getrag

[fourwheelininajeep]

IN A DAILY DRIVER HOW MUCH COULD A GETRAG HANDLE HORSEPOWER AND TORQUE WISE, IT GETS FLOGGED EVENTUALLY BUT ULTIMATELY I WANT TO GET 300,000 MILES OUT OF THIS TRUCK WITH 99,000 FOR NOW WHAT KIND OF HORSEPOWER SHOULD I EXPECT TO RUN BUT STILL LOOK AT LONG TERM EFFECTS

[dpuckett]

Horsepower/ torque doesnt have as much to do with it as HOW it is used. If you dump the clutch, slam the pedal to the floor in every gear, dont expect it to last to 105K. If you EASE into the pedal (this takes some practice, but you can still run with the big dogs and save your tranny), taking 2-3 seconds to get to the floor, it takes out the slack, and your tranny will make it to 300K no problem.

Make sure you use a good quality oil in it and change it often, contrary to what the owners manual tells you. I change mine every 20K, more often if I'm towing a lot (which lately is almost never). Is it a little overboard? Possibly, but oil is cheap compared to the hassle of rebuilding the tranny and sourcing parts. I'd also recommend pulling the shifter and drain/refill with 5qts of your faovrite engine oil. If your tranny is leak free, use a synthetic, and go for 30K changes.

Bill Gilbert got 450hp/9xx torque to the wheels through his Getrag, so they can take the power, it's just got to be applied accordingly.

Daniel

[oldestof11]

And KTA has 600+hp going through his, no?

I stomped my pedal to the floor between gears when I was showing off quite a bit. But I notice the charger spooled just as fast when I eased into it. The difference is I wasted less fuel and I still kept up with my friends 97 Bonneville

[fourwheelininajeep]

Thats normally how I drive anyway, slip the cluth just a tad, you get boost before the transmisison is fully engaged and it just feels smoother, then when all the slack is taken out engage the clutch fullly and get into it, but I have done that before where you dump the clutch before getting into the throttle its not a very fun ride, you can just feel everything getting ready to break

[GLHS]

If you up the power it won't make it to 300,000 without new bearings. Tow a lot...........won't make it either.
Getrag will last a good while if the truck is always emty.

[fourwheelininajeep]

Well there is a good possibility that it will have 15000 pounds occassionally and 6000 pounds quite often, I guess I will just have to take it easy and save my money for the nv4500 replacement, we will just see how long it lasts.

[shadrach]

Hi Guys new guy here. My buddy has a W350 with a 97 CTD ( 350hp and 700tq ) and has had a lot of trouble with his Getrags. He is always loaded ( 14k+ ) and is on his 4th Getrag. He is thinking of going to a G56 from a 2005 or newer. Anyone done this? Your thought and comments please. Shadrach

[dpuckett]

Shadrach- how is he driving them? MMiller tows loads heavier than that all the time, and I have done so in the past, and neither of us have had any problems. I think Michael had to rebuild his at around 280K, which isnt bad, IMO.

My thoughts are to get someone to set up the preload correctly, and then keep the RPMs above about 1800 when towing heavy. EASE into the throttle when accelerating. You'd be surprised how many guys just hammer down and let the driveline clunk and clank. when the power output of the engine has been hopped up that much, driving styles have to be altered to fit the situation. ALso, "overfill" by about 1-1.5qts- put in 5qts and be done with it. What weight oil is he running?

There is a guy on the TDR who is in the process of putting a later G56 in his 1stGen.

DP

[shadrach]

Yes it is overfilled. This last timewe put a Fast Cooler on one side ( pto on the other ) and a 90* elbow in the fill plug hole to give more height to the fill plug. I believe he is a "good" driver.Shadrach

[shadrach]

I talked with my buddy and it appears to be faulty parts and poor workmanship that are causing all the trans problems. I think we will still look into the 6 speed swap because of the different gear split. I like the G56 model because it is newer and the NV5600 is already out of production. Shadrach

[shadrach]

I talked with my buddy and it appears to be faulty parts and poor workmanship that are causing all the trans problems. I think we will still look into the 6 speed swap because of the different gear split. I like the G56 model because it is newer and the NV5600 is already out of production. Shadrach

[shadrach]

Why does it duplicate my message??? The first time I try I get an error message then it does it twice Shadrach

[PToombs]

When you get an error message, go "back" twice and refresh. The site has a mental glitch, the post goes thru, but sometimes you get the error message.

[MMiller]

Shadrach- how is he driving them? MMiller tows loads heavier than that all the time, and I have done so in the past, and neither of us have had any problems. I think Michael had to rebuild his at around 280K, which isnt bad, IMO.DP

I did not get near that many miles out of my getrag(yet). The original was replaced at 60,000 mile under warranty. The reman ran fine until the output shaft bearing started making noise in OD at about 230,000 miles on the truck. So I got about 170,000 miles on the factory reman. HOWEVER, I have done everything you said not to do, and LOTS more abuse. And the first 100,000 miles on the reman trans was with dealership filled oil level, not overfilled. I tow OD whenever ground speed is above 60 mph.

I will be treating the truck much differently now, trying to treat is nicer. I just added more air to my fuel, so I'm really anxious to get my truck back under the trailer.

It has been my humble opinion that the getrag will stand up as well as a NV4500, a NV5600, maybe even the G56 in a street truck. I've seen the others fail too. The getrag just gets a bad wrap from high failure rates under warranty, a bad batch made it out of the factory. I do agree that a 6 speed would be much nicer for towing, but I could not justify the costs of putting in the six speed. I've been into my getrag 4 times since the output shaft bearing failed. I still do not have $1000 into it, including 3 sets of bearings, and 2 input shafts. I made some mistakes on setup, trying to get it all figured out, thats why it took 4 times. Now mine is good, and I've got another 2wd floating around NE Iowa that will get abused too. If you have some tools, a good jack, and patience, the getrag will hold lots of power, and will offer good service life, if taken care of appropraitely.

Michael

[shadrach]

Because my buddies 93 W350 is his work truck he needs it to be running all the time. No truck no work. No work no money ( and mad customers ). If it wasn't for the fact it is a 4X4 I would suggest a tranny from a medium duty truck. That's why we are considering the G56. No tranny is perfect but with his weight ,14k+ , the different ratios would be nice. Shadrach