Ok yall. New to the forum and happy to be here. Got a new to me Ram 1500. Interestingly enough, it was purchased new by me too. Sold it to my little bro, and it has come back to me a few years later. Also have a 1990 W250 Cummins and a 2008 2500 Mega Cab 6.7 Cummins, and a 2008 Durango Hemi Limited in my little Dodge stable.

Anyway, its a 2003 1500 4x4 4.7 V8. It has the NV3500 5spd manual tranny. Truck has 63k on it and is in great shape, but the tranny, while drivable is a little clunky and will probably die shortly. Ive already looked into it and a rebuild is possible, but almost as expensive as a new tranny, and the NV3500 doesnt have the best rep to begin with.

So, here is my question. The 02 and 03 1500's had the 360 (5.9) option and behind it was the NV4500. As we all know, that would be a much much better choice for a tranny. Im wondering if the NV4500 would be a bolt in replacement for the NV3500. I have seen some info out there that says it is on the 2nd gen trucks (318 had the NV3500, 360 the NV4500), but nothing for the 3rd gens. I do think the NV4500 has a bit lower gear ratio too, which, me wanting to put 33" tires would be a small benefit too.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

ttt for some replies