[briney]

hi guys. i am looking at changing the trans on my F100.it has a T-18 now, and the huge gaps between gears sometimes make life a chore. i have looked at 2 options easily available in australia. the ZF/M5R2/NV4500 are a joke, price wise.

option 1- Use an NP541 which i have laying around. the gaps between gears still aren't the best, but it will be better than the T-18. used with 2.75 gears, and a 31 inch tyre, it should give me 2000-odd rpm at 65. looking at google, someone on oneof the forums said the torque capacity of the gearbox is only 350 ft/lb ! it does, however come out of a primemover with a 37k gvm. i have most of the gear here to make it work. outlay would be minimal.

option 2- use a nissan civilian bus trans. i can swap the trans lid for a patrol one, giving me floor shift. the ratios seem pretty good. 1.48:1 3rd, and a 0.73:1 od. using 3.5 gears and my 31's, it should give me about 1850 rpm at 65. i think it would have an easier time in general, because of using the lower diff gears. i worry about towing with it in 5th though. the bus in question is around 12k gvm, and they run up and down the highway for hundreds of thousands of miles loaded in od. the other drama is that i have to buy a gearbox, bellhousing, clutch , tailshaft, etc etc. about 2k by the time i'm finished. any suggestions ?

 

[BobS]

How about Option 3:

Do you have any of the T18-C or T-19 transmissions available? They were used in older diesel powered International and Fords and also in some of the step vans over here. 4.02-2.41-1.41-1.00:1 ratios. Maybe the Ford version could possibly be a direct bolt in? This might be better than option 1 and cheaper than option 2.

 

[briney]

it is worth investigating bob. the best part about the 541 is that it has a granny as well as 4 usable gears. do some t-19's take a slide in type tailshaft ? or are they all bolt onto a yoke ?

 

[BobS]

I would have to go take a look to confirm this but I think the yoke is bolted onto the splines. I think the International Scout diesel had a version with the close ratio gear set and a Dana 300 attached. Maybe someone who is on one of the International "Binder" forums could chime in and elaborate a bit more on gear set interchangeability between the different versions.

 

[briney]

option 2 may have just got cheaper. i looked at a burnt out nissan patrol. it has the relevant 5 speed in it. i pulled it out of the bush, and the insurance comany might give me the wreck as payment.

 

[mooseracing]

do some t-19's take a slide in type tailshaft ? or are they all bolt onto a yoke ?

I've seen both bolt type and slip yoke in stock ford setups.

Just curious but is a NP435 out of the question too because of the gaps?

 

[briney]

yeah, i think a 435 would be no good. the only real drama i can see with the T19 is that it doesn't have a granny. i do a bit of towing cars out of interesting places, and with 2.75 gears a granny would be handy. that was the attraction with the 541.