Quote:
Originally Posted by pete c
The only thing I think you could have done better would have been leaving the rear alone and finding a trans with a wider range of ratios. The vette/camaro 6 speeds likely don't have high enough gears. GM does have a truck 6 speed. I would think this has a stump puller first and a really high OD. I have a friend who has one behind a lightly modded duramax. Holy crap is that thing quick. I suspect that it would bolt up. Of course, you'll have to pay more to find one, but, it would have saved you the rear end work.
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I did consider what you are suggesting--not the transmission in the Duramax trucks, though, but rather the five speed transmission that came in 3/4 and 1 ton pickups in the 1990's (the NV4500). With an NV4500, I could theoretically have enough ratio spread for towing and economy, and leave the same rear end in the car all the time.
However, there are a few reasons that I ultimately didn't go that route:
-The NV4500 is a fairly expensive transmission, even used, and pretty much never shows up in U-Pull yards around here. It would have cost at least 10 times what I paid for the NV3500. It also weighs twice as much as the NV3500 and would have required more extensive floorboard and crossmember modifications to fit.
-The NV 4500, besides being heavier, also has more parasitic losses and much wider "gaps" between the gears than the NV3500--all of which would make it less efficient.
-And if I went with the NV4500, I'd be running a "light duty," high-geared rear end while towing--and as I discussed earlier, there are many reasons that isn't a good idea.
-Funkhoss