I just swapped in a SM465 into me 95 YJ along with a SBC and Dana 300. Did anyone have trouble shifting the thing into L and 1 gear or am i just not used to it? Are these tranny prone to that kind of problem? I had the tranny run through when I bought it used and he said everything looked great. Basicly it is kind of is reluctant to go into Just L and 1 gears.

Thanks for the help.

L is a non-sychro'ed gear, they are supposed to groan a little and you may have to let teh clutch out and back in to get it to mesh, 1st however, should drop right in provided you not moving very fast. My SM420 is the same way, only on the 420 L is considered 1st and 1st is considered 2nd, no idea why. My 2nd gear sync is good, but my trans had some damage from running a PTO most of it's life, so I'm swapping in a replacement.

Originally posted by 1tonyj
I just swapped in a SM465 into me 95 YJ along with a SBC and Dana 300. Did anyone have trouble shifting the thing into L and 1 gear or am i just not used to it?

I've got the same combo in my Jeep. Like 4bangler said, L isn't synchronized so you need to be pretty much stopped to get it in that gear. 1st is synchronized but it's still tricky unless you're good with the double clutch. Normal for the tranny. You need to remember this is a real truck tranny - not one of those car trannys the YJ's came with originally :flipoff2:

The lower gearing more than makes up for the other quirks (like it popping out of second every now and then).

I'm on my second 465..first combo was a 4wd 465 to a model 20..now I have a 2wd 465 to an Atlas...the 4wd one shifted great..I miss how it operated (Your Welcome Taft!:p ) the current one really sux..L will always suck..but 1st is a complete bitch to shift into...It drive fine though.

"... quirks (like it popping out of second every now and then)."

Yeah, mines more like a quirk of going into second now and then, you want to feel my pain? Try driving, let alone wheeling, without using 2nd (or 1st if it's a 465) at all, for me, the jump from creeper to third is becoming second nature because every time I get a chance to swap the trans out for the good one I have on the floor, someone wants me to go wheelin and I can't resist, I've slapped the shafts back on three times now to got out, now it's at home with the shafts off again, and the skid plate, and I'll end up throwing it back together to make it to a run next weekend because I only see my Jeep on the weekends. ARGH! Gotta love that 7.05:1 low, even my 2.5 feels powerful, for about a foot.

Hey thanks everyone, but it really doen't matter now. I was driving it to work today (approx. 40 miles, i have only about 50 miles total on the thing) and it started a kind of racheting/whinning sound while it is rolling and it still makes the noise coasting. So I think that it is on it's way out the door.:(

It pops out in second and not third? I havent herd of that one. Anyway, they don't sell to the public but you can order from one of their distributers, check em out, my SM465 is in for a complete rebuild including the taperd 3rd gear.

http://www.sandstruck.com/catalog2000/gmc/40.htm

Originally posted by IMNAKD
It pops out in second and not third? I havent herd of that one. Anyway, they don't sell to the public but you can order from one of their distributers, check em out, my SM465 is in for a complete rebuild including the taperd 3rd gear.

http://www.sandstruck.com/catalog2000/gmc/40.htm

My shifter knob is labelled L-1-2-3 so I think of it as Second. If you've got the 1-2-3-4 knob on yours then it's third :flipoff2: :D :D

Saw a writeup in one of the recent 4x4 mags about rebuilding the SM465. It included that tapered 3rd giear along with a few other fixes to prevent the popping out of gear thing. Mine only does it when I'm coasting in 2nd(3rd) on a bumpy road so I'm not going to bother fixing it right now.