Duramax swap future project

[Brian_A]

Hey newbie here, I have a ton of questions about putting a lbz or lly duramax into a third gen 1 ton truck. Would a nv4500 transmission work? Will a np205 transfer case handle the power behind the nv4500? Id do a np205 np208 doubler for hunting and off road out in the mountains. And I've been doing just a little research on buying an lbz or lly and its around 4000 for one on ebay with around 160000 miles. Are there any better places to buy one? I'm worried that it might not run or something and Id rather not have to spend more than I have to. Give me your advice thanks! I'm still new to the diesel scene so no flaming please

[Brian_A]

I wont do any crazy mods or anything just a daily driver and I'd be holding onto this truck for a very, very long time.

[TDFDiesel]

What year range is a "3rd gen"? We've had a few members swap into 90s body trucks, but it's a project especially if you want everything to work.

I think they all ran an Allison trans, any reason you want to go a different route on the trans?

[KillDevilHill]

Check out car-part.com basically a hub of salavage yards that are all linked to a search. Some pricey ones on therex some cheap ones too.

I'm putting one into a 79 bronco, Allison 6 speed.

Have you heard of ppe? Pacific performance engineering. Call em up and talk to them. Basically they make it almost plug and play. You send em a stock engine harness, and for the low low price of 1200 bucks they modify it to work with a swap, you just make like 6-7 external connections and Walla, starts right up, in theory. You'll need the acc pedal out of a gm truck, ecm, tcm if you want to run an allison, factory wiring harness, and a few other small things...oh, and obviously a engine. You can also buy one of their tuners, or go with efi live for tuning it.

[KillDevilHill]

And, yes you can bolt a np205 to a nv4500. Folks also use a zf6 manual, 6 speed, low first gear, not quite a granny gear, but low, and 2 over drive gears IIRC. Look on 4btswaps.com there's a whole write up on Allison's, it talks about atratching an allison to a no205. It's been done, but some assembly required.

[Brian_A]

Sweet thanks! Im doing the nv4500 because of cost and the low crawler gear. Also its stronger than the allison. I haven't looked at the zf6 much but I like the nv4500 so far from looking at it I did gear ratio speed calculators and they match up perfectly for crawling along and it'll still hit 100 mph. Will it bolt up to the Dmax? That's my main concern if it won't ill go with the zf6. The only mods im going go do to the dmax is a larger air intake, efi live on a fairly mellow tune, and 5 or 6 inch exhaust to just let it breathe. Im guessing that won't hurt the longevity of the lbz?

[Brian_A]

Originally Posted by TDFDiesel

What year range is a "3rd gen"? We've had a few members swap into 90s body trucks, but it's a project especially if you want everything to work.

I think they all ran an Allison trans, any reason you want to go a different route on the trans?

The third gen is from 1973 to 1987 right now im looking at a 1985. And the nv4500 is tougher than the allison and cheaper.

[clinebarger]

Originally Posted by Brian_A

The third gen is from 1973 to 1987 right now im looking at a 1985. And the nv4500 is tougher than the allison and cheaper.

Max input torque on a GM NV4500 is 440 ft. lbs, Dodge 4500HD's have a rating of 460 ft. lbs. (1/8" bigger input shaft).
I wore a NV4500HD plum out in a '97 Dodge in 150K with around 600 ft. lbs., But I was exceeding the torque rating.

My stock Allison has 285,000 miles on it with 650 ft. lbs......Because its rated for it. In my experiance the Allison is better at taking 600 ft. lbs. than a NV4500.

[Brian_A]

Originally Posted by clinebarger

Max input torque on a GM NV4500 is 440 ft. lbs, Dodge 4500HD's have a rating of 460 ft. lbs. (1/8" bigger input shaft).
I wore a NV4500HD plum out in a '97 Dodge in 150K with around 600 ft. lbs., But I was exceeding the torque rating.

My stock Allison has 285,000 miles on it with 650 ft. lbs......Because its rated for it. In my experiance the Allison is better at taking 600 ft. lbs. than a NV4500.

Thanks I'll definitely keep that in mind, the reading I've done and according to the people at pirate4x4 they said a nv4500 can handle up to 1,000 horsepower without mods but im guessing thats wrong. I'll look into allisons and see if I can find a good price and compare. If I decide to go with an allison I'll have to figure out the transfer case. I want to be able to go down to 4:1 for crawling

[Brian_A]

Originally Posted by clinebarger

Max input torque on a GM NV4500 is 440 ft. lbs, Dodge 4500HD's have a rating of 460 ft. lbs. (1/8" bigger input shaft).
I wore a NV4500HD plum out in a '97 Dodge in 150K with around 600 ft. lbs., But I was exceeding the torque rating.

My stock Allison has 285,000 miles on it with 650 ft. lbs......Because its rated for it. In my experiance the Allison is better at taking 600 ft. lbs. than a NV4500.

Looking at prices of the allison and all the electrical that I'd have to do, and not being able to do a np205 without modifying it I think I'll stick with my original plan to do a nv4500.