Hi all. I have a 98 1500, 2 wheel drive, V6, with a 5-speed transmission that, I believe has a counter shaft bearing going out. I have read alot about rebuilding the tranny, and I am unsure if I want to tackle that. This evening I located a 5-speed tranny from a 2004 ram for a resonable price. Will this work on my truck? Iknow that the nv3500 was used until 2001, but will this tranny bolt up? If so, will there have to be any other mods done?
Thanks so much for your time,
Dave

 

You'd be a daredevil attempting to rebuild your own transmission. Trust me, i did some digging myself when my 46re went out. You'd need a 800lbs press machine to get some sort of spring to unlock or something when you get half-way into it. I'm not sure if it's the same with manual transmissions but it's something to go off of. the 04 NV3500 may bolt up, but i'm sure some electrical connections would be different. I could be wrong but none-the-less I'd just get it rebuilt. It'd be alot safer and I was only charged 910 to get my rebuilt because i did all the labor of taking it out of the truck and taking it to the shop. If you wanna save money, do that. But if you don't have access to a shop like i do, it would be a hassle. Goodluck.

 

The 800 pound gorilla, erm... spring... is in the auto trans O/D section. Manual trans don't have it.

I think the NV3500 has an integral bellhousing does it not? You can't unbolt the trans from the bellhousing. The newer transmissions will have the wrong bolt pattern, and I don't think they will bolt up to the older magnum engines. (unless the donor trans is currently bolted to the six, or v-8 magnum?)

 

I really doubt that it is on a magnum.

Okay, so I downloaded the service manual for the nv3500. It doesn't look to awful bad to rebuild except tis little bit of info:

"The countershaft bearing and races are machine lapped during manufacture to form matched sets. The bearings and races should not be interchanged.

NOTE: The bearing races are a permanent press fit
in the housings and are NOT serviceable. If a bearing
race becomes damaged, the front or rear housing
must be replaced. A new countershaft bearing
will be supplied with each new housing for service

use."

Does this mean the countershaft bearings are not replaceable? Don't they come in the rebuild kit?
Thanks again,
Dave

 

[quote=magoo63601;2749250]..... If a bearing

race becomes damaged, the front or rear housing
must be replaced..."

You will need the rebuild kit AND the front and rear housing....which will come with the bearings installed and machine lapped.

 

I'm not sure that the race is damaged, but I'm pretty sure the countershaft bearing is making a noise in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th. If I cannot replace the countershaft bearings without replacing the casings, then why even mess with this tranny?