futurerunner

Well I have the 82 4x4 truck with a stock 4 speed. Yes, you read right. 4 gears. This is fine up until 55mph, but any higher and things get really loud and expensive with loss of MPG. Furthermore I just really want to be able to cruise at 70ish. So what are my options?

I heard from the previous owner that I can "add" a gear to the existing tranny which I think is the L47?. Of course the previous owner was a complete and udder air head so I don't know how much I can trust him. I was also checking out tranny combos on ebay. What will fit? Will my t-case fit onto most any tranny? Just a little help and place to research is fine. I am ok with "teach the man to fish" concept. So if you could point me in the right direction that would be great.

Thanks,
C

CoedNaked

I also have a Q along your lines. I have a 5 speed manual in my truck with the stock 4.56 gears & 31" tires (as you can see from my sig). I like the gearing for driving around town, acclerating, etc, and I can deal with the higher rpm's at a given speed and less MPG around town compared to rigs with lower gears (numerically), but when I'm on the highway in 5th gear on the way to the fishing spot I want MPG (as an example with 4.56 gears at 70 MPH I'm at 3000 RPM's roughly - hardly an economy RPM). So is it possible to somehow switch the 5th gear in the tranny to something that would offer better highway MPG. Again, I don't want to switch the axle gears, just the 5th gear for lower highway cruising RPM's.

futurerunner

I think you could easily (meaning less then impossible) change the gear. Keep in mind that you may have no power at the lower RPM if you do switch.

kyle_22r

you've got the L45 4 speed. putting in an L50 or L52 early 5 speed is a 100% direct bolt-in swap. this is the interchangeable one you're talking about, the 4 speed is the same as the 5 speed except it's missing 5th gear.

the very best solution is to send in your tranny and have marlin build an L52-HD out of it. he replaces the entire gearset with one from a G54 tranny which makes it about 30% stronger than stock. otherwise maybe look for a tranny in decent shape -- $100-200 is the average going price these days.

if you want to beef it up and don't mind doing some modification, put in a W56. you'll have to relocate the crossmember, shorten the rear driveline, lengthen the front driveline, and cut new shifter holes.

any transfer case except for the '79-80 one will work as long as it's a top shift case. you'd just be able to reuse your stock case. the '79-80 t-case has a raised spline section on the input shaft that has to be ground down if you want to use it behind a later tranny, but this isn't a problem for you.

futurerunner

Kyle, you are the old yota man. Anyway, since you didn't get my PM, I was wondering if I could give you a call and pester you about old yotas. I can be reached through PM. thanks.

kyle_22r

hey i've been running short on free time lately(busy season at the rental yard) so probably won't be able to answer any questions over the phone what all did you want to know about the old trucks?

89macrunner

yea i have the same issue there..swapping out 5th gear would be great...i dont know if thats possible or how rediculusly expensive it would be....also


My stock tire size says 225\75\15's and i have the 4.56 gears and my speedos off.
im thinking of getting big tires next time i dont think ill have any trouble with it if i get the right size it should fix my speedo and maybe even fix my highway crusing rpms