GV says a crossmember attached to it will break it. Soooo, no cross member. It is so simple to install I. Ant wait to try it out

 

I'm watching your experience with huge interest. I went the other way and ordered a Ranger Torque Splitter to do the two-stick thing, but Advance Adapters took my $1700 and told me my "revised expected ship date" was last Friday, and I ain't heard a word from them in two weeks. I have no idea when or if I'll ever get the thing. I'm going to have to buy a cutting torch to re-bend my stick, and all in all I really wonder if I made the right call here.

It needs something though. I don't drive this truck on the big road, but even on the little road I have to run it so hard it hurts in the pit of my stomach just to keep from getting run over. GPS says I'm going about 52 at what feels like 5,000 RPM. That can't actually be right, but I'm definitely being mean to this old engine, and dropping the RPMs at cruising speed would make me breathe a sigh of relief. It might even improve my 5 mpg mileage slightly.

 

Sounds like my old 351m. It sounded like it would explode on the freeway. The 429 believe it or not takes the revs much better. I couldn't find anything good on the ranger model and it is wayyyy to much work. Starting with the super long time for delivery. Gv builds to your application and it's at your door in a week. I think you will get way more from a gv. It works on any vehicle. They have a trade in deal and will send you a new adapter for any rig except diesel rigs. They said they use different heat treating techniques for diesel apps. If you don't care about splitting in 4x4 cancel and go gv. Who needs 4x4 at freeway speeds if you are already that low. They have called me back within a hour before and after purchase to answer questions. You can install this thing in 4 hours for crying out loud. I will be driving it in less than a week with zero drive train mods other than the drive line. My time is surely worth the difference in cost when you look at the whole picture.



It's not too late to have what you really want/need

 

As I understand it after processing a million different blurbs of information, the GV doesn't shift below 25 mph, and it decides its speed off the speedo cable. That drew me up short for two reasons. First, I can get this T-18 into 4th gear by 25 mph without lugging the engine, so I'm basically paying all that money for one extra gear. Second, getting that speedo thing to work means I have to calibrate my speedo, which is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off.

My plan was to avoid fooling with the speedo gears and just go with GPS, which is accurate whatever I do with my final drive ratio and tires. Plus having two sticks just feels right for the period.

That was my rationale, but so far I am not really amused with Advance Adapters. To say nothing of the pain I face bending sticks and cutting holes to move my primary shifter back.

I'm watching your build with real interest....

 

Gear venders takes your tire size and rear end ratio and builds the trans to what you tell them so no speedo reworkery required on your part. As I understand it from them. If you have a manual trans you can only use it as a splitter. The in dash control has 2 modes. You must use the manual mode or not automatic mode. I'm away from home so I don't have my literature. Not sure the actual name of the mode. One has green light and one has red light.
I read here that the ranger was hard to shift and super noisy if that is a concern. I really couldn't find much here about the gv. I'm sure they will answer any question one could dream up. They called me three times one day to make sure I had the info I needed. Great customer service

 

Thanks for posting your experiences so far with the GV. I have been eying the GV unit for an upgrade once I have the rest of my truck finished.

 

I have an old Mitchell unit that I was going to install which is very heavy, the more I read of the GV unit the better I like it. I don't get many miles on the old girl as a summer toy but would like to do longer highway trips when I get to retirement.

 

I can't determine my final drive ratio until my tach comes in or I crack open the pumpkin to count teeth. I've definitely read accounts of people experiencing malfunctions with the GV going in and out of overdrive due to a speedo cable that was about to snap. My transmission came out of a random truck, and my engine came out of another random truck. I'm betting I really do have to sort that out to use the GV.
Right, and since I can't go into overdrive below 25 mph, I can only split 4th gear. It's effectively identical to swapping in an NV4500, and costs about the same.
Hard to shift as in physically difficult, or as in mentally difficult? I figure it's going to be pretty much like driving a Super 10. I've heard the things are noisy, but I roll off most of my driving hours in a Mack, so I'm betting it won't seem that bad to me.
I definitely can't say the same about Advance Adapters. Hello? I spent almost $2,000 with you guys. Are you ever going to ship my stupid transmission? Hellooooooo???

Well, they finally shipped my stupid transmission, so I guess we'll compare notes in a couple of weeks. We both have to shorten our drive lines. I have to move a transmission mount, while you do not. I have to reconfigure my floor pan and re-bend the stick on my primary transmission, while you are going to be cruising along with an automagic.

It's going to be an interesting comparison. I'm not saying you're an idiot for going with the GV and I hope I'm not an idiot for going with the Ranger. Time will tell. You pays your money and you takes your chances.

I just added it up, and I have spent $9,000 on this old beater so far. Ouuuuch.

 

You might have some wicked low rear end. was your truck a old plow rig?
My speedo has always worked fine how ever off it is or was not real sure. If my OD farts out I guess I will be in the sma boat I'm in now.
At least AA finally got it out the door. You must have a two wheel drive? Since you mentioned only one prop shaft mod. That being said. New rear end much cheaper.
With the gv the splitter is on the shifter like a big rig. My anecdotal accounts of the ranger were folks having difficulty shifting the torque splitter. I can imagine losing a little steam having to shift two transmissions while pulling a grade.
I payed more for the gv than I did the truck. It's a California rust free cc. If I added up what I e spent on it I would puke. With all I've done I'm pushin 15k and I consider it a beater. I can't post a picture from a mobile device or
I would just cause the old cc are few and far between. Good luck with the torque splitter.

 

Just figured out how to add a little color to the thread

 

Thanks for the write up.What do you estimate on how much shorter your drive shaft will be?

 

I'm guessing around 1'-8" ish

 

That 1'8" measurement is interesting in itself. My front-most shaft section is so short, I doubt I could take that much out of it. I'd have to reconfigure my entire driveline. Just as well I went a different way, I guess.

That unit looks pretty tasty, I have to say. You should definitely be up and running way before I am. I have a ton more installation work to do, plus I'm going to overhaul my T-18 while I have it off the truck. My rig will be down for at least a month, I figure. Maybe all summer.

Hey, good luck to you!

 

It's already in. Took about 1/2 a day and I did the set up about 4 times to be perfect. I have a crew cab so I gots a lot of driveshaft to play with. I just threw that number out. From the gv to the carrier bearing is 33 1/2".

 

can you get some under carriage pics,when you have a chance.