Eaton-Fuller Transmissions

[shtnangiten]

Does anyone have any experience with the Eaton Fuller FSO-6406A or similar? I am going to be running a 454 in my build, and I saw on a medium duty truck salvage yard a couple of different Eaton Fullers that were coupled to a 454. I called the salvage yard, and of course I could not get any compatibility information. I have sent EF a couple emails in the last 2 months and no reply. I want a very strong OD gear for towing, and maybe these are tough enough. Anyone know anything about what Eaton Fullers will fit a 454? Another question is what transfer case will fit this combination? I have a passenger side drop.

[Zoomad75]

Eaton trannys are huge. It won't fit in a light duty truck and on top of that very few were 4wd. Of the few that were 4wd I don't think they have t-cases bolted to them. Most used divorced t-cases. But as far as the bellhousing goes, get one from the truck that had a big block and the eaton.

[shtnangiten]

Yes, they are big, but the ones I am talking about are for medium duty trucks, my build will have room for it, if I can get the right parts to make it work. There is some info out there where a guy did a FSO-6406A swap out of the NV5600 in a Dodge 1 ton. He posts the weights of them, and the Eaton Fuller actually weighed a bit less than the NV5600. I know the 10 through 18 speeds are monsters and out of the question. There was an email address for the guy that did the Dodge, and it gets bounced back, so no luck there. The truck with the 454 and the Eaton has a non OD transmission, and as luck would have it, they are selling the bell with the tranny.

[yfs200p]

Here is a truck from Youtube with a 10-speed in it. It has a cummins swap, but still so cool to see in a pickup.

http://youtu.be/2CG0Yx3cmsc

http://youtu.be/DnsIob-Dd5I

[Transformula]

The clutch and pilot bearing might be a challenge, also. The FS- series transmissions come with a 1.75" 10 spline input shaft. Another option would be to see if they make a smaller input shaft to swap into it. I build medium and heavy duty transmissions for a living. It will handle 650 ft-lbs. I believe this to be a very do-able swap, but finding the parts might be the hardest part. They do use a 4-bolt bellhousing pattern, similar to a 465, etc, but just bigger. For a 4x4, you will need a divorced- transfer case. I'd love to see what you come up with!

[shtnangiten]

Transformula: So, the bolt pattern is the same on all the medium duty EF transmissions? If I can pick up the bell from a Kodiak or Topkick that had the 454 in it, that had the non-OD transmission I would probably be ok, that is if the mating surface part of all the medium duty EF transmissions are the same. I also saw where you can convert a non-OD EF transmission to an OD transmission by doing a rebuild, and changing some gears. I saw a couple different size input shaft sizes listed, and also 2 different pilot sizes. I think I saw 25mm and 30mm for the pilot. My BIG problem so far is finding out the bolt pattern and finding the right bell for the swap. Anybody out there got the right bell, or know where I can get one? My 454 is a MkIV. The non OD unit with the bell to the 454 I referenced above has been sold, so no luck there. I may even have to see if the flywheel itself was different. Were there different size flywheels in the Chevy trucks with the 454, depending on the transmission/clutch size?

[Transformula]

Look at the model # of the trans. FS is direct top gear, FSO is overdrive top gear. Here's th breakdown: F=Fuller, S=Synchronized, O=Overdrive. 6= 650 LbFt torque input rating, 4= design level, and 06= forward speeds. It would require a few gear swaps and countershaft swap to make a non-overdrive into an OD. Better to find the one you want to begin with to save money. Yes, there are two different pilot sizes, the small for smaller applications, for what you are doing, and the large one for things like Cat engines, etc. The spline size stays the same. I've never had to measure the bolt pattern, but I know it does use 15/16 headed bolts (5/8 shank). To make a guess, I'd say the upper bolts are about 12 inches apart, as well as the lower, and maybe about 9 inches from top to bottom. If I remember, I might be able to get some measurements at work next week. I wish I knew more about the chevy gasser engines in front of these, and the parts that go with them, But I work on the Big Rigs.

[shtnangiten]

What I am finding out is that these transmissions use a SAE#2 Clutch Housing. I found a chart that gave all the dimensions, and when I measured my 454 it isn't even close.

See: http://http://www.sbmar.com/Maintena...ings_Jan07.pdf

Looks as though the SAE housings are rounded, where the GM is more irregular in shape. I am guessing that when Chevy mounted these on their medium duty trucks, they used the standard bell, and then a plate type adapter.
Eaton Fuller finally emailed me back, and can't really give me much info, except that they thought this was a very interesting project. LOL They did say they were going to refer my info to the Chevy Design department in hopes they can come up with how this was done. My research has now led me in another direction that possibly has ready parts available. Seems the ZF-S6-650 can also handle a lot more input torque than the NV4500 Sure is getting old trying to find a combination that is super strong with readily available parts.

[Transformula]

You're probably right on the adapter plate thing. I am familiar with the SAE#2 clutch housing which is round with 12 bolts. They are for a 14 inch clutch. Try this site: www.roadranger.com and go to the middle lower area where it says electronic parts catalog and see if anything might help, although I bet GM did make their own adapter. At least you can easily get anything else you need for the trans itself! Here in Amarillo, there's a truck junkyard with all big trucks, tractors, buses, etc, and I wonder if a place like that might have odd things like that...