Thank you I appreciate your opinions! And that's good to know the switch is cheap. How does the nv3500 compare as far as shifting to the ax15? And u talk about the throw can it be improved? And what do you think about our discussion on the clutch situation. And also you feel the rear stock driveshaft is fine to still run with the nv3500? And smart parts auto is who I was gonna buy the tranny through they seem pretty legit so far and the nv3500 is 895 plus shipping and core and the ax15 is 795 plus core and shipping. Any experience with this company? The company said they dyno test the trannys first and on the website it claims there are some upgrades they do to the tranny.

 

Also am I gonna run into a problem with my current front driveshaft by changing to the nv3500?

 

Sorry for taking time getting back, crazy life things going on. Anyway, I can't really speak to how the NV3500 shifts in comparison to the AX-15, as I've never driven a truck with the latter; my original trans was a '89 NV2500. I'd prefer a shorter throw, and the easiest way to accomplish that is to cut an inch or two off the shifter. Of course nothing's free, so the trade-off is going to be more effort required to shift. I'm not sure I want to shorten it bad enough to go to the trouble right now.

On the clutch, I would do as 93Ragtop suggests and put the 11 inch 5.2 clutch and pressure plate behind a 5.9 flywheel. Find a flywheel from a '93 up 5.9 Magnum and if it's using an 11" clutch, it will be suitable. It might be feasable to have a 5.2 flywheel rebalanced to achieve the same balance as a 5.9 flywheel, but you'd have to check with a machine shop on that.

Rear driveshaft. When I looked at mine, it appears I have plenty of spline engagement still, certainly more than the clutch has on the input spline, so I think its fine. If the difference was more than what it is though, I'd consider lengthening it. If there was an issue, it would probably be in the form of slop at the yoke, not a stripping of the splines. Right now its fine though. I've not installed the front drive shaft yet, it's stored in a place I can't readily get to. Until I get it back, I don't know if shortening will be required.

I haven't dealt with Smart Parts, but having a warranty is at least some peace of mind. That price certainly sounds reasonable. I got mine used, from a private party, so I took a bit of a gamble there. It was clean inside, fluid looked good, and it turned smoothly by hand. Owner said it was in perfect shape, and it does seem to be. I know they can be a bit hard to come by used though. Also, NV3500's have bronze synchros, you need to run the right lube to prevent damage to them. I use Pennzoil Synchromesh.

 

Ohh it's alright life gets busy for sure. And okay I understand all of what your saying I also talked to the guy Jeff at smart parts for awhile today explaining what I'm trying to do and he says that he thinks since I'm doing a 5.9 swap and in case I plan to mod the motor any I would be better off to save money and do the NV 4500 swap. Bc it would handle anything from the 5.9. What do you think about that? I want to make sure that whatever route I go I want this thing to last and be a solid truck to drive. I don't want it to be a matter of me breaking something every time I decide to get a little heavy on the throttle. That's why I'm doing so much considering of all my options.

 

If you put an nv4500 in your Dakota a 2" body lift is mandatory, unless you do a little bit or a lot of transmission tunnel modding. It'll fit perfect with the body lift. Just make sure you get one that hasn't lived behind something that had the ***** beat off it. The nv4500's came in all 5.9's, gas and diesel. Make sure if you get one it came out of a 1500 or 2500 gas. It'll be quite a bit more the a 3500, but will last forever in a Dakota. However, I believe an nv3500 will suit you just fine so long as you don't go full retard 24/7 and don't start with one that's already on its last leg.

I will say however, if you decide to use a nv4500, you'll probably really only have a 4 standard as first gear will be almost useless in a Dakota being the nv4500 were built to pull and tow etc. Just something to consider. Iirc, the nv3500 also has a better 5th gear ratio vs the nv4500 if highway mpg matters to you.

 

I personally really don't beat on this truck at all. I mean the occasional once in a great while I might get pretty heavy with my foot but I usually drive it very normal and I take good care of it. It will also see an occasional trailer pulling behind it as well. Is the nv3500 able to live a really long and happy life in these circumstances? And the motor for now will probably just be mostly factory aside from like exhaust and cold air intake and stuff like that. And as far as gas mileage I know it won't be amazing with the 5.9 but I would like it if the nv3500 got a little bit better mpg. I have a gas saver as a daily so that's not as much of a concern. The guy I talked to just seemed to think that the nv3500 would not like living on highway behind the 5.9. I like the idea of the nv3500 because it seems like a much easier swap without having to change anything, but I don't want to pay for the performance rebuilt one I plan to get and then it just blow up when it gets any kind of hard throttling or a load behind it.

 

Like Toby noted, the NV4500 never came in Dakotas, hence the fitment issue. IMHO the 3500 will work for you. It was used in the heavier Ram trucks, and the older 1st gen Daks are lightweights in comparison. Vehicle weight matters because its a constant load on the trans.

One more point I forgot to mention before, the NV3500 has a one piece design, like an automatic. You can't separate the bellhousing, which makes getting it in and out tougher.

 

I've experienced the difficulty with
getting the tranny in and out bc I have removed the ax15 before without taking the bell housing off. And okay I appreciate your opinion makes me feel better about it if you think it will be alright. Is there anyway you can verify on if my original front driveshaft will still work okay? And also I've noticed on my truck that it appears the cross member for the transmission sits kind of at a downward angle towards the rear of the truck is this normal??

Just to clarify I will need to buy a new clutch right?? One for a 5.2 should work fine?

Also is there anyone here that may want the old ax15? It still is being used but it really needs to have like new synchros and it has a gear chatter at high speeds not sure why but it hasn't stopped working yet.

 

The 5.9 I have found right now guy wants 400$ if he pulls it and I get all accessories and the pcm and wiring. It's in a 97 van I believe. But he says it has 200,000 on it

 

A van engine will have some differences from those in the pickups. I believe you would need to find another oil pan, and by chance, I also know that the cast aluminum power steering bracket from a van won't work in a Dakota. The van wire harness will be way different, though you might be able to use some of the connectors and what-not from it.

I'm sure there are other differences (dip stick & tube, throttle cable assembly?), so you might want to consider what the cost of coming up with those pieces is going to be.

Are you planning to rebuild it?