Has anybody installed a Gear Vendors over/underdrive?

[robroy]

Hi!

I've been looking at the Gear Vendors overdrive/underdrive unit for my T18.

Has anybody installed one of these? Any experiences to tell about?

Thanks!
-Robroy

[FORDification]

http://www.fordification.com/torque-splitter.htm

[averagef250]

They're not bad, but not great either. The GV is just a slightly beefed up earopean car (think volvo) overdrive unit with it's own oil pump and controls. The GV's shift using cone clutches under hydraulic pressure. If you use them a lot, especially under high power/heavy rigs they wear out and it doesn't really take that long either. The major downer to the GV is when they wear out it's sudden and your done. When the cone clutches wear to the point of no longer grabbing you don't just lose overdrive, you lose everything. They also run $700 every time you need to overhaul it.

[robroy]

Hi Dustin, Steve, and Keith, thanks for the replies!

Keith, the torque splitter that you have the excellent article on is indeed a different unit. Maybe it's better--it sure is simpler and less expensive!

Steve, I actually heard from Nick at Gear Vendors that they don't recommend using the clutchless shift on our trucks. He said something about our trucks having rear suspension that provides way too much give to sudden changes in torque, and that causes the effect of clutchless shifting to be too rough to be worth it. They recommend pushing in the clutch to shift when the GV's on a Bumpside.

Naturally hearing that made me less interested than I originally was, since a smooth, clutchless shift would make it a lot more fun to drive.

Dustin, that's interesting info on how the GV is assembled! And it's interesting to note that they do wear out relatively quickly. They offer only a one year warranty for the GV when installed in a truck with a manual transmission.

Thanks for the great advice! I'd be curious to hear from anybody who actually installed one of these in a Bumpside, to see how the clutchless shift works.

Thanks again,
-Robroy

[willowbilly3]

I borrowed a friends 3500 Chevy with a 454 and the Ranger 2 speed. It worked nice but the splits weren't very even on the Muncie. 4th direct and 3rd over were so close together as to render one of them unnecessary.