Why? I've not given up on you yet, even though you've given it a damn good try.

I think the crossmember should be in the same place, but the t-case will be further back, and the drive shaft will be shorter. Measure from the front of your torsion bar keys to the rear edge of your automatic's crossmember and post it. I'll tell you if its different than mine.

Yes, I'd love to do the LS swap. But, just isn't an option right now. If I would do it, it'd probably be all out with a 6.0 nv4500 set up to pull down the great Wall of China, or, a 6.0 T56 in a 2wd built to run. That's a story for a different day. (Did find out about the 4wd aspect btw, easier then doing it on a 2wd)

Anyways, it's the nv3500 that's supposed to be shorter then an auto. And the rear drive shaft needs lengthened 7" in the rear and I believe shortened 7" in the front.

Sometime when I can I'll get that measurement and we can compare. Dk when that'll be but I'll be sure to do it sometime. What is your truck? Mines a reg cab long bed. Thanks again for the help.

Mine's reg cab short bed, but I'm thinking we'll find the measurement between the trans crossmember and the torsion bar crossmember is the same regardless.

not putting words in your mouth, just stating fact, you can't take the same kind of reply that you typically dish out? I too have done this swap
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the rear mount is different but bolts to teh same crossmember in the same location, the trans I put in was 5-1/2" shorter than the 518 that I took out, I put a 94 3500 out of a V8 Dakota into a 93 that had an auto originally.

Ok, so I took a measurement. This will be a rough measurement but should give us an idea:

From the transmission mount to the torsion key cross member is roughly 20". Which probably doesn't help much since they mount in the same place. But, I looked and noted the transfer care tail where the drive shaft enters is almost directly above the torsion key cross member. I suspect the transfer case would be further forward on an nv3500 being there is a reported 7" difference.

Which leads to another question, would a reg cab long bed 5 speed have a 2 piece rear drive shaft? Or only the cab and a halfs?

I have only seen the cab and 1/2 with a 2 pc driveshaft but it is possible the long bed versions with the heavier GVW package came with a 2 pc shaft.
when I did my conversion they only had to mess with the front shaft, but they did have to have both sections to correctly balance the assembly.
there is nothing wrong with either setup, 1 pc or 2/
and the same truck with an auto vs one with a stick the crossmember mounts in exactly the same place. The trans mount itself for an auto vs one for a stick is different. but use the SAME crossmember either way.

[QUOTE=Toby Warford;3347956the nv3500 that's supposed to be shorter then an auto. And the rear drive shaft needs lengthened 7" in the rear and I believe shortened 7" in the front.
[/QUOTE]
WHAT!!!??! NO! if you shortyen one end and lengthen the other then you wind up right back at square one. same length as original.
I measured the overall length of the 46RH that I removed (42/44RH are same exact length BTW) AND the length of the NV3500 that I installed and it was something like 5-1/2 or 5-5/8" NOT 7".... I had heard 7" too but that was why I measured for myself. If you have a 2 pc shaft you do nothing with the rear half. the carrier bearing bolts to the same crossmember in either case. if you monkey with the length of the rear half you create alot more work for yourself because then you need to make a custom mount for the carrier (hanger) bearing....
I went junking when I did mine and found a cab and 1/2 with a stick, and another with an auto and on both the rear half was identical.

You aint changing anything but the trans so the difference in length there is all you need to worry about when trying to figure out the driveshaft length difference.

Thanks for the info. I can see once I get the transmission in, I'll just tow it to the drive shaft shop and have them do whatever needs to be done.

Remember my truck is 4wd, whatever I do to one shaft, I need to do the opposite for the other one.

Only if all you are playing with is the driveshaft and leaving the original transmission alone. Your transmission is gonna be shorter, so that is all that needs to be compensated for. Ya know now that I think about it I have 2 cab and a half trucks, a 2wd and a 4wd. I did the auto to stick swap on my last 2wd which is gone on account of a BAD wreck. and it was a cab and a half as well.
my 2wd cab and a half trucks were 2 pc driveshaft while my 4wd is a 1 pc driveshaft. because with the transfer case the driveshaft is shorter anyhow. IDK if a 4wd stick truck may have been different from the factory since a stick truck's driveshaft would be longer than an auto trans truck.

Toby,

Mine is a reg. cab long bed 5spd 4wd (1987). The driveshaft is 1 piece. Latter on today, I can give you a measurement of the front driveshaft. (mine is still out of the truck)