Nv4500 upgrades.

To ^^ poster I will be sending a pm your way shortly!!!

As for the original question how to make a nv4500 bulletproof if you find out let me know I have had all of my gears and main gear heat treated, cryo treated anything to make them stronger. Now when doing this there is a fine line between hard and too hard if you make them too hard they will become brittle and actually break easier then before lots of trial and error!!!! In the past year my 95 has had over $10k spent on the transmission alone trying to make it bulletproof. It has sheered the teeth off of every gear you could imagine, burned up a bunch of clutches, etc.
First a good dual disc. then find a competent heat treater and have all your gears and mainshaft done, then a big input and cross your fingers.
I will be swapping an auto in mine very very soon its not worth the headache.
 
Saber123316 said:
im not gonna be a 800+ hp truck.

just 500 HP maybe 550. I think thats plent enough power for a street driven truck.

I just want to be able to take it to the track and race it on occasion.

will the NV4500 do that for me?
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re read what i posted...

my best was 514/1096

that should clarify this...
 
plowman61 said:
Out of curiosity what is everyone generally running for RPM just cruising? I typically stay 1800 + all the time and much higher when towing.
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I have read that under 1600rpm is hard on the NV4500s Its the low end torque that kills them

I also believe that Dual Disc clutches are THE HARDEST part on the synchros.

Stick with a single disc with NO boosted launches and the trans will last ALOT longer.

As far as the whole sled pullers comment, they dont shift gears. They put it in 3rd or 4th and run 300+ feet in one gear.
 
tony597fitter said:
I have read that under 1600rpm is hard on the NV4500s Its the low end torque that kills them

I also believe that Dual Disc clutches are THE HARDEST part on the synchros.

Stick with a single disc with NO boosted launches and the trans will last ALOT longer.

As far as the whole sled pullers comment, they dont shift gears. They put it in 3rd or 4th and run 300+ feet in one gear.
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would gearing help with that? moving my powerband up as well as a larger charger?
 
They wont do it. number 8 is sitting under the truck its pretty much on demand destruction......if the input hold the main will break if it holds the teeth get peeled off third if it holds the countershafts grenades if it hold one of them will break next time, or 5th withrow its hat in there for grins.
 
In my experience, the NV4500 is plenty strong for 450 to 500 rear wheel horsepower.

I took my truck to the track a few times and about the tenth 1/4 mile pass, my 3rd gear synchros started to act up. At that point I stopped drag racing and baby my 2-3 gear shift since the synchros are just about toast.

The only option I can see for a fast NV4500 1/4 mile truck is running small tires and 4.10 or 4.88 gears so you can start in 3rd gear. 3-4 gear shift on my truck has always been smooth as silk and really fast. The 4-5 gear shift would definitely be needed with smaller tires and large numerical ratios and with a little practice, the 4-5 shift is doable. Then you would probably want to run a gear vendors overdrive cause you would run out of gear when you started going 105+ mph.

I lost my first tranny at 180K miles with about 8K trailer in tow. The tranny was full of lube but the main planetary looked like it was running dry.

I now run 1 extra quart in my NV4500 since it apparently is easily starved for fluid. I had to remove the shift tower to fit an extra quart but it made me feel better about the tranny. I now have 253K miles so that's 73K miles at 300-500 RWHP.

I'm also a promoter of single disk clutches. They can't handle 3rd gear launches or a lot of slipping but I believe they "cushion" the harsh shock loading on the tranny when you are out hot rodding doing 3800 rpm dropped clutch 4x4 launches. With a single disk, there is no need for a larger 1.375" input shaft and frankly, the 1.25" shaft is holding just fine on my truck.
 
tony597fitter said:
I have read that under 1600rpm is hard on the NV4500s Its the low end torque that kills them

I also believe that Dual Disc clutches are THE HARDEST part on the synchros.

Stick with a single disc with NO boosted launches and the trans will last ALOT longer.

As far as the whole sled pullers comment, they dont shift gears. They put it in 3rd or 4th and run 300+ feet in one gear.
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right on the money here

couldnt have said it better..

Oh when i had mine, i only trashed one in 175K plus miles of ownership, i cruised it at 1800 rpms, and usually towed it around 2200-2400 rpms without OD if i was loaded really heavy.. if not i would just keep the truck at 55-60 mph or so and it did alright.. not recallin what that rpm was...
 
plowman61 said:
Not saying you or anyone else was rude. Everyone just has this can't do attitude.
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Maybe that is because with the currently available parts it is going to be tough to do?

Saber123316 said:
would gearing help with that? moving my powerband up as well as a larger charger?
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By the time you got done spending money on everything else in an attempt to get a manual trans to live, wouldn't you have just been better off putting an automatic in it in the first place?

Everybody needs to keep in mind that the words fast, consistant, and reliable along with the words manual transmission are mutually exclusive in the drag race world unless you are talking about something along the lines of a lenco.
 
mondtster said:
Maybe that is because with the currently available parts it is going to be tough to do?



By the time you got done spending money on everything else in an attempt to get a manual trans to live, wouldn't you have just been better off putting an automatic in it in the first place?

Everybody needs to keep in mind that the words fast, consistant, and reliable along with the words manual transmission are mutually exclusive in the drag race world unless you are talking about something along the lines of a lenco.
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I have 4.10's in the rear right now.

Part of the enjoyment of this is trying to make things work in ways other people said could not be done so other people who face the same issue as me wanting the joys of a stick and the control but being able to drag race it as well.

as for consistency ive had no issue keeping my truck consistent.
 
Saber123316 said:
I have 4.10's in the rear right now.

Part of the enjoyment of this is trying to make things work in ways other people said could not be done so other people who face the same issue as me wanting the joys of a stick and the control but being able to drag race it as well.

as for consistency ive had no issue keeping my truck consistent.
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Sorry, but I TRIED for 3 years.

Save yourself ALOT of money and either dont drag race or do an auto swap. For the money and time I have in NV4500 rebuilds and clutches I could have bought another truck.
 
Sometimes there is a reason people say things can't be done.

The transmissions in our trucks were never intended to be shifted quickly, and drag raced. They are engineered for entirely different loads and uses, that's why they hold up for sled pullers with twice the power of the drag racers that are destroying them. Or get a Lenco. You CAN NOT make a NV4500/NV5600/G56 bulletproof for 1/4 mile racing. They are heavy truck transmissions that don't like to be shifted that fast, and don't like the associated shock loads.
 
if it werent for the good deal i get on clutches, and that being my business i would go with an auto to, i guess i'm getting old and just kicking back and driving would be nice.
 
That would be a little odd for you to have an auto wouldn't it Dan:D

My clutch from you is holding up great, but the tranny is gonna be coming out for a rebuild pretty soon!
 
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