Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Steve St.Laurent
Staff Alumni
First the good news, I FINALLY have my truck back on the road and am no longer mini-van man 
#ad
as of 4:00 am this morning!! As many of you know I blew 5th gear off the back of my transmission on May 4th with 100,050 miles on the truck. At ~60,000 miles I replaced my clutch and had the mopar 5th near nut fix installed as a preventative measure (hadn't had any problems). I took the tailshaft housing off and found that 5th gear had hammered the mainshaft BAD and was very loose on the shaft so I decided to attempt to rebuild it myself with a fully splined mainshaft with the help of friends. (Chapter one)
I tore the transmission down and everything looked like brand new inside with the exception of one of the syncros. I decided instead of a full rebuild to simply replace the mainshaft, 5th gear, and the worn syncro (plus the necessary seals and shims). I got the mainshaft in and when assembling it had a hard time getting reverse gear and it's bearings onto the mainshaft. I put the bearing on the mainshaft first and then tried sliding the gear over it and it wouldn't fit. I then put the gear on first and slid the bearing inside it and it seemed to go on ok, the gear turned harder than the others but still rolled - I figured the stock mainshaft had worn some and this one needed a little break in (major mistake).
Got it back together and test drove the truck and the transmission worked awesome! It shifted better than it ever had and I was one happy camper - that was at about 2:00 am. RAMTHIS1, Lsfarm, and Doc Tinker had helped me along the way with the R&R; Lsfarm helped tremendously with the use of his shop as well as technical advice. This was over the span of approximately 2 weeks because first we pulled the tailshaft and found that the mainshaft replacement was necessary, then I looked into my different options and decided on the rebuild. Then I went back to Lsfarm's and removed the transmission, took it home and tore it down in the basement, then I ordered the parts for it and rebuilt it. I was king of the road . . . . . . for about an hour. (Chapter two)
At about 3:00 am on the drive home the transmission started grinding bad (90 miles on the trans) - talk about a sick feeling in your stomach. I limped to the next exit and called home and got my wife and daughter out of bed to come pick me up (thanks honey). (Chapter three - the ugly one)
The next day RAMTHIS1 brought out Lsfarm's trailer to trailer it back - we were loading the truck on the trailer and we noticed one of the wheels looked strange. Bad bearing - UGH, can things get any worse? So we hauled the trailer to my house and I sent RAMTHIS1 home. I replaced the bearing the next day and then (HORROR) borrowed my dad's 3/4 ton Avalanche to tow my truck back to Lsfarms house - it was a sad day, I couldn't even look at anyone and if I could have done it safely I would have worn a halloween mask to disguise myself! (Chapter four)
RAMTHIS1 and I tore the trans out (in record time, we're getting good at this) and opened it up and the smell coming out of the transmission was UUUUUGLY. There were bits of plastic all over the place, the gears were loose on the mainshaft, and there was a lot of end play. That was all I could handle that night so I drove the mini-van back home
. A couple of days later when I got over my depression I drove back to Lsfarm's and tore the trans down completely and discovered that the reverse gear bearing (the one I had trouble getting on remeber) had been dragging on the mainshaft. It's a double roller bearing with a metal cage. One set of rollers was simply dragging on the main shaft, the other set was rolling. We measured the part of the journal that was rolling and it was . 001 larger than the original main shaft. The part that was dragging couldn't be measured because it was chewed up. My guess is that it was actually slightly tapered rather than flat and that caused the bind. Those bearings dragging on the mainshaft created so much heat that it traveled up the mainshaft and took out ALL of the other roller bearings except for the one inside the input shaft. They all have plastic cages and they melted down and deposited themselves all over the inside of the trans. So the bearings were simply tumbling inside the gears . (Chapter five)
The only things reusable in the transmission were the case, countershaft, hubs and sliders, fingers, and 5th gear. ALL of the other gears, bearings, syncros, and the mainshaft needed to be replaced. I priced out the parts and it was close to the cost of a rebuilt transmission which I could get with a warranty so I just bit the bullet. The trans shipped monday and was scheduled to be delivered on wednesday. RAMTHIS1 talked with the shipper and they said it would be delivered between 1 and 3 and he left a job to wait for the transmission. Needless to say it didn't show, we both tracked it and were told that it was the next thing to be delivered. At 6:30 I was told that there had been a bomb scare in Rochester Hills and that the rest of trailer couldn't be delivered and the trans was at the depot. AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
RAMTHIS1 really put himself out and drove to the depot and picked it up and we finally got started on the install at 9:30. Being paranoid about everything after all that had happened I took my time and doublechecked everything and finally was able to hit the road at 4:00 am - drove it home and had no problems. Drove it around today and so far have 200 miles on it with no probs. (Chapter six - oh the joy!)
