Just looking for a quick confirmation here...

The 4.0 6 cyls, the 3.9Magnum series motors and the newer 4.7 family allhave different bellhousing bolt patterns, yes?

I heard the 4.7 was the same, now I hear it isn't. Is it the same as either the 4.0 or 3.9 Magnums?

Looking into a close ratio NV3500 for my 98 5.9 ZJ.

The HD is a good choice but it seems like there are BH pattern compatibility issues. I don't think they were behind motors that fit the Magnum B/H bolt pattern.

 

http://dodgeram.org/tech/transmission/nv3500_spec.htm
Apparently the NV3550 is also rated at 300 lb-ft, but that's a "conservative" number.

Here: http://www.high-impact.net/transmiss...05_2l-5_9l.htm

 

I've seen those sites before but glad you linked to it. Reminded me it does say 3.9 and 5.2, no mention of the 4.0 or 4.7 so I guess that's a no-go.
However I think that is referring to the basic 3500 and not the HD.

See this post: http://www.dodgedakotas.com/boards/gen/12763.html
This says per New Venture the HD doesn't fit the Magnum series. I read elsewhere it is used on 2000 and up Wranglers but this says 4.7s too.

I'm going into this more on this post: https://dodgeforum.com/m_927039/tm.htm

The ratio I want is used in the HD or the 2WD 3500 from the Ram 2500 LD light duty. The HD won't bolt up, the 2WD doesn't help. The one that fits, a regular NV3500 from a 5.2 4WD Ram 1500 (or Dak?) is good but a little wider ratio than I'd like.

The 3550 is def a better choice but I think those are wider ratio too and they are also newer than the 3500s, probably not as widely available and therefore probably more expensive. It would also involve parts from a third vehicle.

I'm determined to do this with boneyard parts. I had it down to the 3500 from a 5.2 Ram or Dak and the flywheel and PCM from a Ram/Dak 5.9 5spd. The only fabbing should be the trans Xmember, possibly dshaft lengths and maybe the tcase linkage depending on which type I go with.

 

what are you trying to do, i read both posts and dont really understand these t-cases (at least that i have heard) last forever except in rare cases[&:]

 

Sharpshooter, I'm a little confused. You are right that I'm interested in the Tcase issue but not sure which post you got that from.

There were two issues here really.
I was trying to confirm the motor bellhousing bolt pattern. I pretty much have it confrimed that the 4.06 cyl, the Magnum V6 & V8s and the newer 4.7 motors each have completely different BH bolt patterns.

The last two posts are about trying to get the NV3500 5 speed with the close ratio. A 5.2 5spd 4WD Ram trans will fit my 5.9 but it has the wider ratio4.01 first gear. I wanted the closer 3.49 first gear but the two transmissions it comes in don't seem to fit my application.

The NV3500HD has the 3.49 1st but is only available behind 4.0s (2000 and up Wranglers) and maybe 4.7 Dodges so it won't bolt up.
The NV3500 2WD from Ram 2500 Light Duty will fit the 5.9 but it's 2WD. Neither one will work for me which is why I also posted about the possibility or swapping the internals of the HD box into the 5.2 NV3500 or seeing if it might be possible to use the rear half of a 5.2's 4WD NV3500 box to convert the 2WD box to 4WD.
I don't think anyone will know about this except maybe a trans rebuilder so I'm thinking of contacting New Venture myself to see if any of that case swapping is possible.

The Tcases I'm still reading up on. I actually like the 249 simply because I don't have to think about it. Most Jeepers don't seem to think much of the 249sreliability though. Some recommend going to the 242 and there is also a 249/247 hybrid. I think that might be because the 247 doesn't fit the newer transmission splines but I'm not sure about that yet.

So which Tcase were you refering to that lasts forever? I've heard the 247 Progressive clutches can go bad but not as often as the VCs go bad.

Like I said, still reading up on the last few bits of this swap.



I wasn't sure if my 249 would fit on a Dodge NV3500. I since found a post from a5.9 ZJ owner that used a Dodge Tcase so my Tcase should fit the Dodge trans.

So, initially assuming my 249 would not fit the

 

from the sounds of it, at least i thought that you were trying to switch your transfer case, i assumed because it had busted, and you need something with 4 wd, now it sounds like you are just trying to get one with a lower gear ratio inside, im confused so im just going to stop now

 

Sharpshooter, No reason to stop now! :-)

Here's the short story. Well short for me anyway!

I've been posting these questions for a while on a whole bunch of Jeep/Dodge/Mopar forums so I don't always remember what I wrote on which forum, or if the people that are responding already know about the project from past posts.

Project: 5 speed manual conversion on my 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited.(93 to 98areZJs) Current stock drivetrainis 5.9/46RE/NP249 - 4WD with viscous coupling. Most likely using an NV3500 from a 5.2/5spd/4WDRam or Dak to replace the 46RE auto.
Manuals weren't a ZJ option with the exception of the AX15 available behind the 4.0 I6 motor in 1993/94so it isn't quite a bolt in swap.
Online I've come across about three V8 ZJ swaps. One 5.9 ZJ (with a Vortec SC!)street build andtwo 93 or 94 5.2s offroad builds. The 5.9 guy never completed his writeup and has since sold the Jeep so I don't have a lot of his info.
Got some good info from people that have converted their 4.0s to 5spds and converted Wranglers to 5.9s etc too. Some of it applies, some doesn't.

My build is for mild street performance with the fun of driving a manual trans, not an offroad build. To that end I'm looking forgearing similar to what you would find in a musclecar.I also intend to build it initially "as Chrysler would have done it" if they made a V8 ZJ 5 speed.
I have the nuts and bolts of the swap down pretty much. Now I'm trying to iron out the details of which trans and Tcase are best for my swap.

NV4500 was the only trans Dodge used behind the 90s 5.9s but first gear is way too low for what I need. I'm looking for close ratio (higher first gear) NV35xx series. 3550 is a good swap. That is what High Impact uses in their Chrysler V8 Magnum kits - 3.9 Magnum AX15 bellhousing as an adapter. I figure those are newer than the 3500 and not as common so they'll be more expensive.

Most likely I'll be using the 3500 from a 5.2 4WD Ram or Dak. Straight across swap except Ineed the 5.9 flywheel.

Like I said above I just found out there are three 3500s. The two that don't fit my application have closer ratio - higher - first gears. I'm just trying to find out if those can be adapted in any way but financially I think my best option is the 5.2/4WD NV3500.

So I'm looking for close ratio higher first gears transmissions rather than any kind of low gearing wide ratio trannys.

Learning about Tcase options too. Looks like the NP249 was never used with any 5spd but it might fit anyway even though most Jeepers say to dump it. There are various 242/231/247 options I'm still learning about too.

I'm learning more every day but still don't know quite enough yet!

Take care - John