dpuckett wrote:Shadrach- how is he driving them? MMiller tows loads heavier than that all the time, and I have done so in the past, and neither of us have had any problems. I think Michael had to rebuild his at around 280K, which isnt bad, IMO.DP
I did not get near that many miles out of my getrag(yet). The original was replaced at 60,000 mile under warranty. The reman ran fine until the output shaft bearing started making noise in OD at about 230,000 miles on the truck. So I got about 170,000 miles on the factory reman. HOWEVER, I have done everything you said not to do, and LOTS more abuse. And the first 100,000 miles on the reman trans was with dealership filled oil level, not overfilled. I tow OD whenever ground speed is above 60 mph.
I will be treating the truck much differently now, trying to treat is nicer. I just added more air to my fuel, so I'm really anxious to get my truck back under the trailer.
It has been my humble opinion that the getrag will stand up as well as a NV4500, a NV5600, maybe even the G56 in a street truck. I've seen the others fail too. The getrag just gets a bad wrap from high failure rates under warranty, a bad batch made it out of the factory. I do agree that a 6 speed would be much nicer for towing, but I could not justify the costs of putting in the six speed. I've been into my getrag 4 times since the output shaft bearing failed. I still do not have $1000 into it, including 3 sets of bearings, and 2 input shafts. I made some mistakes on setup, trying to get it all figured out, thats why it took 4 times. Now mine is good, and I've got another 2wd floating around NE Iowa that will get abused too. If you have some tools, a good jack, and patience, the getrag will hold lots of power, and will offer good service life, if taken care of appropraitely.
Michael
1993 W250, 3.55, NV5600 , Con O, bosch 185's, 4" exhaust, Super 40, pump tweaks, ground pin, Smokehouse air intake, Hamilton Cam,
1985 D350, Crew Cab, 92 cummins and a 518. 47rh to be built and installed along with 3.55 LS Dana 80