So, what lessons were learned? Believe it or not I wouldn't hesitate to undertake rebuilding an NV4500 again. It's a very simple transmission and anyone who's put together a puzzle could do it. What you do have to do is make sure that any parts that are on bearings roll completely freely and mic EVERYTHING to be sure it'll fit well. I would have rebuilt it myself the 2nd time given the lessons learned but it just didn't make sense given the difference in price between the parts and getting a fully finished and tested (dyno) transmission. Lastly and most importantly, cherish your friends!! I met all these guys through the TDR website. Lsfarm really put himself out by allowing me to use his shop and the VERY gracious loan of his mini-van for a month (even though it killed me to be seen in it
) as well as the technical advice, the first tow to his house, etc. RAMTHIS1 spent several VEEEEEERY late nights working on the truck with me when Lsfarm was out of town (he's an airline pilot) as well as driving to and from my house to try to trailer the truck back to Lsfarm's place. Doc Tinker came out and helped me remove the trans one night when Lsfarm and RAMTHIS1 weren't available. THANKS A MILLION GUYS - friends like this are impossible to replace!!!!! I was also helped out by a fellow TDR member that I'm not sure if he wants to be named or not that helped me with getting the parts and in the end the rebuilt trans - you know who you are and I truly appreciate all you did! If he wants to be named I'll do so in this thread but I want to be sure first.
Now the best news, truck is working great and I leave for Thunder in Muncie in the morning - nothing like cutting it close (about 24 hrs). Lsfarm's towing the mobile hotel down there for me so that I don't have to tow on a brand new trans. The brass syncros are breaking in and I'll have to see how broken in they are before I decide if I'm going to race on sunday or not. For those of you that'll be in Muncie I'll see you there!
#adas of 4:00 am this morning!! As many of you know I blew 5th gear off the back of my transmission on May 4th with 100,050 miles on the truck. At ~60,000 miles I replaced my clutch and had the mopar 5th near nut fix installed as a preventative measure (hadn't had any problems). I took the tailshaft housing off and found that 5th gear had hammered the mainshaft BAD and was very loose on the shaft so I decided to attempt to rebuild it myself with a fully splined mainshaft with the help of friends. (Chapter one)
I tore the transmission down and everything looked like brand new inside with the exception of one of the syncros. I decided instead of a full rebuild to simply replace the mainshaft, 5th gear, and the worn syncro (plus the necessary seals and shims). I got the mainshaft in and when assembling it had a hard time getting reverse gear and it's bearings onto the mainshaft. I put the bearing on the mainshaft first and then tried sliding the gear over it and it wouldn't fit. I then put the gear on first and slid the bearing inside it and it seemed to go on ok, the gear turned harder than the others but still rolled - I figured the stock mainshaft had worn some and this one needed a little break in (major mistake).
