So I aquired a Dodge NV4500 5 speed from another member on here. As most of you know, I'm working on a solid front axle swap on my truck and plan to turn 37s and later down the road build a 408 stroker for the truck. Needless to say, the nv3500 just wont cut it. So before I decide on a transfer case, measure out driveshaft lengths, route the exhaust, build the transmission crossmember, etc. I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and put in an nv4500 so I don't have to do all that work twice.

Anyway, I'm not making this thread as a "how to" thread cause my truck is too highly modified to effectively use for a "how to". This is just going to simply gallery of pictures to show the differences between the transmissions and the fit of the nv4500 under one of our trucks.

So I pulled the nv3500 out of the truck and got some side by side pictures of the two transmissions. Before I start, I just want to say that this is what the under-side of my truck looks like...



... as you can see, I have no crossmember nor torsion bars to get in the way of the transmission anymore. I can make no guarentees that that crossmember won't get in the way of fitting the nv4500 into place.

Now for the side by side pictures. These are to show the size comparison between the two transmissions. The NV4500 is taller than the NV3500... especially around the shift tower. This is where a 2 inch body lift is likely necessary for the swap. Also, you can see that the shift tower is slightly forward on the NV4500. Hopefully this won't cause problems with the factory trim peice or cause clearance issues with the dash. But I'll find answers to those possible issues later.







Here is a picture of the throwout bearing forks. They are the same and swappable...



Here are some pictures of the slave cylinder slot of the two transmissions. The hydraulics should swap between the two...

 

Alright... sorry for the delay ya'll. I've been crazy busy recently. But I got the transmission bolted to the engine this afternoon. That was a heck of a job just cause of the weight of the transmission and the height of the truck! It took 2 layers of 4x4s on top of my transmission adapter on my floor jack to get the transmission high enough, and it wasn't all that stable with all that wood stacked up.

Anyway, here are the rest of the pictures...











As you can see in the below picture, the transmisison crossmember mounts don't even come close to lining up. This is not an issue for me cause I have to build a custom crossmember anyway to clear my 3 link. It may be a bigger problem for someone else trying this swap.



And as you can see here, the shifter doesn't line up with the hole in the transmission tunnel at all. But it looks to me like the shifter will clear the dash if it gets heated up and bent properly. What I'm going to do is cut the transmission tunnel out of my parts truck (since its a 2wd and auto, it has no holes in the transmission tunnel) and weld in the hole I have now. Then I'm going to cut new ones and get a custom shift boot. I'm likely going to put an Atlas transfer case behind this transmission, so the transfer case shifters are going to be changed too. (The red line is what the hole should look like... I had to rough cut mine temporarily while I was trying to fit the transmission.



As you can see in the two pictures below, the flywheel fits just as it should in the bellhousing.

 

Anyway, thats all I have. Like I said before, this isn't a how to thread, its just a picture gallery of the swap to show how the nv4500 fits under one of our trucks.

As you should be able to tell from some of the above pictures, a 2 inch body lift is definately required to fit the transmission. The only way I can think to fit it without a body lift is to cut a huge hole in the floor pan and let the top plate of the transmission stick up through that hole.

I reopened this thread for questions and comments. Let me know if any of ya'll want to see pictures other than what I posted and I'll try to get them up.

 

That looks cool! When I did my 4wd, I cut the shifter hole too far off. So I had to cut some more. I just got some thick sheet metal and welded up the unnecessary area.

Can't wait to see it all done.

 

agree. this is gonna be awesome to see finished up. love the pics!

 

it looks like the shifter location is about the same place as where it was on my truck when i swapped in the ram version of the nv3500.

when i cut the hole for mine, i cut it where yours was and it was to far forward and completely missed the hole so i had to cut farther up.

 

My NV4500 swap for the Getrag (not3500) in my 1991 D350 went fine, but
How do you get the Speedometer to work?
Stock Speed Sensor is two wire the new one has three.

 

In 95_318SLT case the seed sensor is located in the transfercase so the stock sensor it used. Also the sensor and housing can be swapped over to the new transfercase and transmission to keep stock wiring ect.

 

Sweet for you, but not me, thanks for the info.
I have actually had a Getrag 5 spd in my 91 dodge diesel one ton.
So the sensors and wire are not interchangeable with an NV4500.
But, there must be a way to make a stock or AfeterMarket Speedometer work.

 

Do you have a 4wd or 2wd?

If it is 2wd like I said before I'm sure you can swap out the sensor housing, what the sensor screws on to.