Pro's and Con's of Gear Vendor

[WTreat]

Happy Memorial Day everybody.



Looking for peoples perspective or comments on a Gear Vendors unit. I am considering puting one in my 05 4x4, long bed, QC, with the G56 transmission. I searched posts for past information and found only one post. So lets have it any pro's or con's from anybody or do you know of anybody that has one etc. One piece drivelines or 2 piece drivelines etc? Is it worth all the work and expense? Thanks in advance.

 

[Motorhead]

Hey, You don't need to post the same question twice!

 

[meanmatt]

The answer depends on what you are expecting the product to do . If you are looking to split gears on a wide ratio trans to help with towing situations. It might come in pretty handy but probably only noticable under heavy loads. If you are looking just to improve fuel economy then you have to factor in the cost of the unit and how long the imporved fuel economy will take to pay off . A high dollar mod like a this might take a couple hundred thousand miles of driving to pay for itself.

Either way if you do get one installed . Let us know the results .

 

[ILIANBG]

Wasn't it written on this site that the Gear Vendor is not supposed to be used with an exhaust brake? I thought only the US Gear unit could be used with it. You should be able to compare both going to their websites. I'm sure owners of both will chime in.

I'd be interested to find out more from them too

Ilian

 

[Curious Dave]

I think it is a waste of money to put one behind a manual. On my NV5600 the gears are to close to benefit from splitting.

Also, if you do... don't neglect it in the slightest. They are finicky.

It is a fun toy... but not worth the money in any potential fuel savings.

I have one all rebuilt and sitting in storage. I will use it on my old Chevelle TH400 next time.

 

[Turbo_Bob]

Gear Vendors under/overdrive transmissions the most awarded auxiliary transmissions.

Anybody have a link to the US Gear company ?

 

[JMarketos]

I have a GV unit installed on my 2005 QC 4x4 short bed Auto. I installed it because (with the auto) 4th OD is too tall for towing, and 3rd is too low for highway speeds. (ie. too much difference between 3rd and 4th). My truck has 3. 73 diffs. Loaded, I use the GV unit to over-drive 3rd. That is, keep the 48RE in 3rd and engage the GV. That provides exactly what I wanted- an optimum tach point that is effectively between the stock 3rd and 4th. Also when unloaded I can run 48RE in 4th and also engage GV, gives about 1500 RPM at highway speed. Sorry I have not yet had time to measure fuel consumption in 4th + OD unloaded. I can share that towing a 20ft enclosed car hauler, weighing total of about 7000 lbs, my mileage went from around 11 or 12 without GV and towing in 4th, to about 13 or 14 with GV (3rd + OD). Perhaps more than the MPG increase, the engine is much happier running at 2200 or so (than it was at 1700 etc. ) and EGTs are much better. That was a big part of my reason for considering the GV.

The GV unit is shifted by electric solenoid and comes in & out abruptly. Maybe easier to manage in conjunction with a manual trans, but takes some learning to time the shift with an automatic. (I only ever use it to over-drive 3rd. I don't use it when running up through the gears).

Above is what I know. (hope I got it all right). Below is what I think.....

I agree with what another poster mentioned- I'm pretty sure with the GV unit, you're NOT supposed to engage an exhaust brake (or do any major engine braking) when the GV unit is in overdrive. I think it's OK to EB with the GV in 1:1, but you should doublecheck that.

Everything I could find about the GV unit reliability indicated they are very solid. Only routine maintenance I know of is to change the fluid.

As I recall when I bought the GV unit, I tried to also research a competitive company, maybe it was US Gear (not sure). I telephoned someone who told me they had stopped making the particular unit that fit my application. This was approximately April 2009.

If your decision to buy is based solely on saving money from a MPG increase, I think you'll find that hard to justify with numbers- like another poster wrote- it will take so many miles to reach the break-even point.

 

[WTreat]

Thank you all for your replies. Sorry for the double post as I am new to the site and am still figuring things out. I did an inquiry in the search section for gear vendors and I did not find much related to the subject so I posted the question. What I have found out by checking on other diesel sites is this.



1. You can't use it with the Pac Brake on due to the clutch and spring setup on the gear vendors... Not good for me since I always use my exhaust brake instead of down shifting right away or applying the brakes.



2. Supposidly it is not good to back up with a heavy load with the unit as there is a possibility of the unit grenading??



3. Other people have been told by gear vendors tech. that towing heavy it is not recomended when the unit is in 6th over. . Well that was always my intention and I was never told that with all my conversations with the techs.



4. Moderate to heavy towing takes its toll on the clutch in the gear vendor and could burn it out. .



5. My gears in the G56 are spaced pretty evenly so the unit would only really benefit when I run empty.



All in all I have decided to not install the unit. This is due to all of the information that I have uncovered with my searches, the driveline mods that have to be done by a shop near me that doesn't really sound like they know what they are doing and the fact that there are alot of hidden costs that gear vendors did not tell me about up front. ie. the ujoint for the new slip yoke is extra, the weld on yoke is extra, the front driveline has to be cut and balanced, and now the rear driveline has to be cut and balanced and the carrier bearing moved.



I am sure once it is all said and done the unit would be great but for the expense and headach it just didn't seem like the thing to do. Another point to make is that the numbers that gear vendors claim to would get with the mod. isn't what people are actually after the unit is installed. Hope this info. has helped out and thanks again for all your replies.

5.

 

[Curious Dave]

Yeahhhh... . Empty in 6th over is a blast. I used to open mine up in the Dakotas or in Montana. Cruise at 100 at @ 2100. But a 1 ton makes a terrible sports car.