Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

The rocker guard looks nice, can barely tell it's there. I'm digging the tranny too, it's too much fun to hammer on a cummins with a stick!

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

Thanks! Yes it is. Although, the manuals are fun, the autos are by far the most fun to drive! the last compound turbo truck we built had a built 47re in it and that was a blast to drive. That's why I was going to put a 47RH in this truck. But seeing how I needed to come up with a new ride for my wife, the 47RH was used in her truck instead. But, I can live with a dual disc and a NV4500 if I have to. :lol: Here comes 3rd gear burn outs!:devil:

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

what rear end and front end are you using?? im building my 88 and i wanna run 52's but i dont kno what will hold up!! any suggestions:smoke:

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

He has a D80 out of a 98-01 Dodge and a D60 out of a 1988 V30.

Ry, do we have a 4k in my 160???

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

I may have to get a set of those cab lights! It's going to be a real nice truck! Reading your thread has helped get me started on mine.

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

Thanks. Hopefully one of these days it will be able to move under it's own power. :lol:

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

I may know someone that can help ya get em too...:agree:

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

If i could afford the upgrades for an auto i would have that too. instead i am shooting for a six speed if one pops up. if not ill go with the 4500. i just dont like the 3-4 gear split in the 5ers.

looking good

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

Yeah, I have all the goodies except billet hard parts for the 47RH for the 76. It'll be a stout trans for sure. On the NV4500, it really isn't that bad with 300-350hp. Try a ZF5 behind a cummins and then let's talk 3-4 gear split. :lol:

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

If you run a P7100 and a 4K kit you hardly notice the 3-4 issue people complain about.

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

And, if you have power, you hardly notice it. :lol:

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

the only 4500 truck i have driven was a vp44 24v with mild chippage. it sucked with a loaded stock trailer. i am glad to hear the word of experience though. that makes the takeout nv4500 i saw on CL look alot more appealing. i know a 4500 will fit in the tranny tunnel. i also know that the 5600s are huge beasts that take up a boatload of room and unlike the 4500s i cant lift it in by myself with no jack.

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

And a VP44 isn't a good testament to the rpm range of a 4500 or power. Swing by in lat April and early May and you can ride in 2 NV4500 Cummins and see what the "gap" really is. And the fact that the NV5600 is 2800-3300 to fix if there are issues. Plus the 3rd and 4th gear synchro issues, and the gear gap in them too.

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

I need to study up on the 6BT... I'm lost ;)

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

Here in the next few weeks I might have this truck running. If it happens, I'll post vids of the drive with a NV4500.

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

You get that beauty driving and I'll be jealous and thinking of mine sitting back in SoDak.

You can head up there and finish mine up if you need to, the keys are in the house.;)

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

:lol: You won't have to worry about that. It'd be middle of the summer before I could get there. The list of things to do keeps growing. :ito:

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

Ryan, looking like good progess was made! Did he spray the bed and fenders, hood etc. or do they still need paint?

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

The bottom of the hood was the only other thing that has been painted so far. He claims he's ready to paint the front fenders, hood, and cowl now. He doesn't want the bed until the front half is done. He also said he painted the core support as well. I have to wait to gather some more money to go buy paint so it can be knocked over, I mean applied to my parts. :smoke:

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

Truck looks great Ryan. Glad too see ya got some color on it!!! Won't be long now.

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

I call that the snowball effect, the farther it goes the bigger it gets!

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

fortunately i think outside of a quick shot out of Sioux Falls, SD at the end of next month i will not be anywhere near iowa this year. but plans do change. find me a good p-pump 12v at a decent price an i may hitch on out there. as for the cost of repair... i have no fear of taking things apart so long as the parts themselves dont cost an armload. since our exchange last night i have decided that 4500s dont hurt my feelings anymore and i will probably go that route unless the 6er just happens at the right time/price. mostly i just need the damn engine. i crave fabwork. all this paint stripping is driveing me nuts

looking forward to a bad air video

ryan

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

That's part of the issue, the parts alone are dang near the cost of a reman unit on the NV5600's, along with the fact you MUST have a 100 ton press to disassemble and reassemble the transmission. That alone makes it not worth messing with in my book.

Are 6BT's that hard to find in Colorado, or are they just high in price?

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

Well feel free to ask, questions never hurt.

This is a catch 22 for him and me, customers projects or our own.... Who's to work on first... lol

Re: Finally starting my Longhorn 4x4 conversion
 

we have a press of that capacity at work, it may be a little smaller than that. the neighbor has a huge monster though, 250 ton maybe. i can't remember but watching him press the wheels off the axles of rail cars is extreme and the press is enormous. either way it doesn't sound like any fun to deal with. i've been inside a few 4500, so that is familiar territory.

they aren't necessarily hard to find, but trucks don't rust away to nothing here and there are not as many "farm" trucks that get beat to hell but still have good powertrains so they are fewer and further apart. i can find VE motors all day long. also see more of the 24v than the p-pump stuff. ive thought about buying a 24v and doing the conversion.