mt
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Post by mt on May 20, 2008 9:29:04 GMT -5
Anybody done this? I need a new transmission for my '83, and I'm having better luck finding later '80s parts trucks. Is it a matter of cutting driveshafts, or what?
Also, if I found a longbed '83 5 speed, would that fit my shortbed? I'd just need to use my driveshafts rather than the longbeds?
Any info is greatly appreciated
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Post by fourwd1 on May 20, 2008 10:57:56 GMT -5
The W56 is a few inches longer than the G52 (25.4" vs 20.8"), so you'd have to relocate the x-member a bit, shorten the rear DS and lengthen the front DS.
You also need an early W56-A or B, which will mate to the top shift t-case you have.
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Post by Hoodlum on May 20, 2008 11:01:37 GMT -5
The w56 is longer by about 4" You will need to have the front shaft lengthened and the rear made shorter or possibly use second gen driveshafts(84-85 front/84-88 rear).You will also need a x-member from BudBuilt as well as make holes for the shifters.
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mt
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Post by mt on May 20, 2008 14:54:11 GMT -5
Hmm. Ok, thank you very much for the replies. I'll decide if I'm up for that stuff while I see what trannsmissions are available around here.
I'd love to just throw the Marlin Crawler L52 rebuild in there, but $1000 is what I paid for the truck......seems a little steep right now.
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Post by speedy on May 21, 2008 0:23:52 GMT -5
If yours isn't your daily driver yet, then save your money up and wait til you can do either the W56 or the Marlin HD. I don't know about you but I will keep my 83 forever, they will have to pry the keys from my dead, cold fingers. Newer rides, even built ones, don't draw as many positive comments as these can. Unfortunately I have personally found that you do have to spend a wad of cash on them to get them where they are reliable, driveable vehicles especially if they have been neglected as mine was. The tranny is the only thing I haven't really spent a whole lot of time on yet. I bought mine for $800 and have probably spent over $11,000 on the project so far, doing alot of fabrication myself and with friends that know more than I do, but I can drive it to work everyday and drive it to the parks and get crazy with it without it breaking. I am 2 1/2 years into it now and I think I might be halfway there. Moral of the story is that if you buy a L52 off the internet now, my vote is that you are wasting your money in the long run unless you don't plan on keeping the truck for long. P.S. I can be a little long-winded!
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mt
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Post by mt on May 21, 2008 8:59:54 GMT -5
Ok, thanks a lot Speedy. Yeah...I bought the truck figuring I'd sell my Subaru and get the $1000 I spent right back and be in business without losing money. Hasn't worked out that way. Need to keep the car until the trucks had some serious work. Somebody definitely beat on it at some point.
The problem is that with the car, I didn't care. As long as it ran, we were good. With a nice old Toyota....I care. I want to get everything nice. So, yup, may end up spending a lot of money on it. Hopefully it's worth it. I may have mentioned, I'm pretty comfortable taking parts out and replacing them, but when it comes to mods and rebuilds, I'm a bit out of my league. Don't really know anyone who does this sort of stuff here, either.
Maybe if I can find a cheap used L52 (like $200 or less) I'll get that and a new clutch in. That and a timing chain will make it a daily driver, and I can save for the Marlin. Until then it sits in the garage..I'd hate for the chain to go.
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mt
Junior Member
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Post by mt on May 22, 2008 9:58:10 GMT -5
The w56 is longer by about 4" You will need to have the front shaft lengthened and the rear made shorter or possibly use second gen driveshafts(84-85 front/84-88 rear).You will also need a x-member from BudBuilt as well as make holes for the shifters. Holes for the shifters in my cab? If I could get away with finding used second generation driveshafts and get a new crossmember and that's it, I could maybe handle that. I found an '86 rebuilt transmission with 20K on it for $75. That makes this seem more worth it. I can handle a parts search and getting somebody over to my house to weld an xmember in place. But do I need to cut the cab for the shifters, too? I wish somebody had a write up with photos for this... |
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Post by Hoodlum on May 22, 2008 10:12:55 GMT -5
The w56 is longer by about 4" You will need to have the front shaft lengthened and the rear made shorter or possibly use second gen driveshafts(84-85 front/84-88 rear).You will also need a x-member from BudBuilt as well as make holes for the shifters. Holes for the shifters in my cab? If I could get away with finding used second generation driveshafts and get a new crossmember and that's it, I could maybe handle that. I found an '86 rebuilt transmission with 20K on it for $75. That makes this seem more worth it. I can handle a parts search and getting somebody over to my house to weld an xmember in place. But do I need to cut the cab for the shifters, too? I wish somebody had a write up with photos for this... I'm doing a tranny swap and adding dual t-cases here very soon(hoping for this weekend)I will take some pics.It won't be the same project that your dealing with but it will give you a better visual of what needs to be done.The tranny shifter will be fine you'll have to cut out to make room for the t-case shifter because it will be located a few inches back from it's current location. |
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Post by Hoodlum on May 22, 2008 10:38:23 GMT -5
One thing about the x-member.Talk to Bud at BudBuilt me and him both have used another method of mounting a x-member.We've used U-bolts to secure it directly to the frame.My set-up is completely different, so he would be the one to give you a better description on how this is done.Yes the proper way is to weld in some mount brackets but if it works and it's safe,it's another option to consider.
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mt
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Posts: 50
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Post by mt on May 22, 2008 11:05:26 GMT -5
Great, thanks a lot guys. From the sound of it, unless I get the Marlin Cralwer HDL52, the L52 just isn't so great, so getting an '86 w56 in there for $75 (plus some modification $) sounds much better than $1400 or whatever I'd need to pay until I got the core refund (if I even got it) on the Marlin Crawler. Even though that would be the best thing..
