Lot of work involved. Highly suggest a donor truck.... its the little things you don't think about until you get into the swap that are 10x harder to find later when you need them. Steering column piece is different (remove shifter pin). Blockoff piece for the prnd21 indicator. In his the OD switch was on the dash so it needed the blank plate to remove it. He swapped the engine wire harness with his because the o2 connectors were different. The pedal assembly is mounted behind the dash and would be a huge chore to install with the dash still in place... if even possible. Major snag my roommate caught with his swap in his 97 was the computer. He went with a 97 (same year) 2500 to get the nv4500 trans. His truck was 5.2, donor was 5.9... had to get a pcm from solopcms to have the manual 5.2 tune with his vin number put in. Aparently the computer can tell based on the vin whether it is an auto trans or not.... were told by many people that was the case. PCM from solopcms did the trick. No cel for torque converter lockup etc... and can pass inspection with the correct vin. Because the trans may be shorter, you may need a longer driveshaft (from the donor). It really all depends.
After thoughts after the swap.... cool as hell (especially downshifting). With his 4.56 gearing, 1st is completely useless. In fact.. I think the low gearing which was perfect for the automatic may have hurt with the manual. I don't feel like the truck whines out as far as it should before going to the next gear, and as a result you end up giving it more gas to bring it back up in the usable rpm range after the shift. Ended up getting about 12mpg the one time we tested it too with the 33's on the highway. His automatic did better than that (not by much lol, but still better).
Final thoughts... I found his donor truck super cheap on craigslist... so he ended up just about breaking even between selling his donor truck parts, and buying the transfer case rebuild kit, clutch and fly wheel, bolts, etc... among other things. If you can find a steal on a donor truck, go for it if you really want to. After seeing and helping with a swap.... and the end result, I am not doing it to mine. I am not afraid of the work and time, but... the end result and hassle just didn't pay off when I look at it. Sad part is the swap wasn't completed that long ago... and his truck will be going up for sale soon. After the whole ordeal, i decided if I want a manual, ... its gonna be in a diesel
Topic: Tranny Swap (Read 827 times)
