Well to everyone who has done the nv4500 swap into a W series first gen you had to wonder if the smaller shifter rod provided by Advance Adapters would be sufficiant enough. Well I can tell you now that I have done four of these swaps that I have personally seen one fail. My father and I were headed to a small town south of Washington DC to pick up another 8ft stepside bed already made into a trailer. Anyways, it was back when we had that snow on Sat and we were leaving Sun morning. Maybe the gear oil was cold but with having the transfer case in 2wd and the hubs locked in (dad didnt remember when he locked them in) we made it about 3 miles from the house and the transfer case popped up into neutral. The shifter rod had bent pretty bad. We pulled over and I used a prybar to put the t-case into 2wd. We finished the trip. Fast forward to today. I removed the severly bent rod from his truck, then the perfectly adjusted and slighly bent rod from my RC/Cummins conversion. I went with a heavier gauge rod and put a slight bend on one end and welded on the correct size end to go threw the t-case. Then I threaded the other end and had my brother take a piece of stock to his work and cut it down on a lathe. Today I installed it on his truck and it fit like a glove. I am in the process of making 3 more for the other three nv4500 conversions I have done. The one difference I had to install on the inside of the shifter. Between the shifter and the tranny. The factory shifter pushed in from the outside towards the tranny. By installing it on the inside I didnt have to put any bend into it. Making it stronger. My only fear before installing it was it might make contact with one of the five bolts that holdx the shifter to its mounting bracket. I have more than a .5" of clearance with my dad up in the truck rowing through all the gears. Once I had it adjusted perfectly I screwed a 5/8" jam nut onto it. Here is a pic showing (from left to right) the good one from my RC/Cummins project, then the bent one from my dads truck, then the one I made. Its heavier than both of the other two put together. If it bends I am not doing something right and should never be in a pickup truck again Again, I am not a machinist so if others want to point out any flaws keep them to yourself. I simply want to show others what I think is a flaw in the AA kit. I love this site and all the helpful info I get from other friendly members. I am simply trying to pass on some help.

 

FYI, if you need a 4WD shifter for a 1st gen with the NV4500, the '92 and '93 GAS NV4500 4X4 shifter and rod works on the NP205 and has a nice set-up for adjusting them.

I've bought several out of junkyards before, so they are out there.

Mark.

 

Mark as many times as I have been to salage yards I have never seen a 92-93 5spd gas truck in one. What kind of setup did they use?

 

hey freight train, if you feel like making an extra one I'd be more than happy to pay you for one rather than AA!

James

 

They use a heavier rod with a "pinch clamp" (think column linkage adjuster) and have a unique bracket to bolt to the passenger's side of the NV4500 case.

I've been having camera issues with this computer, but let me see what I can do about getting some pics of the set-up I have been saving.

Mark.

 

Mark,
That would be awesome if you could post some pics!