Combines My truck question

A 5 speed alison would be the way to go if you could find one. 300hp range should do it. If your wife can drive a truck with a 2 speed rear axle then a 9 or 10 speed will be a walk in the park. although it may be intimidating at first. My wife has no problem with a 15 or 18 speed. It just is an adjustment in driving style. I am suprised at lack of parts for your chevy though, there must be thousands of these trucks spread across the farm scape in Canada and the U.S. I have no problem at NAPA to get parts.

My trucks have a 366cid and 350cid engines.Getting parts for that is no problem. Trannys are getting a little harder as time goes on. The problem I had most recently was I scattered the emergency brake in pieces for 1_4 mi on the 76 Chev. Chevrolet no longer makes or can get the parts I tore up. After looking for 2 weeks I finally ended up talking to a salvage yard clear up in Montana who sold me the old style brake and handle that comes up through the floor! I realized at that point that these old trucks won`t last forever, and it`s time to start looking. My wife isn`t real comfortable with the 2 speed axil and doesn`t really understand the concept for what it`s for. The 76 chev has a straight 5 speed, but it shifts hard. Her Dodge minivan has a automatic trans, so why not get 1 in the semiIJ I don`t have any idea which model allison would be a proper fit. How do they hold up, and how expensive are they to work onIJ

The allison transmission is proven and reliable. my neighbor just had his 5 speed overhauled by the allison dealer for $6000 cdn. New parts from torque converter through to rear seal. I would not get a 4 speed for what you want to do. They will build up to much heat and lack low end startability the 5 or a 6 speed is the way to go. One thing to watch out for is they usually are cooled by a heat exchanger to the engine coolant. if it has been worked hard at low speeds it will have caused the engine to overheat and could of cracked the head on the engine. It is nothing for an allison under load to run 300F+. This was a problem on units with a 2 cycle detroit engine. other than that it will be just like your Dodge van, minus the soft ride!! you could of fixed your e-brake with a line lock valve in the brake line. When it is turned on it will not let the oil back out of the brakes only in to set them on. these work well as you can't move the truck with both back brakes on.

I have a 1988 Ford F800 with a allison 643 4 speed transmission. I pull a 24 Haulk Master trailer, it works great for farm and local use. My wife drives it on the days that she helps us, mater of fact we all call it her truck. This truck is so simple to get around it is hard to beleave until you drive one. David