5th gear nut

[WDaniels]

A question for all you guys in the know.

My 97 has the manual transmission and has not lost 5th gear yet. I have 125,000 miles on it. Should I worry about this and fix it ASAP or if it hasn't fallen off yet it's not going to. What do you think?

 

[bavrit]

I am in the same situation. Is there any info out there as to the exact date the transmission was fixed? Also, can we just march into our dealer and ask to fix it before it fails?

 

[pwknapp]

Don't sweat it . When it comes off it just sits on the main shaft and generally doesn't do any damage. (at least it didn't with mine) I even drove mine in 4th for a week until I could get it in the shop. Enjoy your ride, when it goes, it goes and its pretty easy to fix.

 

[Tim1]

Guys, I bought a 99 nv4500 that has 35,000 miles on it for my 92 and did the 5th gear fix with the earlier nut. This gearbox has a 5th gear with 2 full inches of spline in it , unfortunetly the shaft only has 3\4" of spline on it with the split nut as a fix. If you have the time do the fix posted by tdrambr with the earlier nut, it hard to find but heres where you can get it. Drive Line Service in Las Vegas 800 216-1632 ask for shep, good fellow! Part #27133M amd cost 44. 33 plus shipping. I extended a axle socket wrench for the front wheel bearings to tighten the mainshaft nut to 300lbs fits snug. Use red locktite! You can do in the truck. Hopes this helps. Tim

 

[JJW_ND]

Drive until it fails....if it fails!

While you might find someone that did have preventable damage with a 5th gear failure, the majority of the time the nut just backs off and 5th gear goes away as smooth as pushing in the clutch.



I know 96 and 97 trucks that have never pulled anything and lost 5th. I lost mine 3 times in my 96, inbetween 2nd fail and 3nd fail, I paid to have a "fixed forever" nut installed. My truck pulled lots of long heavy loads and 99. 9% of the miles where in 5th. I replace with Dec 2000 brand new transmission.



If I was to by another dodge 5speed (even pre98), that was all factory with no updates or transmission fixes, I would drive it uptil a problem occurred. While their are much better (maybe even permenant) fixes available now, no need to fix something that might never break. If your setup to do it yourself, have at it. If you have to pay someone to fixit I would wait!



NOT EVERY DODGE DIESEL LOSSES 5th GEAR!



jjw

ND

 

[Extreme1]

Keep your RPMs up in 5th gear, don't lug it. That supposedly helps.

 

[WDaniels]

Nut

Thanks for the information guys. This puts my mind at ease knowing that damage isn't a common thing and that I can do this fix with the transmission in the rig.

WD