, I love my. more control, better fuel milage. If i drive my nice with the 5sp i can get up to 25-26 mpg

 

Thank you for your prompt reply. I should have introduced myself in the earlier post. I live in So Cal and have a Dakota V6 5speed for a daily driver. I'm a retired transport refrigeration mechanic, and joined this site to see if I could help out a friend. He lives in Ensenada, Mexico; so he is at a bit of a disadvantage locating parts for the Dodge. His vehicles are all registered in Ca., but it is a hassle getting across the border. I hope to locate the parts he needs at a local wrecking yard and pick them up for him. That way he can just come to my house and pick them up to take them back to Ensenada for the repairs.

I have had no experience with the Dodge Rams or Dodge diesels except doing a few minor repairs on my ex-boss's 1994. I understand that the 2nd generation started in 1993, but how new can we go before there are either electrical hook up problems or fabrication issues, or will any year stick shift out of a diesel work? Just to clarify, the starter is different in a stick shift version, or did it just get changed between the first and second generation diesels? I also understand from a response on another Dodge truck forum that He can just change out the brake peddle and add the clutch pedal to his existing peddle assembly. Will that work?

 

94 is when the new body stle started.

You cannot go past 93. The years you are looking for is 91.5 (with a intercooler) to 93.

HTH.

Jon

 

Russ Bellinis the 1st gens are 89 to 93 the 2nd gens are 94 to 03 I think. The 5sp out of a 2nd gen may or may not be better than the 5sp out of a 1st gen. But parts for the 2nd gen 5sp are alot more readily available. And yes you would need the brake & clutch pedal from a 1st gen If I remember correctly the assembly from a gasser will work. Possibly even an 83 up may work, not sure on the years that will interchange. The starter snout is either longer or shorter is why you need to change it out "I think". But if you find a good 1st gen 5sp setup with the Getrag 360 it will work fine, if the transmission is good. Again good luck with your friends truck.

 

Call some of the trans shops that builds performance trannys for Dodges. I bet one of them can find you a tailshaft housing.

 

And/or call some junk yards that specialize in Dodge/chrysler vehicles and see if you can get that tailshaft housing. I got a couple of parts off of one in SoCal (when I find the name and number...), there's one here in B'ham but that's AL. (Pm if you really need the info on this one).
Given the logistics, swapping to a manual might be a little hairy as far as identifying and sourcing all the required parts

 

and here's the info in Cal. All dodge truck parts in Ranch Cordova 916 635 7602. good luck

 

Wettstein, are you serious 26mpg- no way- mine is all stock and i have the getrag and i baby the thing and im seeing like 17mpg

i just started using the lucas oil "upper cylinder injctor cleaner/lubricant" stuff ill let you know how it works

then again my speedo is off and its in kilometers- maybe my conversions are wrong..ill get back to you

 

I'm bumping this thread, looking for anymore input people may have. Thanks guys for the info received so far!

 

If he decides on the manual setup and all the parts are gathered up it only becomes a long days work getting dirty. Then the fun begins, the 5sp trucks to me are much more fun than the automatics. Good luck with the truck.