Posted by Charlie on Monday, December 18, 2000 at 18:01:52:
In Reply to: Stock Gears & Overdrive posted by Ed C. on Monday, December 18, 2000 at 08:15:07:
Two possibilities:
1) 5 spd with 5th overdrive, either NP540 or Clark 280VO. 5th = 0.821 and 0.799 respectively. both will fit allowing a very short driveshaft.
2) Gear Vendors overdrive behind rear output of transfer case, works in 2WD only, ratio = 0.78:1, allows a good split of 3rd to 1.326:1 making transmission effectively a 6spd. It actually cost more than the 5spds by several hundred dollars, or more than that if you happen to run into a good deal on one of the (old) 5spds.
3) A NV4500 5spd will only fit with a re-power, with the bellhousing in the stock location it's too long. With the original NP420 which is 9.75" long the length of the little driveshaft U-joint to U-joint is about 13.5" Find out how long a 2WD NV4500 is. the difference will tell you how much the little driveshaft needs to be shortened. Possibly some of the custom driveline places in Calif. and Ariz. can build an ultra short driveshaft with splines actually in the yoke, I'm not sure.
Charlie