Opinions on the Spicer 6+1 transmissions

[jazty]

Hola all.

I have dreams of swapping out my transmission (who doesn't, right? ). The 5 speed is useful enough and gets me perfectly acceptable highway speeds, but it'd be nice to have closer gears in the upper end. The distance between 1st, 2nd and 3rd is fine, but it 3rd to 4th and 4th to 5th has a bigger gap than I'd like. Revving up to the governor is required to have any pull after shifting up to the next gear. I think 2 extra gears would do the trick just fine.

Now, I've heard a handful of bad things about the Spicer 6+1, particularly that it can be difficult to find all positions. Has anyone around here had real world experience with them? Or more importantly, want to sell me one?

Also, why is it called a 6+1, not a 7-speed?

[Hvbuzz]

Mine is a ES52-7a. Which has the 6+1 on the shifter. It does not have overdrive. What I've read is the plus one refers to the granny gear. It is 10:1 and not synchronized. Hence why they call it plus one. I have never liked the way it shifts. It is hard to find gears sometimes. I find as long as I'm not trying to speed shift it, I hit all the gears. Someday I think I would like to swap a 13speed. But that looks like it will be a few years out.

There is a spicer Eso66-7b that is a 7 speed also. But it has the overdrive. I've seen it called the 6+1 also.

[cowlitzcoach]

You don't say to which engine you will be mating that transmission. You may want to look at one of the Eaton-Fuller Road Ranger dual range transmissions instead.

I doubt the cost would be that much different and having the dual range will really keep the RPM's in the sweet spot.

They come in many configurations that come with deep low, or overdrive, or combinations of both.

Personally, as I have become older I much prefer to be shiftless than shifty. My clutch knee is getting pretty gimpy and having to shift multiple times while stuck in the perpetual traffic jam that seems to exist in Portland and Seattle just doesn't have much appeal for me any longer.

[cowlitzcoach]

Alternatively, if you should choose to go the route of upgrading to an automatic, you may want to consider purchasing a donor bus for the parts and scrapping the rest.

Many times the cost of the bus is less than what the cost of the swapped transmission would cost outright without a core.

After swapping you would then have the rest of the bus for parts or scrap, perhaps nearly enough to pay for what you paid for the donor bus.

This particular bus has the Allison MT653 5-speed and really high speed rear gears.

1990 International BB 1HVBB27N1LH288586 - TheBusDealer.com - Auburn, Washington 98001

[jazty]

Thanks for the input, guys!

I'm a shifty guy Perhaps I'm a control freak, but automatics irritate me. Whether it's in my Subaru Legacy, the full-size van I used to drive, the F550s... They never seem to shift where _I_ want them to shift. Often times I'll end up shifting manually, anyway. My knee is doing ok, so I best get some good use of it!

Whatever manual transmission I end up getting will go behind the T444e in my half bus. A Road Ranger would be great. I expect I'll need to shorten a drive-shaft and put in a small air system, but that's no problem.

I've been keeping my eye on cheap buses and circa '97-'99 IH 4700s. Scrap price is down right now, but if I can find a suitable donor within the $1000-$2000 range I can take what I need and get a reasonable bit of cash back when I'm finished.

[Hvbuzz]

Jatzy,
If you really want to do a transmisson swap, you should read through this thread.

MT4Runner's Toterhome (UHaul) Project - Page 15 - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum

He swapped out the spicer 5 speed in his uhaul conversion, for the spicer eso66-7b. It would be a very close swap to what you have. His is just idi, to your 444e. He was real pleased with the out come. He needed the overdrive, not sure if that is what you are looking for too, or just more gears. Either way, its a real good read.

I didn't have time to add in my last post that the ES52-7a and the ESO66-7b are identical on the outside.

ES52


ESO66


Also a good site to look for truck parts.
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