AUXILIARY TRANSMISSION
phil w
Chevy 6.5 turbo/Allison 4 speed. I'm looking for a little more
oomph on the hills and on ramps. An old RV hand suggested
this way to go, rather than chips, boosts, etc.
Anyone have a history with one? What brand worked the best,
Gear Vendors or US Gear? Any others? Who best to buy from?
What say you smart people?
Will Sill
We used the US Gear OD and liked it. It did little for mileage but a
lot for drivability. We felt the GV unit was lightly built and
overpriced.
Q: Are you sure there is enough space in your driveline for the OD?
Will Sill
Neon John
I have some experience with the Gear Vendors unit. I used one on a
street/strip car. It allowed me to run the low gear rear end necessary for
drag racing and then shift into overdrive to achieve gearing suitable for the
street driving.
the unit performs as advertised and handled several hundred HP without
complaint.
That said, I think you will get more bang for the buck doing some tuning on
the engine. I have a friend who put one of those engines in an old Suburban,
then did some speed tuning. He does his own "chip" work (actually via a
laptop these days.) He installed larger injectors, turned up the wastegate
and fabricated a better exhaust.
This thing screams. I used it to tow my high performance Caprice to Ohio to a
specialty tranny shop. The Suburban, about 8 guys, the trailer and the car
topped out at about 20k lbs. This thing pulled harder than my mom's small MH
with the big block chevy engine. I took shifts driving but the standard was
'set the cruise on 80 and go". My stint was through Kentucky. Even in all
those hills I don't thing the tranny ever kicked out of overdrive. I could
merge into traffic from an on ramp without using full throttle. Nice.
Diesels respond beautifully to more fuel and air. The added air can come from
a better intake (trading noise for power) and exhaust. Modern fuel injectors
are fairly wide range so reprogramming the computer will handle that. In
fact, if your engine is a late model one, the tuning can be done through the
diagnostic port. No chips necessary.
The Banks system works, though I think it is a bit pricey. The advantage is,
everything you need comes in the box. A local high performance muffler outfit
can make the bigger exhaust and intake. There are a number of people who
provide reprogramming services. But the Banks system has it all in one
package. Time vs money, as usual.
John
---
John De Armond
johngdDO...@bellsouth.net
http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/o/johngd/
Cleveland, Occupied TN
D.J. Osborn
Just remember that--despite the "Over/Underdrive" name--the GearVendors unit
is *only* an overdrive.
--
D.J., N8DO; FMCA 147762
davidjosborn at sbcglobal dot net
phil w
Good point. No, I'm not sure.