Gear Vendor? Love em or Hate em?

I am seriously thinking of having a Gear Vendor's unit installed on my truck and would like to hear feedback from those who have experience with this unit.

Thanks,

Griz

everyone i know that has had one has had massive problems with theres. i had a us gear unit in my last truck and loved it wish i had one in this one!!

i have heard similiar,plus i dont think they can handel over 20,000 lbs ...many here have more to lots more power over stock,and tow over 20,000...for me it would probably not last 1 season....wish they had a real good one,it would be on my list fo sho

Jake...what type of vehicle did you have the US Gear unit in? Was it 4-wheel drive or 2-wheel.

Thanks, Griz

4wd i had it between the trans and tcase, had to have the front driveshaft lenthened and the back shortened i loved it and really miss it in this truck. one of theese days.....the us is good for 35k combined i had had about 25k on it and hadnt had a problem

Jake...does it allow you to use the stock gears or are you either in their under drive or overdrive? I am a little confused on how it works.

Griz

I have the GV and it works great. It does take some getting used to, regarding the shifting though. What I like about it is I can split any gear. I have about 5-6k on ine now. I change the fluid regularly. (probably overkill).

My rig is a CC 4x4 and I tow total weight about 23k. No issues.

ZooDad

ZooDad...there seems to be a lot of negative feedback on the GV unit. It makes one wonder if it is a good unit or not. Nice to hear from some folks who seem to like it. One thing that I don't like about the US Gear unit for 4x4trucks is the mounting location. Splitting the transmission and transfer case and changing the length of both drive shafts seems like a real pain to me. And I am not sure if it is a gear splitter or either an under-drive or overdrive unit.

mine was an overdrive since i had 4.10's it basically works on strait through or overdrive. you can split shift it so you have 1st a 1st high 2nd.............

so i basically still had the 4.10ratio and the od ratio which was 20% over.

which was 3.28

it can be done in under or overdrive http://usgear.com/dual_range.htm . usually when i was driving without the trailer i would leave it in overdrive all the time, and with the trailer sometimes i would run in strait through then find what gear and range to be in to keep speed but keep the rpms down too.

the driveshaft mods wernt real bad since when i did it i got new ujoints and i belive it only cost me like $400 to do the driveshafts with new ujoints and slip joint on the rear shaft. on the gv unit you would have to work over the rear shaft. i belive you can get the us unit in a after tcase model too. i liked havin it between since its kinda a leap betweeen some of the gears and that was nice in the ice

Jake...did you have to move any transmission or transfer case mounts when you split the two and installed the US Gear unit? My confusion was with the US gear Over/Under drive unit. It "appears" you are either in under drive or overdrive.

Thanks for your info,

Griz

nope the mounts stay in the same place.

on the unit you are either strait (factory ratio like you didnt have the unit) or you are either under or over. you can get the unit in either under or over but cant have under/striat/and over.

mine was an over so i had strait through gear and overdrive i think they call it under/over is you can get it in either one. i noticed you can only get it for the 5 speed in under now, but the 6 speed in either.

when i get a 6 speed for my truck im gonna get another one in over since this truck has 4.10's too

Two GV's, one on a 3/4 ton and the other on a 1 ton dually. Oldest one has about 170K miles on it and the newest one about 70-80K miles on them. Not a signal problem with either. There was some issues installing it on the electronic automatic, but once GV got some issues fixed with their ECM there hasn't been a single problem since.

We have some at work and I know some other people who have them as well and they have been pretty decent over-all. I have seen some failures, but they were lube related. The oil needs to be changed fairly often as the sump capacity is small.

When I did mine, I had a single piece driveshaft made. That way "if" I ever switch back its a bolt-in job, no extra expense.

Make sure you use the oil GV recommends. GM synthetic. I used Valvoline Synthetic for about 100 miles and dumped it. Make sure you get the deep sump pan. Like I said I really like mine and have had no issues with it. GV customer supprt is good. They worked with me a bunch to work out the electronics.

