CJ trans

73cj5guy27

New member
so i was wondering has anyone took out the stock 73 trans u know the old 3 speed and put like a 4 or 5 speed in, and is the 3 speed a good trans cause i live in the mountains of sierra neveda and my truck i had did good but was a 5 speed and some hills i had to go into 2nd to climb so was wondering how the 3 speeds were and or if it would be smart to put a better trans in or a auto
 

so i was wondering has anyone took out the stock 73 trans u know the old 3 speed and put like a 4 or 5 speed in, and is the 3 speed a good trans cause i live in the mountains of sierra neveda and my truck i had did good but was a 5 speed and some hills i had to go into 2nd to climb so was wondering how the 3 speeds were and or if it would be smart to put a better trans in or a auto

I like the 3 speed especially on trails because you have to shift less and I find that I can take it all the way up the hill in 2nd or 3rd. I think it adheres to my laziness :lol:. plus, and this is just my opinion, I think it is pretty strong and unique lol
 
ok so it should do good on the road too then cause i had a xj before but not a real jeep so i was like why a 3 speed haha. and if i have stock gears and stock tire size how would the gas be on it
 
I did a trans swap with my 1978 cj5 from that junk 3 speed to a T18 4 speed about 12 years ago and I was going to keep it for a spare but after I put that 4 speed in I was hooked! I was living in grass valley and took it to the rubicon with no problem. I had stock 3:55 gears I6 and a Dana 300 x-case. O and I ran 33x12 all terrain tires. Yeah I never flew up the hills to lake tahoe but it did better on and off road with the t18 4 speed. Plus the granny gear is great.
 

and a t18 should bolt up to the 304? or will i have to change the bell housing
 
It will not bolt up! A 73 3speed is either a T14 behind the six or a T15 behind the V8..
Either way you need to change the bell housing.. a T18/19/sm420 is Ford or a SM465 is chevy.. my experience is to use a Ford because of its size!
I put a T19 out of a Ford bronco 85' in my 74..
YOu wil need a bell housing from a T176 trany jeep in the 80's..
If you find a trany from a Jeep be carefull on the input shaft length and try to find one already with the "Texas" bolt pattern for your transfer.
You have lots of options! Get on the Novak Adapters web site and due some research.. they have lots of info on there about tranys..
 

A 4 speed will give you a low first gear!
2nd gear will be about were the 3 speed first is now!
4th gear is one-one just like the 3 speed in 3rd gear!
SO you keep your road ability but drop down for slow crawling!
You will really like the swap.......
 
A couple things to think about!
1) a adapter to the 3 speed bell will cost more than a correct bellhousing!
2) if you use the 3 speed bell you will be adding a lot of length to the drivetrain and the rear driveline will be real short! a 4 speed is longer than a three speed plus you will probably need a adapter to your t-case!
3) with a correct bell housing you will not need to change your input shaft!

It just doesn't pencil out for the swap in your rig! Check out AA and Novak!
 

well this is down the road but as soon as i fix my clutch problem im going to look for a 4 speed and everything i will need so it gets done right.
 
What would you give for a '76 T-18 with a novac adaptor and a dana 20 x-case in great condition. The only thing wrong is there is some free play in the shifter. You can't hardly find a 30 plus year old shift tower that doesn't have some wear. I took it out of my jeep to put in another t-18 with a dana 300x-case.
 

You know you could buy a remanufactured one and not deal with any problems of a used one. Correct mr if I'm wrong, I think 4wp has transmissions in their mag.
 
You wont have any issues with a used T18.. those are truck tranys! The shifters are sloppy and shift like an old truck.
Make sure you get a 6-1 ratio and not a 4-1..
That would be a great setup and a bell housing would complete the setup..
 
ya like i said the transmission swap is down the road so i will get a good one when i do but finding out everything now
 

stumpbumper said:
You wont have any issues with a used T18.. those are truck tranys! The shifters are sloppy and shift like an old truck.
Make sure you get a 6-1 ratio and not a 4-1..
That would be a great setup and a bell housing would complete the setup..

How do you tell between the different ratios curious about mine in my 78 cj7 and if its the 4 to 1 is it cost worthy to tear the transmission apart to change it I love the crawl with out stacked transfers
 
Easiest way to be sure of ratio is to clock it.. if its out of rig!
put trany in first gear and transfer in 2 hi and turn the output of transfer by hand!
for one revolution on output shaft --the input should turn 6 times 6-1

thats trhe easiest!

That is a great setup.. if you really want to sell it go on the EarlyCJ5.forum and put it up for sale!
it would be gone fast!
what are ou wanting for it?? if you were closer I would probably snag it myself!
 
I think the ford t-18 that I have is 6.39 to 1 in 1st gear. The trans was bought for 300, the adaptor was 500 and the install was another 200, the x-case was 200 so I've got about $1200 in it. I'd ask about half for it. The only reason I took it out of my jeep was cause I wanted the dana 300 x-case. I wouldn't trade one of these for a new transmission unless it was an nv-4500. I might even have a bell housing laying around somewhere in the garage.
 
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