I have a vibration in my 98 quad cab short box 1500 that I just bought. It has a 318 with man trans with 150,000 miles on it. You cant really notice the vibration in 1st through 3rd but in 4th it starts to come on around 40mph to 55mph. Take the speed up to 65mph in 4th and it still vibrates pretty good but at the same speed (65mph) shifting into 5th it vibrates really bad. The shift lever and the 4wd lever both shake pretty good and you can also feel it in the pedals. Under a hard acceleration it is not noticed much but under normal acceleration its very noticeable. Let off on the gas and the vibration goes away. Sitting still with the pickup in neutral reeving up the engine there is no vibration. I do not think its the rear end because there is a big difference between 4th and 5th gears at the same speed (65mph). I already put on new wheels and tires and changed the rear u-joints and it still does it. I am thinking that I might have a bad gear or bearing in the tranny. From what I have read most tranny shops wont touch the nv3500 but I still have not checked around. Thought about changing over to the nv4500 but it sounds like it is a little taller tranny and you have to have a 2" body lift to clear it. Again I am think it is in the tranny because it goes from bad to worse in 4th and 5th gears at the same speed. This is all in 2wd. If you need anymore info let me know. Thanks for any input.

 

Just dropped the oil in the tranny and found a few small pieces of metal on the magnet but none of real concern. I jacked up the rear end of the pickup and ran it through all the gears and there is alot of noise coming from both the rear end and the tranny in 4th and 5th. I dropped the oil in the rear end and there is no metal on the magnet. The gears do seem pretty wore though. Still thinking it might be a tranny problem. You know how dealers like to change the oil and get all the metal out then refill with clean oil before they sell. Had a guy do that to me on my last kenworth.

 

I have the exact same issue and figured the it's something wore out in the trans.

 

Doesn't sound like the tranny to me, a bad tranny is usually accompanied by some sort of grinding noise. I'd look at the motor and tranny mounts.. Make sure you put the correct fluid back in the NV3500, it takes synchromesh, not gear oil. Doesn't sound anything like what my bad NV3500 did, which BTW the previous owner had put gear oil in and destroyed it. Usually when a manual tranny "goes bad", 4th gear is the quietest, since it isn't actually a gear, it's a direct drive (at least in most 4 and 5 speeds)


And a NV4500 will fit, a Ram body is a Ram body.

 

Not sure where it is at but a guy on here doing a nv3500 to nv4500 swap said he had to lift his body 2 inches to clear the nv4500 because it is taller, (if I understood him right). Could it be a bad bearing?

 

The body is the same, but I believe the 2500 frame is taller, so the NV4500 may need a body lift to fit in a 1500.
Gord.

 

nv4500 drops right in with no body lift or any kind of modification..just a 'tad' bit heavier being made out of cast and all..just make sure you get the shift tower with it

 

You sure it wasn't a Dakota swap?

Based on your description it doesn't sound like the tranny to me, try 3rd gear around those speeds (50-65) and see if it does it. If it still does I doubt it's the tranny. Also put your transfercase in neutral and run through some gears at various RPM to see if you hear/feel anything abnormal, note that 5th will make more noise than the other gears even in a good transmission.

 

sounds like something is out of balance.

http://www.procarcare.com/includes/c...RIVESHAFT.HTML

 

I would yank the drive shaft out and take a look at the tailshaft housing bushing. I wouldnt bother swapping over to the nv4500 unless your pushing big horsepower with large tires. The nv3500 is a very stout transmission.

Before i bought my F350 i used to use my fathers 97 2wd 5spd to haul things around i never should have hooked on to. Plus many, many, many clutch dumps (high school days, lol) His truck is on the verge of 200k.

You may have a drive shaft out of balance or the center support for the driveshaft could be bad, the manuals had a two piece driveshaft. Im not saying its not the transmission but usually if something internal goes to cause a vibration, youre going to hear some NOISE.