4bta transmission options

[mozark]

After lying dormant for 7 or 8 years I'm picking up my PW repower. At this point I am unfamilair with the Cummins 4bta, but may have one in the shop soon.

Double checking that the following applies to a 4BTA cpl #857 with a Chevy auto behind it:

Sell the auto trans, aquire flywheel, housing, bellhousing, clutch and starter for whichever transmission.

At this point my preference is for the ZF s542, followed by the Spicer 3053a. OTOH if I find a short NV4500 I probably won't turn it down.

Many thanks

Mike McClintock

[Gordon Maney]

Charles Talbert will hopefully be along soon with some insightful comment on your question.

[Desoto61]

The Dodge parts are the easiest to find and probably the cheapest to get, but you have to use their attached transfer case as the Dodge trannies are too long for the divorced case. They also have one of the best stock overdrive ratios.

The Chevy NV4500 setup is expensive and harder to come by. It solves some problems vs the Dodge but creates a few others. With a 2WD trannie it will fit with the stock t-case.

The setup Charles used is nice but its his secret sauce. Mounting the Spicer to the cummins has been done by others but its not well documented. To really make the Spider work well in these trucks I think you need the special 5th gear like Charles uses too.

The Ford is probably a good middle ground. Adapters aren't as easy or cheap, and you have to be careful about which version of the ZF you get, but the trans is cheaper, they can do divorsed or mated t cases, and with the setup is pretty straight forward. Didn't like the OD ratio on them as much as the NV4500 though.

At least that's what I found in my research. Good luck!

[Ggg6]

First determine which trans you will use. Then fnd a 4bt with that brand manual trans already (Ford, GM, DCX) if you want to use a Spicer then find an engine with a SAE flywheel & housing already, you will be much better off starting out this way. The flywheel alone is very pricey, and the GM flex plate and trans will not fetch much money since they are very common.
I did a 4bt into my Jeep and started out with a CPL857 then decided to convert to the Jeep AX15 trans. This was a very costly change of plans.