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View Full Version : 5 & 6 speed swaps ( kind of a rant)



Turbo Joe
05-13-2015, 09:52 PM
why are the manual swap kits so freakin expensive? I've been trying to find a complete swap kit so I can dump the auto that i already had rebuilt, but the thing still don't shift and i've been chasing my tail with this truck for way to long.
I thought that swapping an auto to 5 speed would be easy thinking people are lazy and manual trans would be worth little to nothing so I didn't care about buying an auto.. man do I regret that..

turbovanmanČ
05-14-2015, 01:36 AM
Supply and demand, :p

Sgt Craig
05-14-2015, 05:36 PM
What year truck?Id go with the NV5600 6spd.Very reliable and Better over drive

Turbo Joe
05-14-2015, 08:02 PM
What year truck?Id go with the NV5600 6spd.Very reliable and Better over drive
its a 99.. i'd like to get the nv4500 actually but since I would only be occasionally towing a 24' enclosed trailer i wouldn't mind a nv5600 for the better mpg's....
only thing about the 6 speeds is they are not as strong as the 5 speeds.

shackwrrr
05-14-2015, 09:23 PM
I can't even find a 4 speed auto for my 91 cheap enough for my liking. Diesel stuff is always $$$

Ondonti
05-16-2015, 04:09 AM
its a 99.. i'd like to get the nv4500 actually but since I would only be occasionally towing a 24' enclosed trailer i wouldn't mind a nv5600 for the better mpg's....
only thing about the 6 speeds is they are not as strong as the 5 speeds.

I have been trying to avoid being interested in a 5 speed but after reading your post I tried to research both these claims and I can't find them to be true. The 5 speed has a 0.75 top gear and the 6 speed nv5600 has a .73 top gear ( from memory) and the 6 speed is a lot beefier, especially after 2001 when the input shaft size went up.
Those top gears are nearly the same and the strength issue seemed to be argued back and forth with no result. The NV4500 comes in less powerful trucks but they actually have parts available for them, unlike the NV5600, which are going the way of the dinosaur.
The only sure thing I could find was that the spacing of the gears on the NV4500 is not good compared to the NV5600. The one good thing about the manuals is hill descent. Reliability...thats probably a lot to do with how well the rebuild was done and how you treat it.

Turbo Joe
05-17-2015, 01:14 AM
I have been trying to avoid being interested in a 5 speed but after reading your post I tried to research both these claims and I can't find them to be true. The 5 speed has a 0.75 top gear and the 6 speed nv5600 has a .73 top gear ( from memory) and the 6 speed is a lot beefier, especially after 2001 when the input shaft size went up.
Those top gears are nearly the same and the strength issue seemed to be argued back and forth with no result. The NV4500 comes in less powerful trucks but they actually have parts available for them, unlike the NV5600, which are going the way of the dinosaur.
The only sure thing I could find was that the spacing of the gears on the NV4500 is not good compared to the NV5600. The one good thing about the manuals is hill descent. Reliability...thats probably a lot to do with how well the rebuild was done and how you treat it.
yes in stock form the nv5600 is pretty beefy, but as with anything, there are updates that are common practice with the nv4500 i.e. the 5th gear nut fix and the popular 1 3/8 shaft swap.. also lots of aftermarket support for the nv4500 compaired to the nv5600. I guess the trend for the nv5600 guys is swapping to the g56 would be my guess as to why the nv5600 is being left to the wayside??

135sohc
05-17-2015, 11:29 AM
Its been out of production for 10 years now and being made for one specific application never helped its popularity. It never had the 'GM factor" in making it popular and keeping it that way like the 4500 has. G56 is used in (:yuck:)plenty of mercedes applications so it won't disappear overnight like the 5600 literally did in 2005.