NV4500 strength?

[Blue_71]

what do you all think about them? ive heard good and bad, i know they are used in 3/4 ton chevys and 3/4 ton dodges. im concidering one in my 3/4 ton 4x4, but it might have to pull close to 10,000 lbs sometimes and i want to be able to do it (i know my SM465 can) and i need something that will bolt up to a manual clutch and a NP205 (i think i can work the manual clutch, NP205 i dont know)

[Blue_71]

i just readded this and i left out a few hay rolls, its more like 25000 lbs, 10 rolls of 6 foot hay which is approx. 2500 each

[Mike C]

They are used in 1 ton as well as 3.4 ton Dodges and GMs. They are theoretically as strong or stronger than an SM465, but they did have some breakage problems early on. You won't pull in OD with that kind of weight, so unless you can justify the $3000 price to swap one in, I'd just get/stick with a 465. The 465 was used in up to 2 1/2 ton trucks and school buses. (these can be found sometimes and id'd as such by the drum brake parking brake on the output shaft)

[palallin]

All true, but WITH the 4500, he'll have the OD when he's NOT pulling the load. This is a swap I've contemplated, too.

[Blue_71]

the when im not pulling was why i was wanting it.. i have to pull that once or twice a year, and i do have to pull some other stuff but thats the biggest load. i would like to be able to drive my truck sometimes! lol

[Mike C]

Just for grins lets say you go from 10 mpg to 15. It will pay for itself in about 10 years (If you drive 250 miles a week, ~13k and gas averages $1.50 a gallon) If you get 14mpg already and get up to 16 and you drive 500 miles a week, it pays for itself in 20 years. Chances are you will not see a huge jump in economy because most likely you will spend more time at higher speeds, and possibly even NEGATE any gains. I only drive each of my trucks ~3000 miles a year, so it would take 80 years to pay for the trans. That was the reasoning I used to keep my 4 speed.

[ThreeQuarter]

Aw, c'mon Mike, where's your sense of adventure?

If you're looking to financially justify it, you can add in the shortened engine life with higher highway RPMS, but who's to say exactly the effect that has? Probably very little, I think. Maybe it'll bump it down to 9 years, 10 mos. to pay for itself.

I tried to justify putting one in my '67, instead of keeping the factory TH400. I did the math like Mike and found it really wasn't worth it. The cincher for me was that I wanted to keep it as factory-original as practically possible; that turned out to be very practical. (But this is probably not a consideration for a guy who wants to build a 150 mph 67-72. )

[mikep]

running at a higher rpm isnt necessarily going to shorten engine life. As long as it isnt so high that bearing deformation takes place or components fail catastrophically then there isnt really a difference in internal wear between an engine thats run at 3000 rpm for most of its life versus an engine thats run at 2000 rpm. As long as the oil is changed regularly and regular maintenance is done both engines should "last" about as long given proper warm up periods . There is relatively little actual "friction" per se in an automotive engine except of course at start up when the majority of wear takes place . Pressurized oil takes care of that quite nicely. If there were friction the engine wouldnt last until the end of the street much less 200'000 miles . Engines get killed at start up, Not at highway speeds.