5th gear nut

[BMoseley]

How far can you go after loosing 5th without damiging trans

 

[Irontrader]

I was about 300 miles from home and towing a trailer when my 5th gear nut failed. Drove home in 4th gear with no problem.



I got the run around from local dealer for several weeks before a DC rep agreed to cover the cost of the repairs.



By the time I was finally able to get mine in to the dealership and get it repaired, I'd put about 1000 miles on my truck with no 5th gear.



I've since put about 50k miles on my truck without any 5th gear problem.

 

[1tony1]

Mine came off 800 miles from home, no problems driving it back but it made for a long trip. My guess is if there was no damage as soon as it came off you could drive it forever.

 

[ChillyDog]

I drove for around 1500 miles before I had my 5th gear fixed

 

[Diesel_Junkie]

I have a 1 year old NV 4500 in a 1st gen rig. The transmission has been great until a few days ago it started making this clicking/thumping/grinding when it is in 5th and under forward load, is this a sign of the nut being loose? any Ideas?

Thanks

 

[Diesel_Junkie]

Well an update on my rig, something let go in a really bad way last night, luckily i was a 1/2 mile from home, not sure if it is the trans really anymore, might be the rear end, thats the last thing I thought Id break, Now I have some major clunking and banging and bucking, and i think it is 1 beat/tire revolution... . I will have to investigate... .

Does anyone out there run a locking diff in their ram? I think a detroit locker would be great, but the rig is mostly for the street, and I do run it up to the snow country quite often.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

When 5th gear is pushed back, it usually strips the threads off the nut. All this metal gets circulated through the gears and bearings. I suggest a minimum of driving after losing 5th gear.



I also suggest that metal in the oil is more significant than what brand of oil you use in the NV4500--a topic of heated discussion more than once.

 

[KYOUNG]

transmission

I had 4th gear come loose on the countershaft of my NV4500. the early models had a press on 4th gear with a key. i guess it was being overpowered and started moving on shaft ,luckily atransmission friend of mine had a 97 NV4500 core with bad 5th gear & mainshaft but agood countershaft. he swapped the mainshaft to the newer transmission. newer NV4500 countershaft is a 1 piece design, they apparently had a problem

 

[Diesel_Junkie]

Well, I found out what My problem is, The pinion in the D70 rear is missing 3 teeth. bummer, I cant decide if I want to change gear ratio, chane to a bigger axle, or change to detroit, or rebuild the powerlock, any suggestions??? has anyone got much experience driving a detroit on the snow and Ice. right now it is a 4x4(ratio change includes the front) and it has 35"x12. 5 Super Swamper SSRs on it, I drive up to lake tahoe area in California quite a bit, and this thing is not really for wheelin. I have the 3. 54:1's in it now too. and I tow a 6000lb off roading machine with the truck. Any suggestions would be greatly appriciated. In the past I loved driving my Jeep on the street with a detriot in the back, but I dont know if that is a good Idea on my semi-street truck.

Think it might be smarter to try to find a D80 out of a newer truck??

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

The Detroit locker is about the only posi that I feel really works. However, it does wear rear tires faster, and in bad traction you have to drive gingerly. I have open diffs (I ordered it that way) and do a good bit of 4 wheeling while hunting, including snow, mud, etc. If you have a good posi, fine. I guess I'd go ahead and use it. A ring and pinion isn't too high--around $300 for genuine Dana parts. Read my article in TDR24 to see more about setting it up, then decide if you want to try it yourself.

 

[boathead]

Joe,

I am anticipating the 5th gear nut failure will occur soon (73K miles) on my '95, I am towing a 12,500 lb. boat, which I am sure isn't going to help matters much. When it does blow out, who can you recommend to redo the transmission and mainshaft(no, I am not THAT talented), I have visited the Standard Transmission site , but they are a LONG ways from Big Rapids!

Thanks for any input,

Paul

 

[radixr]

Transmission Referral

Paul,



Try Enterprise Engine (800. 783. 4929 -- ask for Doug) near Coloumbus, Ohio. They worked on my transmission (South Bend clutch, fully-splined mainshaft, etc. ) and did an excellent job.