I'm looking for a 5 speed manual transmission to use in my '67 Cadillac project car. A guy at work swears by his Dodge Ram 5-speed as bullit proof. I'll be running about 600 ft lbs and 500 bhp in a 4500 lb car.

Do you guys think a 2wd 5 speed dodge truck will live with this as a daily driver?

Appreciate the help

 

No problem. 600ft lbs of torque is cake for an NV4500 since a lot of us are WELL over that. Quite a few making double that torque. It should be no problem if you wanted to put it in a car.

Eric

 

Well you will have to upgrade the clutch a little, but these boys run 1000+ ft/lbs torque and 450hp pretty easy on these things as daily drivers... Some run as much as 900hp and ungodly amounts of torque with only clutch upgrades. A fifth gear update is recommended though because the nut likes to fall off and leave you with an operational four speed

 

You are gonna HATE the shifts though.

FWIW look at a TKO600 or Viper spec T56

 

Thanks for the advice guys.

Why am i going to hate the shifts? I am assuming these boxes are synchro -- am i being more niaeve than usual????

Clutch upgrade is probably a good idea, any suggestions? I was planning to use an 11" heavy duty car clutch...........

Any of you have rough dimensions of the gear box? I'm replacing a turbo 400 which are on the large side, so I hope I won't need to cut the tunnel and fab a new one.

Once again, thanks for you help and for welcoming a non-truck guy!

 

long shift throws, first gear too low for a car, long clutch travel..... There are quite a few things that make a dodge diesel transmission unsuitable for a car. If you could work out the problem with shift throws with a short throw shifter, and work out something that would give you as much pressure plate force, and still have a clutch that is useable in a car, then you would still have the issue of the very low first gear that would be very tough to work around. The trans would probably be able to fit where a TH400 went, but it doesn't narrow as much at the tailstock as an auto does.

maybe you should leave the whole deal in a dodge ram, and mod the transmission, that way you can keep the cummins. the caddy might look a little funny with 6 valve covers, and injection lines sticking through the hood.

 

Thanks smoke pedal.

Long shift throws are not an issue, like you say a shorft shifter will take care of that.

As for first gear, how low is low? Ideally it would be around 2.8 ish. But I'm willing to accept compromises to get a manual trans that I won't easily destroy in my car.

Clutch travel could be a problem, but I work for Kenworth and am surrounded by mechanical engineers -- I'll try to tap their know how to solve that.

As for leaving the trans in a truck, yeah, I'd love a big *** truck -- but I can't justify it alongside a big *** boat of a car. I have considered putting an ISB in the Caddy though. Our Cummins rep thinks I'm crazy. I'd need to add a marine pan and remote sump and likely tilt the engine over, but we think it would go in. I've never seen a Caddy with a slant six -- especially a Cummins diesel slant six. But that's just a bit way too much money right now. I'm stuck with a 472 Caddy big block.

 

Geno's garage has a short shift kit for the NV tranny.

 

get a t-56, much better for a car....

 

I agree that a T56 would make more sense for a car, however the specs are below and they make me nervous....
# 400 ft·lbf torque capacity (1993 F-Body)
# 450 ft·lbf torque capacity (GM, except 1993 F-Body)
# 600 ft·lbf torque capacity (Dodge)
# 385 ft·lbf (522 N·m) (GM MM6)
# 400 ft·lbf (542 N·m) (GM M12)

The only way to handle 600 ft lbf is with a viper box, and they are way too expensive for my budget.

(specs from wikipedia)

 

that and a diesel stick shifts SO much differently than those set up for gassers...esp cars. you cant just bang the shifter around. from what ive experienced you truly "row" smoothly through the gears. you cant force them and get a very clean shift. that was my issue when driving friends 5 and 6 speeds... i was used to cars

 

1st: 5.6:1 (Even with 2.73's out back you won't need to use it)
2nd: 3.04:1
3rd: 1.67:1
4th: direct
5th: 0.74:1

I think it will work well, that 472 will have a wide enough power band that the big ratio spreads won't be a problem. Just gear the car as tall as you can and drive it like a 4 speed.