I put in a gearvendors OD last winter , so far I have to say it was well worth it

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jerry6

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Instead of 3200 - 4000 rpm on the highway I'm at 2600 - 3200 rpm ( 3:55 gears 235 60 14 tires ), gas mileage has gone up at least 2-3 mpg . On the drive to Montreal the gauge moves 1 marker instead of 2 1/2 marks . At 1.70 a litre or $7.00 + a gallon it helps , plus it's a lot easier to hear the radio or passengers .
It's also nice to have 1 h0D , 2ND OD and 3rd OD , you can really feel the difference in 1 OD and 2nd 0D really pulls . Will test it at the track this week , should cross the line just shifting into 3rd .
The install took about 4-6 hours , only needed a hammer to widen 2 spots on the trans tunnel , I'll take some pics of it installed this week and post them .
So far I think it is worth the money , a pleasure to drive on the highway , about 75% of my driving . Another thing is I can remove the overdrive to use on my next car if needed , so the cost can be spread out over a longer period . And the company is great to deal with , you can email and they get right back to you , or call and they are there to help , great American company . Worth every penny !
 
what was the cost of GV.? And yes! I will be interested in the install pics.
 
Put a gear vendors in my challenger worked great, getting ready to sell the challenger so I pulled the unit out and am getting ready to put it my 71 dart that I am building now.
 
Think it was around 3000 total with shipping (to Canada ), maybe less , have to find the bill . Unit weighs about 30 lbs , nice quick shifts up and down .
It's a lot more enjoyable to drive , I keep telling the guys at the garage I don't get how we drove around in the old days at 4000 + rpm .
 
nwdart said:
Put a gear vendors in my challenger worked great, getting ready to sell the challenger so I pulled the unit out and am getting ready to put it my 71 dart that I am building now.
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There you go , it's a great unit that is easy to switch from car to car , might be expensive initially , but if you move it from car to car it pays .
 
Ya Jerry6 & nwdart, I'd like to hear (and see) more. A build thread would be great. Those overdrive units are probably one of the most dreamt about upgrades.
 
1967 'cuda said:
Ya Jerry6 & nwdart, I'd like to hear (and see) more. A build thread would be great. Those overdrive units are probably one of the most dreamt about upgrades.
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Not much to it drop trans , take off tailshaft measure where it will go , pound out a few dimples in the tunnel , measure for new drive shaft , snake the wires through to dash connect and adjust shifter Install switch on dash , or order shifter from GV with shift button and it's done . Gear vendors are a call away if you run into problems , instructions sent with unit are very good too .
Only thing I need done now is install a button to shift unit on the steering wheel as with one arm it's hard to hit the button on the dash after it hit the shifter from 1st to second and then third
 
OldmanRick said:
So glad to hear you're enjoying the OD :thumleft:.
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It was expensive , but glad I saved up the money for it , really makes the car more enjoyable to drive , mainly because it's 75% highway driving . 50 miles to the city is a pain at 3500 - 4000 rpm , also hard on the motor .
Was reading road and track the other day , maintenance on exotic cars , now that's expensive , 3,000 - 6000 oil changes , a Mclaren 20,000 for regular yearly maintenance , I will never comp;ain about the high prices for Mopar parts again !
 
What kind of ratio's does the GV have and what speeds are you driving normally?
Reason for asking is I have a installed a A518 OD in my '73 Dart and don't come close to the rpm you are still running on the highway, even with my 3.91 gears in the rearaxle.
 
BigBlockMopar said:
What kind of ratio's does the GV have and what speeds are you driving normally?
Reason for asking is I have a installed a A518 OD in my '73 Dart and don't come close to the rpm you are still running on the highway, even with my 3.91 gears in the rearaxle.
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They have a pretty high ratio for the overdrive, .78 to 1. They do have their advantages, but the leave you with a very short driveline and some potential problems for obtaining the correct driveline angle.

I've driven a B-body with one hooked to a 727, but it just wasn't for me. That particular car had driveline vibration and the overdrive just didn't drop the RPM enough for my tastes.

They are strong though.
 
