Best 4 speed transmission Chevy 350 CJ-7

[Bubbles910]

What is the best 4 speed Transmission I can put in my 1986 CJ7 with a Chevy 350? Mine pops out of gear and shifts sloppily.

 

[Jimbos76cj]

What is the best 4 speed Transmission I can put in my 1986 CJ7 with a Chevy 350? Mine pops out of gear and shifts sloppily.

What Transmission do you have now? Honeslty popping out of gear and shifting sloppy can be any thing from loose detent balls to bad synchros to the body not being aligned right.

Figure out what Transmission you have. Is it a 3 or 4 speed? these are common chevy Transmission .
The GM Muncie SM420 Transmission - Novak Conversions

The GM Muncie SM465 Transmission - Novak Conversions

Do you have a body lift? Does it grind going into gear or just pop out?

 

[Bubbles910]

It doesnt pop out of gear unless i rest my hand on it, but it occasionally grinds when im going back into first, it is in my warehouse so I'll check what Transmission I have when i get off work. also, it seems like the gears are in odd places, like insecond the shifter is almost touching my seat.

 

[Bubbles910]

Also, it is a 4 speed. I appreciate the help.

 

[Bubbles910]

4 inch body lift

 

[Old Dog]

4 inch body lift

I hope you mean suspension lift.
That's to much body lift IMO.

 

[Petescj]

4 inch body lift

Pictures please.

I hope you mean suspension lift.
That's to much body lift IMO.

Agreed. A cheap way to get yourself killed.

 

[Hedgehog]

You would probably be well served with one of the big beefy Chevy 4 speed truck transmissions, but I'm a super big believer in a T-18 ford truck Transmission . You can pile huge horse power on top of the T-18 and it will get the power to the ground everytime. That is unless something down the line doesn't break.

 

[rufus1138]

+1 for the T-18 , ford or amc, its just a good unit.

 

[Petescj]

Sorry I didnt answer your original question. The 2 that Jimbo mentioned are the easiest and strongest to put behing your Chevy 350. They are more like 3 spd transmissions though. Both have a granny low first gear you wont use on road.

 

[jb8376]

Have you checked out Novak?. They have great info on all the best transmissions and what applications they are best for. Here is the link.

The Novak Conversions Transmission Information Gateway

 

[Bubbles910]

Body liftView attachment 16494

View attachment 16495

View attachment 16496

View attachment 16497

 

[Old Dog]

what Transfer Case do you have?

 

[Bubbles910]

how can i tell, I'm a Jeep newbie

 

[mtnwhlr]

It sounds like you need to crawl under it and start taken pics so maybe we can help you.

 

[Hedgehog]

Since your Jeep has a 350 Chevy engine it is obvious that it is no longer stock. Our ability to see through the sheet metal of your Jeep is extremely Limited , you are going to need to step up on this one.

 

[Petescj]

That body lift combined with the rack and its contents is a fairly dangerous combination. Your center of gravity is higher now and the added wieght on top only adds to the stress being put on those longer body mount bolts. Id look into getting a 4 in spring lift. As a rule of thumb any body lift over 1 in. is generally frowned upon.

 

[Bubbles910]

I have taken the roof rack off anf after work i will get under and take some pics. I appreciate the help guys

 

[Jimbos76cj]

Looks like a 3" Body lift. I don't think any one makes a 4" kit. Id pull the rubber covers off both of your shifters and see how it does with out them there. I know that when the body gets higher it compresses that boot and will cause it to push the shifter back out of gear and make it hard to get it in. My TJ (1" body lift) would kick out of 2nd and give me a hard time getting into 5th.

If you pull the covers off and the shifting gets better you will have to clearance the sheet metal and move the boots to make them fit right.

I second the thought of getting rid of the 3" body lift. or atleast cut it down to a 1" and replace the bolts. A fun little fact for a new jeepers.. If you look at the body lift theres 2 peices of rubber. the bigger bottom one is the stock part should be around 1" tall and needs to stay there. The tall one placed on top of the stock one is your actual lift. So even if you wanted to cut the body lift down to 1" the total space between the frame and the body will be about 2"

 

[HackFabrication]

To answer your original question, I'd go with the SM465 4spd. The SM420 is getting hard to find as the last one GM was used in 1968 IIRC. Although in a CJ7 , you might consider spending the big $$$ and getting a NV4500.