ZooDad

It almost makes you wonder why some people are having so much problem with the GV unit. The ones who are not having problems with your GV unit do you tow? I have heard one of the draw backs of the GV unit is you should not use it to decelerate. Is this really an issue? Seems like a poor design if it is true.
I like the US gear unit except for splitting the transmission and transfer case and modify both drive lines.

Griz

I had one for years on my old GMC K-2500 w/6.2 and TH400.

The overdrive unit worked just fine once I took care of the signal wiring. when it was installed there was no grommet or silicone rubber in the firewall penetration and the wire insulation rubbed off, shorting out the OD unit. A rubber grommet and a dab of silicone and the problem went away.

Mechanically, it was bulletproof. Keep in mind, these things were designed for British Bedford deuce-and-a-half trucks.

One thing and it is true of the US Gear unit as well: They will flat destroy automatic transmissions. By slowing the TC way down the transmission gets hot and fails spectacularly. I never thought I'd live to see something wreck a TH 400 but the combo of overdrive and the mighty (not!) 6.2 went through transmission like a teenager goes through food. The longest I ever kept a tranny in it was 35,000 miles.

The GV OD did give me a fuel consumption reduction of 4 MPG.

Dave...does this mean all the guys who are saying they haven't experience any problems with the GV unit are running manual transmissions? And the folks who are having problems are most likely running automatics? What rpm's should one run to keep the automatic transmissions cool? :confused:

Griz

Here are some "old timer" Ford diesel owners you can do a search in the archives for on TDS who have had Gear Vendors units installed in their Superduties:


-Watercop
-Matty
-Terry
-HobieJuan
-F-450 Bob
-FastForward - aka Steve Roper
-Fyoung - aka Frederick Young
-crroger (or roger45), forget which, but he has one on his F-550

What might be of interest about the list above is that it is more than 6 years old. I made it back in 2000 or 2001, so if those guys still have the GV, they will have had it for a long enough period of time to provide some long term experienced, feed back. Of this list, I believe that most, if not all, had automatic transmissions as well.

For me, the GV would have to last without breakdown, and without causing another component to breakdown, at least enough miles to justify it's initial cost and the fuel supposedly saved by using it, for it to be worthwhile.

Some people have remorsfully reported a zero gain in fuel economy. Some have glowingly boasted of a 3 mpg gain in fuel economy. Taking an average of what user reports I've read over the last decade, while ignoring the advertising claims of GV, it seems more realistic to expect a 1 mpg gain in economy using double overdrive. But to give GV marketing every benefit of the doubt, let's increase that to 1.5.

At $3.00 a gallon for diesel, it will take me approximately 100,000 operational miles to recover the initial cost for the GV. Therefore, the GV had better last, trouble free, without causing any other costly problems in the transmission or driveline, for at least 100,000 miles.

At that point, other than the maintenance costs for frequent (and somewhat expensive GM Synthetic) lubricant changes, the GV will have finally recovered it's inital cost. It will take a few thousand more miles to recover the maintenance costs.

Dave Whitmer was also on my long ago list, but I see that he is already here, speaking for himself. Back in 2001, I recall he complained of electrical problems. With his obsession for higher mileage gains, if the GV is not something he is using today, that would cause me to think.

Most of the complaints that I have read of over the years are summarized by "The GV burned up"...(overheated). The GV does not get enough lubrication if engaged while coasting downhill. It seems that the folks that have had success with the GV have already known ahead of time to disengage the GV at the crest of a hill, and coast down without the GV engaged.

crrroger (or roger45), is one owner I know of who both tows heavy and has managed to keep his GV alive and well. I'm certain that he even had to accept a downgrade in UJoints on his truck, since Ford equipped his 550 with 1480 joints, and the largest UJoint a GV yoke was capable of holding was a 1350. And he has an automatic. He'd be a good person to talk to about it.

