The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Gear Vendors??

I heard mention of a company called Gear Vendors, and it sound like they make an auxillary overdrive unit/s? I have a 61 short-fleet with a 235 and a 4spd. I desperately want an overdrive or new tranny, is this easier/cheaper than a new transmission? Your thoughts and ideas please?

Here is the link: http://www.gearvendors.com/ A buddy of mine put one on his 17 ft box van and it made a big difference, but it cost like $2,000 not including install which he did himself. It works very well. You'd probably do better to just find a vinatge one for your truck.

Yeah, everyone waants a Truckstell!

I have used the Gearvendors "Over/UnderDrive" on a 1991 Dodge Cummins Diesel.

It is hell for stout.

The ole truck had 4.10 gears and a Getrag 5 speed.
It got 22 mpg prior to the overdrive install and it got 25 mpg after.

The unit that you are asking about also lets you split some of your gears which lets you stay right in the engine's torque curve.

I paid $800.00 in 1992 for mine and did the install myself, except for the driveline work.

The only concern I would have is that on an old truck, the OD unit may allow you to put too much strain on the old gearbox. However that m,ay not even be an issue in your case.

They are expensive units but they work as advertised.

Good luck.

most people with 235s go with an s10 t5 five speed.

for my 61 the overdrive is $2500! wow that is way too much. looks like i get to buy a t-5 and go that route. i am nervous about doing this swap and he info in the tech tips is for an AD truck. are there books about this swap? i also want to make sure and get the right tranny, which one do i want? i want a general purpose tranny, that can work, and more importantly cruise on the highway without crying uncle. please help!

Gear Vendors Over/Underdrives are the sheet. Most people think they're spending the money simply to get an "overdrive" option...they're not, they're getting a lot more. The O/U's are "gear splitters" in essence, so while you add 28% or so to your final drive ratio, you also split the difference between 1st-2nd and 2nd-3rd. Comes in real handy when you have bad ratio combo to begin with--you alleviate all the "down-rpm" between normal shifts if you know what I mean. They make stand-alone units that work with torque-tubes, too. There's typically no strain on the tranny, actually less in 3rd-over's case. Still, having a full-synchro unit to begin with is helpful. I wouldn't run a GV on a real early manual trans myself.