Austin, Yes, I did the swap, and it was not too much of a problem, thou I
made some booboos you don't want to.
First of all, Is your truck a 97 or older? If it is, then GET A '97 BOX.
You have to have the speed sensor in the trans. Mine did not, so I had to
crack the transmission open, and adapt my AX15 gear to the output shaft and
bore out the case to receive the speed sensor itself. (whata pain in the
***, and it's not quite right, since I don't have prints for the original
case, etc.)
Second, you will need to have a driveshaft made. Use a 2000 NV3500
driveshaft from a reg cab. Then take your stock one and have a driveline
shop make you a driveshaft from the two of 'em. Make sure your trans yoke
has a large cast iron Mass Damper on it. DON'T let the shop remove it, or
you will get a heartbeat NVH noise that you can't get rid of (It's damaging
too!) That vibration tore up my NV3500 and I need to replace it now :/
Today, in fact, I lost the speed readout from the sensor (ACK). I have
heard, but it's not confirmed, that the 2000 V-6 5-speed trucks use the
NV3500. You might try and get a driveshaft for that application if it
exists. Though, they might have changed the rear end yoke if I remember
right, so you'll have to have a driveshaft made anyway.
The trans will literally bolt up and even has the same clutch splines, so if
the clutch isn't bad, you don't have to replace it. BUT, while it's out,
put in a stronger one. The V-6 engine is internally balanced, so have your
flywheel faced and have it balanced, with the new clutch pressure plate
balanced to ZERO. I.E. no offset balance.
Lastly, once it's installed with everything in there, measure the
transmission angle, driveshaft angle and rear end pinion angle. Set the
trans and rear end up parallel to each other i.e. if the trans is 3 degrees
down, the rear end should be 3 degrees up. This should get out any last
vibrations in the driveline. Also, don't have a U-joint angle more than 6
degrees for durability. You may have to experiment to remove all the vibes.
I did, but I let it go too long and it destroyed things :/
Hope that helps
-Gary Pinkley
>Original Message:
>I wanted to know about the AX-15 to NV3500 swap he did, and the
>degree of difficulty.
>- -Austin
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