Manual Transmission Swap
 

I’ve wanted to do a manual swap into my 1999 24v for quite a while now and i have a great deal on a transmission. Only problem is that it’s out of a gas truck. it’s an nv4500. my question is what exactly is what i need to do this swap? ive heard i need to do change the input and output shafts. any info is appreciated

I have done or helped people do this swap way more times than I could count on a Dodge truck.

If the transmission is out of a V-8 gasser, it is a lighter duty NV-4500 and will be a weak link.

IF you still want to go ahead with the swap , you will need an cummins splined input shaft and a diesel bell housing for the transmission.

The output shaft depending on what it came out of and year, may have a 23 spline output that will mount up to your lighter duty auto T-case.
The manual diesels come with a 29 spline T-case, so if you re-use your old auto T-case, that will be a weak link too.

Then you will obviously need pedals, shifters, boots, clutch hydros, a flywheel and a clutch.

I would have spare pedal sets and other small parts if you need. Or I have a complete nuts and bolts H-D diesel NV-4500 4x4 swap set up here as well, so you don't do all this work to end up with a light duty transmission and T-case set up...

Hi Oliver,

do you by chance know the weight of that setup?

No need to go and weigh it, I'm just curious.

Thanks!

I would GUESS that a complete NV-4500 transmission complete with bell, T-case, shifters, 4x4 linkage, boots, pedals, clutch hydros, ETC would be under #500 on a pallet maybe a little more if you wanted it with the old OEM clutch and flywheel included.

Would this be with the transfer case?

The reason I ask is that I may have to pull one from a wrecked truck over here.
(And the place where I may have to do it is less than ideal.. soft ground and no electricity for a start)

Yes the T-case was listed in the parts run down on my last post..
It has been years since I pulled one outside on the soft wet ground and I don't miss it.
Even just winching the wrecked truck on a trailer to work off of would help a lot to making the job easier and safer. That and rechargeable impact tools will help.

The output shaft depending on what it came out of and year, may have a 23 spline output that will mount up to your lighter duty auto T-case.
The manual diesels come with a 29 spline T-case, so if you re-use your old auto T-case, that will be a weak link too.


The transmission is out of a 96, i believe that is the 23 spline right? even though it would technically be a weaker link i would be able to use my transfer case and drive shaft out of my auto right? both same size can configurations if that makes a difference.

i’m not entirely sure if i did this right😅 i’m new to this whole forum thing

Thank you Oliver, misread the parts rundown...
Let's see if this needs to happen.

If the '96 was a Dodge V-8 truck with the NV-4500, the rear output should be 23 splines which would match up to the auto T-case you have.

The automatics in the '96-'02 trucks I find are about 3/4 of an inch longer than the NV-4500 so you might very easily be able to re-use your auto driveshafts.

very much appreciated! thank you so much for the help :)

3/4"? Seems like it was more like 3-4".... I could be mistaken. IIRC, the OD auto is really long.

does anyone know if the driveshafts from 1500s are smaller? because i also have the drive shaft from the 96 1500 that i’m taking the nv4500 out of. since both trucks are quad cab short beds it might work

My '96 ram 1500 had a NV3500 (5.2L magnum; clubcab shorty). Front shaft used same joints as diesel (7290@pinion & 1330@CV) but the rear was all 7290, whereas the diesel uses 1410.

The 1500's front shaft length was close enough that it still worked after swapping the D44 to D60 w/diesel coils.

HTH.

I assumed you bought a Dodge 2500 and had an actual NV-4500, as that is what you listed you had. The only way you would get a actual NV-4500 in a gasser 2nd gen Dodge truck is to buy a 2500 or 3500 5.9 gasser or a V-10.

NOW that I know you are using a NV3500 out of a 1500, you can ignore all the info I gave you.

I would never install a NV3500 in a 6BT diesel project.
I would strongly recommend looking for an actual diesel power rated transmission to install in your truck.