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Old 03-10-2019, 03:55 AM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Spicer Transmission Swap or diff swap

Hey, I have the DT466 mechanical with the spicer 7 speed es 52. That means 7 is direct. I may have found another spicer 7 speed es 66 with 7th being an overdrive. Was wondering if I can just swap them out and they will bolt right up or if I would have to do some modifications. Also I have a 4.78 rear end and was wondering what might be a better option bc this yard has some rear diffs for sale too, however haven't gotten the ratios from the guy yet. so was wondering what you guys thought. Also I have low pro 10Rs on right now as well so maybe that would be another thing to add to the equation. let me know what you think.

also side note, the es 66 has quite a few less miles on it than mine

Thanks!

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Old 03-10-2019, 07:46 AM   #2
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Originally Posted by alexzckary View Post
Hey, I have the DT466 mechanical with the spicer 7 speed es 52. That means 7 is direct. I may have found another spicer 7 speed es 66 with 7th being an overdrive. Was wondering if I can just swap them out and they will bolt right up or if I would have to do some modifications. Also I have a 4.78 rear end and was wondering what might be a better option bc this yard has some rear diffs for sale too, however haven't gotten the ratios from the guy yet. so was wondering what you guys thought. Also I have low pro 10Rs on right now as well so maybe that would be another thing to add to the equation. let me know what you think.

also side note, the es 66 has quite a few less miles on it than mine

Thanks!
10R isn't low pro.
You can go with 11R's but they're only about an inch taller.

Gearing is always a decent upgrade but I'd go for a a manual trans with OD swap in your case.
OD is always nice.
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Old 03-10-2019, 11:46 AM   #3
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Most will say go with overdrive, however I prefer direct drive and gear the rear for the speed you want. The reason being that in direct drive there is no load on any gears, so means less wear, and less heat in the trans,and to a small degree less fuel.

Now if you are doing a lot of slower speed driving then you are "down in the gears" anyway so all that is out the window. But then you would not be looking to re gear.
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Old 03-10-2019, 12:02 PM   #4
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Ya it's what the customer thinks they want now-a-days like the overdrive bullshit. The stealers found out that the customers think they want OD to help with fuel mileage so they gave it to them whether it works or not. There is nothing wrong with a taller rear gear and a lower first gear in the tranny and that will do exactly the same thing as OD, which loads the tranny gears all the time creating heat and UN-necessary wear. Better yet throw another gear or 2 in the tranny and things would be SWEET. My girlfriends Yota has a 6 speed automatic, WHY, IT'S THE TREND STUPID!
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Old 03-10-2019, 12:02 PM   #5
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Normally I'd suggest a rear-gear swap, but in your case, a trans swap may make more sense - especially if a new clutch is in store. In fact, unless the clutch is fairly new, I'd go ahead and swap it out while the trans is removed.
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Old 03-10-2019, 05:12 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Ronnie View Post
Most will say go with overdrive, however I prefer direct drive and gear the rear for the speed you want. The reason being that in direct drive there is no load on any gears, so means less wear, and less heat in the trans,and to a small degree less fuel.

Now if you are doing a lot of slower speed driving then you are "down in the gears" anyway so all that is out the window. But then you would not be looking to re gear.
With the OD version, isn't he next lower gear 1:1?
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Old 03-10-2019, 05:13 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by Brad_SwiftFur View Post
Normally I'd suggest a rear-gear swap, but in your case, a trans swap may make more sense - especially if a new clutch is in store. In fact, unless the clutch is fairly new, I'd go ahead and swap it out while the trans is removed.
Yeah this^^
any time I have an engine out of anything I replace the wear items in the clutch assembly if they're not real nice.
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Old 03-10-2019, 05:28 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
With the OD version, isn't he next lower gear 1:1?
Most likely yes. Although I am not familiar with this trans so do not know for sure.

Certainly agree a new clutch anytime the engine is out or trans is out.
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Old 03-11-2019, 09:01 AM   #9
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In your scenario, I'd prefer the eso66.

Reason being is that with that transmission and rear axle, direct will give you 55 mph at a 2100 rpm, and shifting to overdrive will put you in at about 1700 rpm for good fuel economy. The rpm spacing is a little tall with that transmission but, it should work out okay.

It should be a direct swap as long as the input shafts are the same. They make dozens of different one depending on the length,spline count , and pilot diameter.

The clutch housing might be different as well, but you should be able to swap the two easily enough.
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Old 03-11-2019, 03:05 PM   #10
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Thanks

This helped a lot, I’ll let you know what I decide to do!
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Old 03-11-2019, 03:12 PM   #11
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speaking of Spicer transmissions, I notice of the few buses advertised on Kijiji with 5 speed Spicer transmissions, that two of them say that 4th gear doesn't work, "but they drive ok anyway" I doubt that driving without a gear is ok, but is a 4th gear loss in a spicer transmission something that happens very often?
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Old 03-11-2019, 08:17 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sleddgracer View Post
speaking of Spicer transmissions, I notice of the few buses advertised on Kijiji with 5 speed Spicer transmissions, that two of them say that 4th gear doesn't work, "but they drive ok anyway" I doubt that driving without a gear is ok, but is a 4th gear loss in a spicer transmission something that happens very often?

The 4th gear and 5th gear ratios on mine are fairly close, so I could skip 4th gear if I needed to.
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Old 03-20-2019, 03:49 AM   #13
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Well turns out the transmission didn't have the overdrive and the rear ends were even higher then mine... scrap that idea. Im just probably gonna put some 11Rs on her and call it good
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Old 03-20-2019, 09:16 AM   #14
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The super common Spicer es 5 speed isn't an overdrive tranny.also, 3rd and 4th are so far appart that the bus can hardly accelerate out of 4th unless you wrap it out in 3rd. There is no way the bus is drivable with out 4th. Atleast that's my experience. Dt360/Spicer 5 speed
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Old 03-20-2019, 09:23 AM   #15
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sounds similar to the 3rd and 4th on the automatc MT-643.. they are far apart.. and it likes to shift earlier from 3rd to 4th than the other gears..



not sure how manufacturers come up with the gear spreads. but sometimes seems like "why??".
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Old 03-20-2019, 03:52 PM   #16
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One of the better reasons to stay away from over drives is driveline speeds parts do wear faster when the turn faster.

Plus also beware some of the spicer seven speeds had issues in 2001 2003 range if memory serves me correctly.
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