Bout to give up on these nv4500's!

The bearings came with the shaft kit.. It was the 1 3/8" upgrade kit, supposed to be the hardened Billy badass shaft LOL.. I've been trying to get in touch with the guy who built this transmission, but no luck... And I was hoping I would get in touch with him so I could see about the warranty...
 
The fluid we run in our NV4500s is $40 a gallon and is made specifically for the NV4500s.
 
the fluid is the same thing Arctic Cat uses in sleds.....much cheaper there...
 
We used to do alot of NV4500 work. Found the cheap parts caused more problems down the road and good parts were, at that time, very hard to get and expensive.

Bearing failures are uncommon if there's oil in the tranny. If teeth were spit off the input gear the first thing I would look at is proper clearances in the transmission and whether the input was a low quality import or not.
 
In this tranny, I've only used the Amsoil oil that's specific for nv4500s. When I drained the oil, it had all 5 quarts I originally put in it.

I'll go look, but the shaft should have come from South Bend, so it shouldn't be import?

And thanks for that tip Roachie, I'll check that before I reinstall this thing!
 
Allmaras Diesel said:
Bearing failures are uncommon if there's oil in the tranny. If teeth were spit off the input gear the first thing I would look at is proper clearances in the transmission and whether the input was a low quality import or not.
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This.

Most failed NV4500s that I've seen are not setup properly.
 
Ok, quick question... On the main shaft, are you supposed to be able to grab the back end of it where the 5th gear nut is at, and wiggle it around, alot?? You can grab the front of the shaft and move it around quite a bit too...
 
i wondered the same thing.... i had a nv4500 built for me one time and i tore the teeth off the 5th gear on the mainshaft. the play in that gear to its counter gear was a lot and dind seem like it made very good contact at all. i wonder if it just wasnt setup properly. is there an adjustment to get those two gears closer together for a tighter fit? next 4500 i get i am going to get a book on it and just build it myself the proper way with quality gears not that tiawan crap gear stuff they put in the remans now days...
 
When I rebuild a NV4500 I do not use a dial indicator to set bearing play. I get shims in quite a few sizes. When installing all new bearing I make sure the bearings are properly seated on the shaft and that there are no burrs or debris in the housing that prevent the races from seating properly.
I then install and shim the counter shaft so that I can just so turn it by hand, it's pretty tight! Then I install the main shaft and input shaft and shim the main shaft the same way which can be tricky if it's your first time. You've got to be sure that you're feeling drag only on the main shaft when you try to rotate it.
Once the trans has a few hundred miles on it the bearings tend to loosen up and at that point instead of being too loose, everything is within spec. Just use common sense when setting them up this way because you can only put so much pressure on the bearings before you start to compromise the integrity of other parts. Also I've been installing 5qts of 75W-90 full synthetic gear oil which seems to greatly extend trans life!
At this point I'm fighting 5th gear syncro cone issues, the splines break out too easy and I'm not exactly sure how to fix that. Maybe key the cone to the counter shaft?
 
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buzzin1/2dozen said:
Blue menthol in Oklahoma sells all of their 4500's with fully splined counter shafts and do a pretty good job of standing behind their work. Check end play on your crank. Call bull on me but if it's bad enough it will push the input hard enough after a while to do some serious damage.
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Blue Menthol....that a new type of cigarette? LOL

Blumenthal is a gamble. I've seen a dozen trucks come out of there perfect and seen a half dozen back for the second and third time. They sent my neighbor the wrong SB hydraulics twice. Buyer beware. $.02

The Blumenthal Companies - Contact Us
 
4x4dually said:
Blue Menthol....that a new type of cigarette? LOL

Blumenthal is a gamble. I've seen a dozen trucks come out of there perfect and seen a half dozen back for the second and third time. They sent my neighbor the wrong SB hydraulics twice. Buyer beware. $.02

The Blumenthal Companies - Contact Us
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I thought the same thing, and have heard the same. Either stellar results, or iffy results.
 
LReiff said:
When I rebuild a NV4500 I do not use a dial indicator to set bearing play. I get shims in quite a few sizes. When installing all new bearing I make sure the bearings are properly seated on the shaft and that there are no burrs or debris in the housing that prevent the races from seating properly.
I then install and shim the counter shaft so that I can just so turn it by hand, it's pretty tight! Then I install the main shaft and input shaft and shim the main shaft the same way which can be tricky if it's your first time. You've got to be sure that you're feeling drag only on the main shaft when you try to rotate it.
Once the trans has a few hundred miles on it the bearings tend to loosen up and at that point instead of being too loose, everything is within spec. Just use common sense when setting them up this way because you can only put so much pressure on the bearings before you start to compromise the integrity of other parts. Also I've been installing 5qts of 75W-90 full synthetic gear oil which seems to greatly extend trans life!
At this point I'm fighting 5th gear syncro cone issues, the splines break out too easy and I'm not exactly sure how to fix that. Maybe key the cone to the counter shaft?
Click to expand...

Spec for both shafts is .002-.010". .010 is real sloppy while .002 is alittle less shim than what you describe. I always set them up with .002 clearance barring the shafts to move them. It probably wasn't .002 free clearance as I was probably deflecting the case that much barring the shafts, but I thought the tight clearance made for crisper shifts and a stronger transmission.
 
CSnyder said:
new trans are 1800 with fully splined mainshafts, 5th gear updates and FASS coolers on both sides.
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youve got to be kidding me:bang i paid huckstorf 5k and after the 5th time in 3 months of it being junk they told me to go pound sand....to the op buy from chris you wont find a better guy to deal with
 
farmboy458 said:
youve got to be kidding me:bang i paid huckstorf 5k and after the 5th time in 3 months of it being junk they told me to go pound sand....to the op buy from chris you wont find a better guy to deal with
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$5000? Was that for a trans strait out? No core?
 
holy shiskits...5k i hope your talking all 5 of them total was 5k!!! yes for 1800 with the fass coolers that sounds like a heck of a deal. especially since they are new and not built by some odd tranny guy that just peices them together with taiwan gears.
 
LReiff said:
I suppose we undercharge!
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price installed with everything wasnt bad but the bill when the front drive shaft fell off wasnt cheap for me or the 2.5 months it sat in the shop parking lot because they didnt know what to do or when i tore it out and the top front cross member bolts werent even there....i went to the builder the sup contracted to and i was told that the trans was not built to handle the power i was putting threw it (431hp) when huckstorf told me no more the builder stood behind his work and just had me pay for a gear witch i didnt complain about.....
 
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