Robyn...Thanks for the names and info. You point out something I also figured out. You have to drive an awful lot of miles before the GV unit will pay for itself. This just might not be for me.

Griz

I tow and still tow with GV's with no issues. I've always run MercV in them and not had an issue, but I do change the oil quite often.

One of the fastest 6BTA Cummins powred rail dragsters use a GV and a PowerGlide IIRC, I think they'll hold up to my towing duties just fine.

I had one for years on my old GMC K-2500 w/6.2 and TH400.

The overdrive unit worked just fine once I took care of the signal wiring. when it was installed there was no grommet or silicone rubber in the firewall penetration and the wire insulation rubbed off, shorting out the OD unit. A rubber grommet and a dab of silicone and the problem went away.

Mechanically, it was bulletproof. Keep in mind, these things were designed for British Bedford deuce-and-a-half trucks.

One thing and it is true of the US Gear unit as well: They will flat destroy automatic transmissions. By slowing the TC way down the transmission gets hot and fails spectacularly. I never thought I'd live to see something wreck a TH 400 but the combo of overdrive and the mighty (not!) 6.2 went through transmission like a teenager goes through food. The longest I ever kept a tranny in it was 35,000 miles.

The GV OD did give me a fuel consumption reduction of 4 MPG.

On the 89-03 Ford trucks anything that will fool the pcm into unlocking the converter will overheat them. I suspect that's why the TH 400's failed on you as well. The converter stall wasn't setup for GV's ratio.


,

The guy who has an 02 24v Cummins swapped into a 05 F550 has one. He's running a NV5600 so he has a 12 speed. One of the guys on TDS knew him.

Robyn posted:
“Dave Whitmer was also on my long ago list, but I see that he is already here, speaking for himself. Back in 2001, I recall he complained of electrical problems. With his obsession for higher mileage gains, if the GV is not something he is using today, that would cause me to think.”

Dave sez:
My electrical problems with the GV were entirely due to my own negligence.

I am not using the GV today because my ZF-6 already has a 0.72 overdrive ratio. I have a problem with compounded overdrives: Every gear mesh generates friction and energy is lost. Sooner or later the energy loss overwhelms the savings in engine frictional HP. If I could find such a thing I would have a very numerically low rear end with a straight-through top gear.

I think, if you can live with compound overdrive (watercop comes to mind) it would be a decent setup. A GV or USG overdrive would work well with a stick, but unless one of the premium high-performance transmission guys had built you a special automatic I will stand by my doubts as to the life expectancy of an automatic in front of either overdrive.

Robyn posted:
“Dave Whitmer was also on my long ago list, but I see that he is already here, speaking for himself. Back in 2001, I recall he complained of electrical problems. With his obsession for higher mileage gains, if the GV is not something he is using today, that would cause me to think.”

Dave sez:
My electrical problems with the GV were entirely due to my own negligence.

I am not using the GV today because my ZF-6 already has a 0.72 overdrive ratio. I have a problem with compounded overdrives: Every gear mesh generates friction and energy is lost. Sooner or later the energy loss overwhelms the savings in engine frictional HP. If I could find such a thing I would have a very numerically low rear end with a straight-through top gear.

I think, if you can live with compound overdrive (watercop comes to mind) it would be a decent setup. A GV or USG overdrive would work well with a stick, but unless one of the premium high-performance transmission guys had built you a special automatic I will stand by my doubts as to the life expectancy of an automatic in front of either overdrive.

But arn't compounded overdrives better for trucks like that F550 flat bed with the Cummins that runs a 4.88 gear setup? :confused:

I purchased a F-550 Texas Hauler conversion, equipped with a Gear Vendors unit. It is now time to change the fluid in it, and this being the first since I have had it, can anyone tell me how?

Just open up the drain plug and let it go.
If you want to try and get everything out, you can drop the sump and clean it out.
Clean the screen.
Refill it with fluid and call it a day.

ZooDad

:nopics: looking to put on on my obs