I'd love to see some photos if you get some, thanks!
Good God I have too many questions. One more thing. Often a truck is being parted out because of an accident.(?) Should I be cautious of a tranny that was in a wreck?
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Post by Hoodlum on May 22, 2008 12:56:53 GMT -5
They usually need too much work to pass inspection or there's too much work that needs to be done and the owner is tired of working on it.Someone bought it for a few parts they needed then sold it again to someone needing other items from it.Projects that are given up on or my favorite their moving and can't take it with them. I buy and sell them from time to time if I know I can get rid some of the parts right away.
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mt
Junior Member
Posts: 50
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Post by mt on May 22, 2008 13:59:01 GMT -5
Good thing there's no such thing as inspections or emissions in Montana!!
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mt
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Posts: 50
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Post by mt on May 22, 2008 16:44:18 GMT -5
The w56 is longer by about 4" You will need to have the front shaft lengthened and the rear made shorter or possibly use second gen driveshafts(84-85 front/84-88 rear).You will also need a x-member from BudBuilt as well as make holes for the shifters. Hey, I hate to rely so heavily on you guys...hope it doesn't seem like I'm avoiding doing the investigations myself, but do you mean with this post that those 2nd gen drivshafts will work, or that they would possibly work? If Budbuilt's got what I want, and it looks like a price I can afford (about $170ish it looks like), then a $75 W56 is sounding pretty good. I don't want to get into cutting and elongating draveshafts, though. |
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Post by fourwd1 on May 22, 2008 20:28:58 GMT -5
The w56 is longer by about 4" You will need to have the front shaft lengthened and the rear made shorter or possibly use second gen driveshafts(84-85 front/84-88 rear).You will also need a x-member from BudBuilt as well as make holes for the shifters. Think a little. If your putting in a longer transmision, and use drive shafts made to be used with that transmission ... and wheelbase being a constant ... what might the result be ? |
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Post by speedy on May 23, 2008 0:41:05 GMT -5
On the other side of the driveshaft issue, think about this... I don't know exactly when they went to a CV shaft, maybe some of the other guys can help more, but if you do plan to lift the truck 4" or more, the factory U-joint driveshaft will vibrate too much and you will have to upgrade it eventually anyways. I did a 4" longtravel kit on mine and had to modify the front driveshaft with a lengthened spline shaft and I had to buy a fairly expensive rear CV driveshaft also with a longspline on it. Another example of having to redo something, when I do an engiine swap and a dual case, I will have to modify both driveshafts again. Not to mention the enormous amount of work I put into cutting and rotating my front axle to correct the pinion angle but keep the caster factory. You can check out my build in the projects section under "progress update" or something along those lines. Although I doubt you will want to have anything to do with a cut and turn job.
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Post by fourwd1 on May 23, 2008 9:12:55 GMT -5
The front DS has always had a double-Cardan joint.
You can run a steep angle on the rear drive shaft w/o any vibrations if you set it up correctly, been there.
But going to dual cases makes the DS shorter and the angle even greater, and that usually means a CV on the rear DS.
And FWIW, High Angle makes a really nice one, they dis-assemble and clearance the double-Cardan joint to allow it more range of movement.
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mt
Junior Member
Posts: 50
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Post by mt on May 23, 2008 9:16:53 GMT -5
[/quote]
Think a little.
If your putting in a longer transmision, and use drive shafts made to be used with that transmission ... and wheelbase being a constant ...
what might the result be ?[/quote]
;D
Gotcha, just want to be sure. Looking at my truck I swear it's shorter than newer ones. I've been scared that I won't fit if I try to sleep in the back. Ok, thanks. Just keep in mind that when you already know something it can sometimes seem pretty damn obvious, but to people who are pretty new to this, we just don't want to assume. Sure it makes sense, but what if the wheelbase is slightly shorter than newer trucks? I buy all the stuff and here I am at installation day and it doesn't line up! Anyway I get your point, I just don't know as much and want to be sure I've got it right before I start buying a bunch of stuff.
Speedy- I don't plan to put any lift on this truck. The height is plenty for my uses. This is going to be a DD and road trip vehicle. It will definetely get offroad, but it won't ever be a crawler. I just want to get it in good, reliable running condition, and if that means I've got to do some mods to get there, cool, but otherwise I'm sticking with fairly stock stuff. It's got 31's on it right now and that's the biggest I'll go.
Thanks a lot everone. The '86 transmission I found will come with the driveshafts, so that covers the 84-88 rear. I'll just need to find a 84-85 front, and I'll be in business.
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mt
Junior Member
Posts: 50
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Post by mt on May 27, 2008 9:13:15 GMT -5
Sealed the deal on the 86 transmission. $75 with 20,000 miles on a rebuild. I'm pretty excited about that. I talked with budbuilt and they do a crossmember that bolts to the rear original crossmember bolt holes, then use U-bolts for the new rear. I think $179 is the cost for that. I'll guess I'll just measure the transmission when I get it to see how far back I need to cut to allow the transfer case shifter to come into the cab. Then save money, get a clutch, finish my timing chain/HG job...........at some point I'll be back on the road. ;D
Thanks a lot for the advice so far.
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mt
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Post by mt on May 29, 2008 11:43:03 GMT -5
So now why will only an 84-85 fit on the front, but 84-88 will fit the rear? I found an 86 regular cab with driveshafts, and I'm putting in an 86 W56. Shouldn't the 86 front work too?
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Post by fourwd1 on May 29, 2008 13:03:46 GMT -5
If you're talking about the DS bolting to the diff flange ...
What is different between the 84-85 front diff and the 86+ front diff that might account for it ? Think about it.
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