Ok so I have a some questions that may have obvious answers but going to see what you guys have to say anyhow.

3 speed transmissions say like in a 66 Ford. Are they a 1st, 2nd and 3rd set up in gearing or are they under, direct and over set up?

Why?

Back in the day farmers used 3 speed aux. transmissions to assist their big trucks with speed and or hauling . Anybody have names for the many different but common transmissions that were used, i. e., Lincoln, Brownie, etc.?

Were some set ups direct/ over and under and some like the 66 3 speed?

thoughts and photos would be appreciated.

thanks

 

A 3 speed main transmission in any '66 Ford would be somewhere around 2.76 or 2.99 for first, 1.69 or 1.75 for second, and ALL would be 1:1 3rd gear. There may be another set of ratios as well. These varied on small trans vs. the 303 all synchro trans, truck vs. car, small motor vs. big motor etc. An overdrive was available behind a Borg Warner 3 speed in sedans and pickups until the late '60s iirc. Why is to get the vehicle moving etc, standard transmission usage.

AFAIK, Ford did not install auxiliary transmissions in anything and I can't find anything to suggest they did. (Model T stuff excluded) Those were owner installed. Auxiliary transmissions can be under, direct and over and other combinations depending on what you want. GMC did offer it, and this page has pictures and a pretty good write up:
Spicer 5831

What Ford did do was offer the Eaton 2 speed rear axle going back the late '40s in medium trucks. (F500 and up)

We had a family friend who put a "Brownie" in his '68 F600, and maybe had one in an earlier truck as well. Maybe a '46. I'd call him but they don't have phones where he's at.

 

Mark, The 5831 Spicer Brown-Lipe transmissions are fairly common. I have a 5531 in my '49, which is an early version of the 5531. Mine is a 3 speed, 2.0 to 1 underdrive in 1st, 1 to 1 in 2nd and .76 to 1 overdrive in 3rd. The 5831 was available in the same ratio. There were several ratios available for the 5531 and 5831 transmissions, a letter after the number would denote the ratios of 1st and 3rd gears. The ratios that mine has are ideal for my truck and probably would be for yours also.

This is what I have in my truck.

You can see the Brownie just behind the back of the cab.
Mark

 

This is the only photo I have of the 3 speed Watson auxiliary trans that was in a '40 1 1/2 ton cab and chassis I had several years ago. It mounted where the center support carrier bearing should have been. The E brake assembly was on the auxiliary trans. It was under, direct, and over but I don't have any idea what the ratios were.

 

Found this photo on the internet along with this info. The photo looks like the unit I had in my old '40.Watson was a division of Brown-Lipe a Company that built auxiliary transmisions for large heavy duty trucks and thats where the word "Brownie" came from to refer to auxiliary transmissions even though other companys built them , initially Brown-Lipe was the largest builder, at some point in time Spicer purchased Brown lipe and they became Brown-Lipe transmission division of Spicer. The Watson division of Brown-Lipe Spicer was formed to build smaller auxiliary transmission for half ton thru ton and a half trucks , so if you have a Watson its for those size trucks.I.D. tag says Watson transmission Division of Spicer / Brown-Lipe, Toledo Ohio, so sometime in the '50s Spicer dropped the Brown-Lipe name and moved manufacturing to California

 

I have one like the pic above, it's a Watson. I was going to use it in my COE, but it is missing both yokes and I was never able to find any.

 

This helps sort things out a bit.

 

Well based on this what do you think guys? My truck has the 6.67 rear end and 700 x 20 tires, what speed increase if any with this transmission installed?




Watson Brown L

 

Mark, I did a little searching on that transmission and it looks like it may be 1.49 to 1 underdrive in 1st, 1 to 1 in 2nd, and either .73 to 1 or .89 to 1 overdrive in 3rd. If you have all the pieces for installation, I believe that would work good for you.
Mark

 

Thanks, I have been trying to find some information on the numbers. How did you get your numbers from the numbers on the tag?

thanks.

 

I have a Watson 3 speed in my COE. Having 12 forward and 3 reverse speeds makes all the difference for heavy loads in the hills. And I can cruise empty at 60 mph.

 

jeez you guys are making me one!

 

Ok so what I don't know for sure is how much of an increase I will get with that combo of ratios. I have the 700 x 20 tires and the 667 rear end, I don't know the math on this. Will I see 5 miles per hour increase or 10 or 15?

Can someone break it down?

Another issue that I have is I have the dump body which includes the large cylinder and pump that sits directly above the driveshaft at the rear of the cab. My unit actually tips as it goes up shortening the distance back there.

thanks guys.

 

Going by the ad above, your final ratio will be reduced from 6.6 to 5.08
You can plug that number, along with your tire height into an online calculator to find rpm at a given speed
https://www.ringpinion.com/calculators/Calc_RPM.aspx

I played with it a bit, guessing you tire height at 34"........at 55 mph, your rpm is about 700 less with the OD.

 

The Watson's overdrive ratio is 1:0.77. Given my 60 mph speed with overdrive, I would expect about 46 mph without the overdrive at the same engine speed. The Watson's overdrive makes a definite difference.

My tires are 8.25x20 on the rear, 7.50x20 on the front

The speedometer cable connects on the output end of the Watson transmission. However, the speedometer reads 10% low. Apparently the Watson's gearing for the speedometer cable isn't the same as the Ford 4 speed. So at 60 mph, my speedometer indicates 54 mph. I've had the truck up to the speedometer's top indicated speed of 60 mph before I knew about the 10% error. I now know I was going over 75 mph actual.

If I ever got a speeding ticket with the truck, I would probably frame it.

Tom