gear vendors install.....a real life one.

[BCOWANWHEELS]

so is the trans a th350

[mtdave2]

yes its the th350 with the 6 inch tail

[mtdave2]

Originally Posted by 2tons of fun

i guess we have 2 completely different ideas of what is accpetable and what isnt.

this is not the finshed shot.. its not mounted yet. yes, there needs to be some cleaning up of some wires, if that is what you are talking about.

[jojo]

So Dave, the gear vendor unit is an add on OD to the th350?
For some reason, I thought it was a complete tranny.

It makes sense that you might have a birds nest down there until you know it's all working. No point in cleaning and bundling wires if there's still a chance of having to take it all out again.

Too bad about having to wait until monday. You'll never get into OD at 20mpg

[Indyuke]

Just curious, what is the hose clamp around the rear flange of the GV unit for?

[mtdave2]

hey good news! i roated the rear shaft 1/4... all is well. took it up to 70 mph.

the od will take a bit of getting used to manualy shifting, but is already fun.

im about to go on a long test drive, but my quick on i just did showed 70mph at abous 2300 rpm. thats a 700 drop. ill get some photos of the tach speedo. as well as a movie of the shifting.. sweet

[Sinister]

Congrats!

[BB72CHEVKT]

Originally Posted by mtdave2

hey good news! i roated the rear shaft 1/4... all is well. took it up to 70 mph.

the od will take a bit of getting used to manualy shifting, but is already fun.

im about to go on a long test drive, but my quick on i just did showed 70mph at abous 2300 rpm. thats a 700 drop. ill get some photos of the tach speedo. as well as a movie of the shifting.. sweet

Glad to her you are happy. Thanks for all the great info.

[DANTIP]

Thanks for sharing all of the details (Good and Not so Good)! We all want things to go smoothly, but experience has taught us that things don't always go as planned.

Good Information and good luck with your GV unit (I'm Jealous!)

[mtdave2]

here are a few shots of speed/rpm.

[mtdave2]

issues.. shifts into od a bit too soon. in auto mode..im hoping there is an adjustment for this. if not i can live with it, not that big of deal.

do not turn off the od when deceleration. it hits too hard and is not pleasant. but you can take it off if you are accelerating with no problems.

is taking a bit to get the hang of the manual mode.. just practice is needed. will be very hand when towing up a steep hill. or towing something heavy.

i think i do want a very small light to tell me when the od is on. the lean to the side thing works, but a light is needed. the one on the unit would be too bright i think at night. .ill work on this one a bit.

[mtdave2]

ever notice when you want to test drive something at a highspeed..there is always traffic..and i hit every light i came to..lol

[mtdave2]

oh ya, for a comparaison. before i put in the the od. at 65 i was turning right at 3k rpm...

so thats a solid 700 rpm less. i have the photo on my phone. ill see if i can get it off there and post it.

[mtdave2]

for you guys who have a gear vender, did your shift a bit hard when you first got it? its a bit too forceful right now.

[drewskiren]

Yes mine klunks pretty hard shifting up or down. Make me wish I had a 700R.
My unit was already installed when I bought the truck.

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by mtdave2

do not turn off the od when deceleration. it hits too hard and is not pleasant. but you can take it off if you are accelerating with no problems.

Yes, do not kick it off under decel--not only is it not pleasant, but the GV unit HATES it!!

Originally Posted by mtdave2

i think i do want a very small light to tell me when the od is on. the lean to the side thing works, but a light is needed. the one on the unit would be too bright i think at night. .ill work on this one a bit.

Mine was mounted to the right of the steering column, in plain sight, and was not a problem at night--i.e. not too bright.

Originally Posted by mtdave2

for you guys who have a gear vender, did your shift a bit hard when you first got it? its a bit too forceful right now.

Yes, they shift very firm. Very much like an auto trans with a fairly stout shift kit in it. Mine had an unknown amount of mileage on it when I got it and it still shifted very firm.

As far as engaging too early, I always left mine in manual mode and off (via foot switch) until I reached cruising speed, then I clicked the dimmer switch to engage it. I did not feel it needed to be kicking on and off for every stop light I came to. The auto feature worked well, but unless I was on the freeway, I just left it in manual mode and controlled it with the dimmer switch.

[mtdave2]

Originally Posted by mosesburb

As far as engaging too early, I always left mine in manual mode and off (via foot switch) until I reached cruising speed, then I clicked the dimmer switch to engage it. I did not feel it needed to be kicking on and off for every stop light I came to. The auto feature worked well, but unless I was on the freeway, I just left it in manual mode and controlled it with the dimmer switch.

ya i think thats the best idea. my unit will turn off the od when it comes to stop. so that will work well.

i put my box on with velcro, so i may play with moving around and see..

[Shaky]

Thanks for posting all this info Dave.

[Thealien]

What is your rear end gear ratio?

[69GMCLonghorn]

My cousin has one on a F**D with a 460. He said it's great when towing, but the best thing is putting it in auto mode, and NAILING it off the line! IF he takes it up high enough, it goes through all 8 gears in the torque curve. He's blown the doors off of many a rice burner doing this.

[mtdave2]

Originally Posted by Thealien

What is your rear end gear ratio?

411 rear end..Tire size 235/85/r16

[mtdave2]

wow, i had sent an email to gear venders about the big gash in the adapter
and how it was not expectable, to pay top dollar for a product known for its quality and get a part like that!

i received a call on my cell for from Rick Johnson, President, Gear Vendors, i was a bit surprised to say the least. he talked with me for a good 20 minutes. he explained the what’s and why of how the part got out. he offered to send me a new part, or refund $100.00. nice huh?

i asked him about the hard shifting, and the clunk when coming out of OD on the highway, and a few things about the oil and such. he gave great in-depth explanations for everything, i was impressed to say the least. here is the email i got a while ago..


Hi David - Just got off the phone with you 1/2hr ago. Thanks for informing us about this. 3 months ago our head shipper passed away after a 25 year career here and this is one of those items that his understudy would have got (the guy who then boxed the adapter kits is now the shipper so a newbie is on the boxing). All have been informed again and the main person (Dennis Good the machine shop manager) will meet with the foundry. We quarantined 4 other examples like yours (albeit not as ugly).

Sent accounting the note and they confirmed a 100dollar refund.
On the fluid you mentioned you were at a auto parts store - The GM12346190 or Mopar 0487-4459 can only be purchased at the dealership (it is castrol syntorq LT but not available elsewhere). If you ever need to run something other than the GM or Dodge lubricant you can use a good quality ATF (which we use in all racing). Anything will work but long term the Syntorq is the best. Change fluid ever 5-10thousand miles.

Thanks again, Rick Johnson, President, Gear Vendors, Inc.

[mtdave2]

for you guys who thanked me for posting, i appreciate it. i have made a few posts like this, with seemingly little interest, so i never know if i am just wasting my time or if someone finds it helpful. any time you do a post like this you open yourself up to lots of critics and snide comments, but I know I would have LOVED a post like this last week!

[texanidiot25]

Originally Posted by 69GMCLonghorn

My cousin has one on a F**D with a 460. He said it's great when towing, but the best thing is putting it in auto mode, and NAILING it off the line! IF he takes it up high enough, it goes through all 8 gears in the torque curve. He's blown the doors off of many a rice burner doing this.

It will run a 3spd effectively like a 6 speed? That's wicked! Definatly worth a try mtdave

[C20-67_N_MO]

Very nice write up!

Congrats on a successful installation.