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good idea?

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6-speed tranny?

1K views 16 replies 15 participants last post by  Jayrockn7 
#1 · (Edited)
I had an idea. I really like driving stick. What about putting in a 6-speed from a camaro or firebird? That way I can run really steep gears like 4.88+. That would make first gear a granny low gear. I can use 2nd as my normal first gear for city driving. It would probably be cheaper than doing a 4:1 low kit. I can get a used 6-speed for about $1000-$1250 and a new one for $1600. I'd probably have to stick a D300 behind it due to length limitations. Its as long as a GM 700R4.

Good idea? yes? no?
 
#3 ·
YJ4LIFE said:
What about putting in a 6-speed from a camaro or firebird? That way I can run really steep gears like 4.88+. That would make first gear a granny low gear.Good idea?
What makes you think that first gear in a car 6 spd is going to be a granny gear? Most car first gears don't get much lower that 3.something. If you want a good low first gear trans with an overdrive for tall gears why not get an NV4500 from a 93-94 Chevy as they have a 6.34 first gear and 5th is .73. Then you have a super low 1st and an od.
:cool:
 
#4 ·
YJ4LIFE said:
I had an idea. I really like driving stick. What about putting in a 6-speed from a camaro or firebird? That way I can run really steep gears like 4.88+. That would make first gear a granny low gear. I can use 2nd as my normal first gear for city driving. It would probably be cheaper than doing a 4:1 low kit. I can get a used 6-speed for about $1000-$1250 and a new one for $1600. I'd probably have to stick a D300 behind it due to length limitations. Its as long as a GM 700R4.

Good idea? yes? no?
How does having 4.88 in the diffs make the first out of a Camaro a granny low???
 
#5 · (Edited)
I would say bad idea.


You could get and SM465 and run lets say stock gears, maybe 3.54 and you would be lower than running a 6 speed with 4.88's.

Also you would have just as much overdrive.

Also the sm 465 is like 13 inches long.

Also the sm 465 was meant to be a 4x4 tranny and has a hundred diffrent t-cases that are easily adapted to it.

Also I dont know about the strength of the 6 speed but the Sm 465 is considered one of the strongest 4 speeds ever built.

Also I picked up my 465 for about 150$

Do what you want but I think you would have a better set up on both ends if you went with a 465 and you would save well over a grand.
 
#6 ·
It won't be worth it, do the math. If you have a 4:1 first gear, and 2.72 low range and 4.10s now, you have 4x2.72x4.1=33.4

If you go to 3:1 first gear D300 and 4.88 you get 3x2.6x4.88=38.0, not much of a gain.
 
#9 ·
I think you guys missed my point or I didn't communicate it very well. The idea is since there are so many gears in the tranny, the gears in the axles could be very steep and there wouldn't be a problem on the freeway since the T56 has 2 overdrives. There also wouldn't be a problem on the street because you could use 2nd gear as your first gear since if you tried to use first gear you'd shift in the frist 2 seconds of taking off.
 
#11 ·
Doesnt matter, the 6 speed only has a first gear of 3.27 or around there. Not sure of the exact number but that is close enough. Take that and mulitply it my 4.3 (Atlas) or 2.0 and 2.0 (Rough numbers for a double kit, could be better if you went with a D300 for second case) and then 6.17 gears. Still only gonna have a crawl ratio in the 80:1 range. If you put 4:1 gears in the second doubler case that would be great but now you have to have a crew cab long bed to fit the thing and the price tag would hurt. Then you will have to see how long that tranny lives. I had on in my 99 Camaro SS and I bent the mainshaft. Sure I was spraying 125 shot of nitrous on top of a 330 horse engine :D
 
#12 ·
I understood what you were saying..What I am saying is save welll over a grand and you will have just as good high range and a better low range(with the sm 465 and stock gears)

You would have to go ungodly low diffs to be equal to a standard(3.54, or 4.10) differential with and sm 465.

The lower the gear the more likely it is to break also.

Main resons not to do it...
More likely to :nuke:
Lots more expensive
No better highway speed
worse off crawl ratio.

Its your money and I guess you could say you have somthing unique, Only thing is it would be unique kinda like 2 peice model 20 shafts in competition..there is a reason no on else uses them.
 
#13 ·
The Rockslut said:
I had on in my 99 Camaro SS and I bent the mainshaft. Sure I was spraying 125 shot of nitrous on top of a 330 horse engine :D
That must've been quite the ride. Kinda like getting rearended by a Mac Truck!

Back to the subject. NV4500 run about $1500 or so, you have the deep 6.__ and an overdrive. It was built for a 4X4(never seen an adapter for a T56), and with 4.88, 2.72 low range, you're at 80:1 crawl, that'll do.
 
#14 ·
I'm looking into the ZF6 6-speed and NP263 transfer case mated to a Chevy 383 stroker, with 4.10s in a lifted and bobbed Land Cruiser FJ60 wagon, 65:1 crawl ratio. My '01 Chevy Silverado 4x4 has the 8.1L V8, ZF6, NP263, and 4.10s. 1st gear is 5.79:1 and the NP263 is 2.72:1. I really like the drivetrain. The FJ60 has a long enough wheelbase to easily fit this drivetrain, especially since the V8 is shorter than the stock straight 6.
 
#15 ·
think of it like this....your 5 speed has about a 3.xx :1 first and a .85 or whatever 5th. Now the camaro has a 3.xx :1 1st and a .85 or whatever 6th....the gears are in between....this isn't a super over drive 6th gear hence you won't have the range if you gear deep enough to make 1st a super under drive :D capiche ;)

YJ4LIFE said:
I think you guys missed my point or I didn't communicate it very well. The idea is since there are so many gears in the tranny, the gears in the axles could be very steep and there wouldn't be a problem on the freeway since the T56 has 2 overdrives. There also wouldn't be a problem on the street because you could use 2nd gear as your first gear since if you tried to use first gear you'd shift in the frist 2 seconds of taking off.
 
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