GV shorty I did in a 68 Body

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BigBlockMopar said:
What kind of ratio's does the GV have and what speeds are you driving normally?
Reason for asking is I have a installed a A518 OD in my '73 Dart and don't come close to the rpm you are still running on the highway, even with my 3.91 gears in the rearaxle.
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I drive between 70 and 80 mph , depending on the flow of cars on the highway , @60 mph 2300 RPM 70 MPH 2600 RPM , 80 mph AROUND 3000 . Makes a big difference at $7.00 a gallon(1.71/litre) , today I drove to montreal 51 miles and 51 miles back and it took less than a 1/4 tank (15.60 to fill it back up ), without the OD it takes a little less than 1/2 a tank .
25" tall tire 3.55 GEARS / WITH OD on in 3rd they equal 2.77 gears .
Calculator for estimating speed with dif gear tire combo
http://www.bigblockdart.com/forum/speedtire.php
http://www.bigblockdart.com/forum/speedtire.php
 
Like having a 3.55 and a 2.76 at the same time. Sweet! Jerry6, tell me about getting rid of the AVS starting line bog. Im still tryin!
 
fratzog lover said:
Like having a 3.55 and a 2.76 at the same time. Sweet! Jerry6, tell me about getting rid of the AVS starting line bog. Im still tryin!
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Got rid of the AVS , could not get the AVS tuned so it would not bog off the line , went with a Holley 750 street avenger and it now takes off with no bog or stumble off the line . Gas mileage is not as good with the Holley , but now with the GV OD it's not a problem . Suppose it would get even better mpg with the AVS and the overdrive , but could not get it to run off the line .
Let me know if you figure out how to fix the AVS , i still have mine , it's the original carb that came with the car if it can be fixed I'd run it again
 
I've "heard" from other posts on websights that the GV unit has a harsh engage. is there any truth to that statement?
 
Agent_Orange said:
I've "heard" from other posts on websights that the GV unit has a harsh engage. is there any truth to that statement?
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can one of you guys explain the shifting procedure on the dragstrip? where did u put the additional shift button? were u still using a shift light to monitor the shift points while using the g v overdrive ? passed this mod up, maybe later! thanks for any info------bob
 
The shift can be a little abrupt at low rpm, downshift. When the throttle is down and your getting on it the shift is crisp and fast. We'll worth the trade off. My challenger ran 13.3 but never tried the gear vender as I thought one more shift would be slower. The splitter really is not usefull except for overdrive in a hot rod as you could not shift it quick enough to do any good in my opinion. Shift switch is on the dash which is a rocker switch to leave my 727 with or without overdrive ,also has a headlight type dimmer switch on the floor for shifting and that is what I use for fourth gear
 
famous bob said:
can one of you guys explain the shifting procedure on the dragstrip? where did u put the additional shift button? were u still using a shift light to monitor the shift points while using the g v overdrive ? passed this mod up, maybe later! thanks for any info------bob
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I use it mostly for 2nd over on the strip , tried with 1st 1st over then when hitting 2nd have to turn off OD when it hits 2nd , then hit it agin for 2nd over off for 3rd . So now I just hit the button , on my steering wheel at 5600 + in 2nd to get 2nd over . To complicated for me to run 1 , 1 over , 2nd , 2nd over on the track . 2nd over helps though , can really feel it pick up , much better pull than hitting 3rd gear.
It really helps with gas mileage and lower revs on the highway , my 3:55 turn into 2.76 , chart for gear ratios with OD bottom of page
http://www.gearvendors.com/hrdodge3s.html
 
Was a slow day at the track and using 1,2,gv went 7 hundredths faster, as did a few others that did the same thing.
Never tried to play with it again to go faster as it was just to make a 4.89 work on the hwy
 
have been pondering this for my duster with 3.90s.. i love the gears but hated the drive from NH to FL with it, 60@3300 rpm was a little much. if I sped up it started warming the motor up more as well.

curious if there is any performance change at the track
 
Just image if you already had an overdrive transmission and put a gear vendors unit on that! Talk about mileage/low Rpms.
 
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