Smith-02

find an older cast iron 5spd from the old international school busses, good for 750 ft lbs, t34 is od, t35/36 are direct 5th, all with 7.2-6.5:1 first gear

trans's are about 180-220lbs, but ----, do you really want aluminum housed trans on a diesel?

Hellbert

every transmission from the early to mid 90s is aluminum housed what are u talking about? manual or auto as long as ur ***** on point theres nothing to worry about?

Smith-02

cast iron will take much more abuse than aluminum.

ever wonder why anything over a 3500/f350 has cast iron trans's in the hd, manual lines? if he's gonna tow, ---- autotragics, manuals where its at. 4low gearing for first gear, thats what you need to move heavy ----

imburne

Duralast pushrods? My friend works at autozone and if you buy enough parts you get a "powered by DURALAST" sticker

blackice90hb

yeah, you get those when you buy Duralact gasket sets too. ---- Autozone, Im happy I dont work there anymore.

Hellbert

most all newer manuals except the NV stuff is aluminum. all fords heavy trannys are and them damn ZFs are bad *** and give no problems. i understand what ur saying and not calling u a liar but here lately stuff seems to be leaning more towards the aluminum side of things untill u get out of light duty trucks. but heck even in bigger stuff, alisons are all aluminum now and granted they have a big cast center support but the case its self is. ive heard word of a new road ranger series from eaton thats aluminum. its on of those fancy *** auto shift manuals though so no worry about slaming gears anymore from over eager drivers

boosthappyef

Yeah, I have looked into doing the cummins swap myself. I was kind of surprised at how many people have done it. I've seen a lot more people doing it in the 3500's though. I don't know. The biggest reason for thinking about the duramax, was that my uncle owns a tow truck company and also has an impound yard, and he has a wrecked 04' in his yard right now, and I could probably get it for a hell of a deal. But the more I've read up, it sounds like the wiring and engine and drive train management ----, takes a whole lot more work and headache than I had anticipated. I think I'll do some more research this week though and then decide for sure which way to go. I know a buddy of mine has 700r4 in his shop and I have a turbo 400 in the back of the my garage, so maybe I'll research that route too. Thanks for all the advice thus far..Keep it coming.

89shithatch

find an older powerstroke that came turbo. some of the older ones did.

Hellbert

um...all powerstrokes are turbo...? i think what yall are refering to is the old IDI 7.3 engines. the powerstroke came out in 95 i believe, befor that they were all just 7.3s. some came from the factory with a banks kit and there are some aftermarket banks sidewinder kits floating around that are way more bad *** that the factory ones and they still only have a little over 200 hp. cummins is still the best way to go hands down. they have a lot more power and parts are more plentiful. the best way to actually go about it is to find an engine sitting at a junk yard and get some good solid measurements on it. check pan clearance for all the front end stuff deck height and ESPECIALLY length! height and the pan isnt that big of a deal, cowl hoods and custom pans fix that fast. moving radiators in trucks or rebuilding firewalls is a bitch even more so when heat and ac will be kept... trust me...rangers and 460s dont get along well!

boosthappyef

Yeah, for some reason I'm thinking a 460 might be a tight fit in that.