Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Is a NV5600 conversion worth it??

[RonA]

If you do the 5600 swap, make sure you get the flywheel ground parallel. It took 3 tries for the shop to get mine right. The third time I brought my own surface plate and indicator setup to be sure. Then put the ball bearing pilot in. My 5600 shifts beautifully now and is easy to get into gear after sitting at a light.

 

[thekidfan]

If you do the 5600 swap, make sure you get the flywheel ground parallel. It took 3 tries for the shop to get mine right. The third time I brought my own surface plate and indicator setup to be sure. Then put the ball bearing pilot in. My 5600 shifts beautifully now and is easy to get into gear after sitting at a light.

I can confirm... . while I haven't drivin alot of 6 speeds Rons is very nice to drive. Much nicer gear selection!!

 

[CumminsPower98]

I wonder if that's what's wrong with mine. Mine has been a real pain since day one. The strange thing is that it will shift into 1st and reverse pretty easy when cold but as soon as it's good and hot it's much harder. Most times I hit 2nd and then into first. It feels like the clutch isn't fully releasing or the pilot is trying to turn the shaft from misalignment or something. I have the Con OFE 13" clutch from SBC and it came with the re-drilled flywheel for the larger clutch. The other strange thing is that it didn't shift any better with my previous clutch, which was an SBC Con OFE 12. 25" with a modified disk hub for the larger input of the 5600. Makes me wonder if there is an alignment problem with the transmission itself. I even replaced the hydraulics with no improvement. The friction point seems perfect.



I do really like the gear splits, I just wish it shifted a bit better.

If you do the 5600 swap, make sure you get the flywheel ground parallel. It took 3 tries for the shop to get mine right. The third time I brought my own surface plate and indicator setup to be sure. Then put the ball bearing pilot in. My 5600 shifts beautifully now and is easy to get into gear after sitting at a light.

 

[scramblin]

I wonder if that's what's wrong with mine. Mine has been a real pain since day one. The strange thing is that it will shift into 1st and reverse pretty easy when cold but as soon as it's good and hot it's much harder. Most times I hit 2nd and then into first. It feels like the clutch isn't fully releasing or the pilot is trying to turn the shaft from misalignment or something. I have the Con OFE 13" clutch from SBC and it came with the re-drilled flywheel for the larger clutch. The other strange thing is that it didn't shift any better with my previous clutch, which was an SBC Con OFE 12. 25" with a modified disk hub for the larger input of the 5600. Makes me wonder if there is an alignment problem with the transmission itself. I even replaced the hydraulics with no improvement. The friction point seems perfect.



I do really like the gear splits, I just wish it shifted a bit better.

We did just a straight install using the blumenthal's kit which included the SBC. We bought the trans new from Dodge. At first it was a little stiff, now it shifts great. No special mods.

 

[RonA]

I wonder if that's what's wrong with mine. Mine has been a real pain since day one. The strange thing is that it will shift into 1st and reverse pretty easy when cold but as soon as it's good and hot it's much harder. Most times I hit 2nd and then into first. It feels like the clutch isn't fully releasing or the pilot is trying to turn the shaft from misalignment or something. I have the Con OFE 13" clutch from SBC and it came with the re-drilled flywheel for the larger clutch. The other strange thing is that it didn't shift any better with my previous clutch, which was an SBC Con OFE 12. 25" with a modified disk hub for the larger input of the 5600. Makes me wonder if there is an alignment problem with the transmission itself. I even replaced the hydraulics with no improvement. The friction point seems perfect.



I do really like the gear splits, I just wish it shifted a bit better.

Mine would shift fine cold. But when warm it would get stubborn and it would not go into gear when stopped at a light. It has been fine since the pilot bearing change.

 

[CumminsPower98]

Mine has acted this way with two completely different clutches and new pilot bearings both times of course. It now has almost 200k miles on it so it's good and broke in, which hasn't changed anything either. I just live with it since I don't have the time and money to be trying to figure what's wrong.

 

[MFrenchek]

First time I've heard the US Gear units were not meant for full time operation. I use mine all the time (OD unit) towing in 4th and 5th gears. In 4th-high, it makes my truck run like its in 5th gear with 4:10 finals. Tows nice in 5th-high, too. I'm going to have to give them a call about that. With a GVCW of 35,000 lbs and torque rated at 2,000 ft/lbs, I would think it would stand up to anything.

 

[muchsnow]

5600 shifting, 6 speed

Mine has acted this way with two completely different clutches and new pilot bearings both times of course. It now has almost 200k miles on it so it's good and broke in, which hasn't changed anything either. I just live with it since I don't have the time and money to be trying to figure what's wrong.

I put a small tube of limited slip additive in mine after years of this and it completely cured the "into gear at a stop" problem.

Food for thought... . easier to try than a pilot bearing... ... ... ... .

 

[CumminsPower98]

I just did another clutch since a spring fell out about 17k ago and was rattling around between the flywheel and disk. It would catch now and then making it so I couldn't get into gear without shutting down and starting in gear. I thought my HD ball bearing pilot was giving out but since I was no longer driving OTR it took me a while to get around to fixing it. My last stock pilot bearing wore the input shaft about . 005" after 180k. This HD ball bearing pilot continued that wear so it now has a scar . o19" deep after 105k miles. The bearing had worn about . 012" for a total of . 031" worth of slop. I had no trouble getting into gear like this except when that spring would hang. Anyway I sent my disk to SBC and they took my good 105k mile linings off the bad hub and transferred them to a better hub design. I had a spare flywheel machined for the Kevlar bushing so I put it together that way since this bushing spans the scared area on both ends. This is not ideal but will last okay for me since I'm not driving the truck much now.



With this setup and 305k now on the 5600 I no longer have the problem getting into gear even when hot, which is when it was really bad before. Thanks anyway for that reply.