Info pops up every once in a while on the internet, or find an old truck shop. A lot of them have their old books they use to order from or can get into contact with the people that have the info.

 

hey. how much is a good, workin brownie worth?

 

I've been looking for a while and found a few 5531s or 5831s in the $250-600 range on craigslist. Most don't have shifers and none I've found have been willing to guarantee the condition. I've seen a couple up near a $1000, but they don't seem to offer anything a cheaper one does...just overpriced

Seen a few cases where you can by a Brownie for cheap...and they'll throw in the rest of the truck for free.

 

well, how bout one that is in a daily driver with the correct shifter?

 

Dana Spicer 5831 b auxiliary transmission brownie lipe : eBay Motors (item 160403056383 end time Feb-19-10 14:44:51 PST)

Here's a link to some 5831's on ebay

 

those look like they are in pretty rough shape...

 

For a tiny bit more money you can get full flexibility. Just U-jointing together the two yokes allows for angular error, but no side mis-alaignment.

You can use a CV-joint center yoke like this:



They'll allow for frame flex without stressing bearings in either gear box.

They are about $35. For 1350 U-joints they add 2-7/8" total length.

 

What stress would there be? There is a U-joint on the back of the NP435, and a U-joint on the front of the 5831B, and a slip-spline between them (the yoke from the NP435 has male splines, which mate with the female splines on the brownie's input yoke...)
so there are already two u-joints. why would I need any more?

 

I thought you only had one U-joint, sorry. I was thinking slip joint yoke on the rear of the transmission directly to the bronie box.

 

Has anyone found a reliable source for shifters for these aux. trans? Seems that they're harder to find than the trans. OBCB

 

this has me very intrigued... I have a very small brownie that I have no info on, I cleaned it all up and only see the case markings C30-16-118-8. It is a 3 speed unit. The OD and UD have approximately the same ratio gearing, about .75:1 and 1:.75 checked when turning by hand.
I see that on the 5xxx series spicer cases, the case marking starts with a "C60"

This unit in my vehicle was installed in the early 70's if not right when the truck left the lot in '72... It has a nice 2 rail / gated three position shifter. Since the Brownie is aft of the divorced NP205, the unit is only really to be used as an extra highway gear or for splitting. I have double overdrive now combined with the 5 speed.

It is a dodge w200 crew cab but I've found the FTE forums a valuable active wealth of info over the years...

I am looking to get more specs on my brownie, my cummins 5.9 might be putting out too much constant torque for the unit so I'm really only going to use it for empty cruising to get better MPG. In direct it just acts as a carrier bearing.

 

That unit looks just like the Watson model 43 in my 49 Chevy COE. Mines a 3 speed, UD (about 2:1), Direct, and OD (about .80).

 

Hey all, I am trying to find information on a Watson M40 aux. trans; I found one at the local yard and it is really small compared to any other brownies I've seen laying around or on trucks. The tag is beat up and has tons of gunk on it; I scraped off enough with my knife to read Watson Transmissions, model M40. There was a serial number, but I didn't get a chance to take it down. If anything, I'll run over there again this week to take a better look at it, but I still would like to know the ratings on this trans; I'm looking to put one behind a Detroit Diesel 4-53N with a NP435 trans and Dana 20 trans case.

 

Wow it is an old unit then I guess - another member on Pirate also confirmed it is a watson model 43 M1. I'm curious about the load ratings of these watsons as well.

 

It was mentioned a long time back (in this thread, I think), that on a 3-speed brownie with two shift rails, an old-time 3-speed floor shifter can be used without much special work, although a lot of minor fabrication to mount it and provide shifter rods is necessary. None of this work is beyond the average truck owner that can do a little cutting & welding. For a 2-speed, a cable shift with a big **** on/under the dash is used. I learned to drive on one of these and it is not bad at all once you get used to it.