Got it back together and test drove the truck and the transmission worked awesome! It shifted better than it ever had and I was one happy camper - that was at about 2:00 am. RAMTHIS1, Lsfarm, and Doc Tinker had helped me along the way with the R&R; Lsfarm helped tremendously with the use of his shop as well as technical advice. This was over the span of approximately 2 weeks because first we pulled the tailshaft and found that the mainshaft replacement was necessary, then I looked into my different options and decided on the rebuild. Then I went back to Lsfarm's and removed the transmission, took it home and tore it down in the basement, then I ordered the parts for it and rebuilt it. I was king of the road . . . . . . for about an hour. (Chapter two)
At about 3:00 am on the drive home the transmission started grinding bad (90 miles on the trans) - talk about a sick feeling in your stomach. I limped to the next exit and called home and got my wife and daughter out of bed to come pick me up (thanks honey). (Chapter three - the ugly one)
The next day RAMTHIS1 brought out Lsfarm's trailer to trailer it back - we were loading the truck on the trailer and we noticed one of the wheels looked strange. Bad bearing - UGH, can things get any worse? So we hauled the trailer to my house and I sent RAMTHIS1 home. I replaced the bearing the next day and then (HORROR) borrowed my dad's 3/4 ton Avalanche to tow my truck back to Lsfarms house - it was a sad day, I couldn't even look at anyone and if I could have done it safely I would have worn a halloween mask to disguise myself! (Chapter four)
RAMTHIS1 and I tore the trans out (in record time, we're getting good at this) and opened it up and the smell coming out of the transmission was UUUUUGLY. There were bits of plastic all over the place, the gears were loose on the mainshaft, and there was a lot of end play. That was all I could handle that night so I drove the mini-van back home
. A couple of days later when I got over my depression I drove back to Lsfarm's and tore the trans down completely and discovered that the reverse gear bearing (the one I had trouble getting on remeber) had been dragging on the mainshaft. It's a double roller bearing with a metal cage. One set of rollers was simply dragging on the main shaft, the other set was rolling. We measured the part of the journal that was rolling and it was . 001 larger than the original main shaft. The part that was dragging couldn't be measured because it was chewed up. My guess is that it was actually slightly tapered rather than flat and that caused the bind. Those bearings dragging on the mainshaft created so much heat that it traveled up the mainshaft and took out ALL of the other roller bearings except for the one inside the input shaft. They all have plastic cages and they melted down and deposited themselves all over the inside of the trans. So the bearings were simply tumbling inside the gears . (Chapter five)The only things reusable in the transmission were the case, countershaft, hubs and sliders, fingers, and 5th gear. ALL of the other gears, bearings, syncros, and the mainshaft needed to be replaced. I priced out the parts and it was close to the cost of a rebuilt transmission which I could get with a warranty so I just bit the bullet. The trans shipped monday and was scheduled to be delivered on wednesday. RAMTHIS1 talked with the shipper and they said it would be delivered between 1 and 3 and he left a job to wait for the transmission. Needless to say it didn't show, we both tracked it and were told that it was the next thing to be delivered. At 6:30 I was told that there had been a bomb scare in Rochester Hills and that the rest of trailer couldn't be delivered and the trans was at the depot. AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
RAMTHIS1 really put himself out and drove to the depot and picked it up and we finally got started on the install at 9:30. Being paranoid about everything after all that had happened I took my time and doublechecked everything and finally was able to hit the road at 4:00 am - drove it home and had no problems. Drove it around today and so far have 200 miles on it with no probs. (Chapter six - oh the joy!)So, what lessons were learned? Believe it or not I wouldn't hesitate to undertake rebuilding an NV4500 again. It's a very simple transmission and anyone who's put together a puzzle could do it. What you do have to do is make sure that any parts that are on bearings roll completely freely and mic EVERYTHING to be sure it'll fit well. I would have rebuilt it myself the 2nd time given the lessons learned but it just didn't make sense given the difference in price between the parts and getting a fully finished and tested (dyno) transmission. Lastly and most importantly, cherish your friends!! I met all these guys through the TDR website. Lsfarm really put himself out by allowing me to use his shop and the VERY gracious loan of his mini-van for a month (even though it killed me to be seen in it
) as well as the technical advice, the first tow to his house, etc. RAMTHIS1 spent several VEEEEEERY late nights working on the truck with me when Lsfarm was out of town (he's an airline pilot) as well as driving to and from my house to try to trailer the truck back to Lsfarm's place. Doc Tinker came out and helped me remove the trans one night when Lsfarm and RAMTHIS1 weren't available. THANKS A MILLION GUYS - friends like this are impossible to replace!!!!! I was also helped out by a fellow TDR member that I'm not sure if he wants to be named or not that helped me with getting the parts and in the end the rebuilt trans - you know who you are and I truly appreciate all you did! If he wants to be named I'll do so in this thread but I want to be sure first. Now the best news, truck is working great and I leave for Thunder in Muncie in the morning - nothing like cutting it close (about 24 hrs). Lsfarm's towing the mobile hotel down there for me so that I don't have to tow on a brand new trans. The brass syncros are breaking in and I'll have to see how broken in they are before I decide if I'm going to race on sunday or not. For those of you that'll be in Muncie I'll see you there!
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