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T18 swap

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T18 swap
C

Civilian Jeep Five

Jeeper
Posts
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Location
Fairfield, CT
Vehicle(s)
'80 CJ5, 258, T176, D300, AMC 20, D30
Hello! I am about to purchase a 1971 CJ5 , it has the AMC 304 with i believe the T-14 . The jeep is almost perfect for me except for the fact it is three speeds. I would like it to be a four speed, and I was wondering if I could get any information regarding swapping a T-18 Transmission in this jeep. I found some information about the swap but also read that the engines in the early 70's had different mounts and bellhousings. If you could help me at all figure out what i should or could do to get it to be a four speed, it would be much appreciated. Thanks
 
:ww::dbanana::banana:

:agree: with gert. :notworthy:

LG
 
What's your plan for your new to you CJ? If you're just looking to add a 4th gear because you'd rather have 4, a T-18 may not be the best option for street use, if you're looking for offroad use, you won't find a better Transmission .

Do your research and let us know, there's a handful of write-ups about swapping in T-18 transmissions on here :chug:
 
Civilian Jeep Five said:
Hello! I am about to purchase a 1971 CJ5 , it has the AMC 304 with i believe the T-14 . The jeep is almost perfect for me except for the fact it is three speeds.
Click to expand...
Honestly, your best choice would be a T-176 Transmission for street/trail use. Or if you want a heavy duty Transmission , then look for a T19. Which has a fully syncro'd first gear.

My 76 CJ5 has a T-18 (Ford version). 6.32 1st gear. It is useless 'on the street'. And with my 4.56 gearing, I pretty much can stay in 4th (1:1) most of the time. With my Ford 5.0L, I'm wishing I had an Overdrive gear...

But if you want to go 'low and slow', the T-18 is a good swap. And fairly easy into a Jeep CJ.
 
This Transmission would be for street and trail, I don't live close to many trails so I'd have to drive a distance to find some decent trails. This is a project and I don't mind spending time or some money on it. There's already a lot of things I read about that I will have to do at some point to this jeep. But I always just heard great things about the T-18 so that's what I focused on but if it is not good on the road for the 6.32 would the 4.02 be better for my use or just going for one of the T170's. I was also looking to open the engine up a little to get some more power out of it, with a 4 barrel carb, intake, cam, headers, and some other things. This is a project and I'd like to make it last as long as I can, it won't be a daily driver so I'm not too concerned with how long this will take. And I also know that at some point I'll have to make a stronger frame bc of the problems they had with the power from the AMC 304 in 71.5 and 72 in those years frames
 
The T-18 uses a non-syncro'd 'granny gear' for first, that is not used much on the street.
Your top gear is a 1:1 ratio on all 4 speeds. Your top end will not change.
Listen to Hack about the T-176 tranny. ;)
What size tires will you run and what is your R&P ratio??:confused:
LG
 
Lumpy Grits said:
The T-18 uses a non-syncro'd 'granny gear' for first, that is not used much on the street.
Your top gear is a 1:1 ratio on all 4 speeds. Your top end will not change.
Listen to Hack about the T-176 tranny. ;)
What size tires will you run and what is your R&P ratio??:confused:
LG
Click to expand...

I was either going to do 31's with 4.09 or 33's with 4.30, and that's with the Dana 44
 
HackFabrication said:
Honestly, your best choice would be a T-176 Transmission for street/trail use. Or if you want a heavy duty Transmission , then look for a T19. Which has a fully syncro'd first gear.

My 76 CJ5 has a T-18 (Ford version). 6.32 1st gear. It is useless 'on the street'. And with my 4.56 gearing, I pretty much can stay in 4th (1:1) most of the time. With my Ford 5.0L, I'm wishing I had an Overdrive gear...

But if you want to go 'low and slow', the T-18 is a good swap. And fairly easy into a Jeep CJ.
Click to expand...

I am having toruble finding information on the T-176 , will it mount up to the AMC 304 directly or will i need an adapter? I've search on novack-adapt site but I am slightly lost when it comes to this. Does the T19 bolt right up as well, because I thought later on they made the option to have the T-18 /19 with the AMC 304 . Thanks again for your input
 
Civilian Jeep Five said:
I am having toruble finding information on the T-176 , will it mount up to the AMC 304 directly or will i need an adapter? I've search on novack-adapt site but I am slightly lost when it comes to this. Does the T19 bolt right up as well, because I thought later on they made the option to have the T-18 /19 with the AMC 304 . Thanks again for your input
Click to expand...



T-176 is a stock 80s 4 speed get the correct factory bellhousing and your good


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Your 71 CJ5 would have the Dana 18 Transfer Case that offers the possibility for an Overdrive . So having a Transmission with a 1:1 top gearing can be fine for highway running with lower axle gearing, if you opt for the Overdrive . Jeep offered the T-18 from 71-79. My 76 came with the 4.02:1 geared T-18 .

Also, being a 71, you are possibly going to have some issues with fitment putting in a T-176 : https://www.novak-adapt.com/catalog/adapters/transmission-to-transfer-case/t176-to/kit-152/ And you will need to adapt it to the Transfer Case . Adapters aren't cheap, and then there is all the MAWs when you start tearing into things...

You might be better off just running the stock T-14 3 speed. You can TeraLow the Dana 18 for a 3.15:1 low: https://teraflex.com/shop_items/528ffa7fead962f416e72e9a

But... If you've got money to spend, we'll all be more than happy to help you spend it!
 
Civilian Jeep Five said:
I was either going to do 31's with 4.09 or 33's with 4.30, and that's with the Dana 44
Click to expand...

4.10 with the tera-low 3:15/1 t'case would be an outstanding set up with 33's and some type of locker or LSD to top it off..
Listen to 'Hack'. ;)

LG
 
I used Novak's kit to install a T-18 onto my rebuilt modified AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l and Dana 300 (with Lomax 4.0 gears). CJ7 had 2.73 R&P gears and I changed to 3.73 with Detroit Trutrac and single piece axles. I completely restored the 80 CJ and wanted a close to stock but with better trail capability and still OK on the street running 33-10.50s. I do use 1st gear sometimes on the street without any problem other than you do have to be completely stopped, but still rolling I don't need it anyway. The T-18 is as tough as you can get, bulletproof. T19 would have been better but I could not find any. My only downside is highway speed, but I don't care too much of going fast with narrow axles. With the lomax gears in low range in first gear, she is like a tractor crawl. I love the crawl power.
 
When 'Black Betty' and I are on the road, we generally stay off the freeway @ 75 - 90 mph traffic. So when I'm wheeling north it's on secondary highways which I find are at least more scenic and interesting that the arrow straight I5 in the central Willamette valley where I live. Our short wheelbase 5's aren't really built for speed anyway, IMHO.
 
Thought I'd mention this ..... The AMC 304 didn't come with a T-14 , it had a T-15 Transmission . Bigger and stronger to handle the torque of the V8. The T-18 is an altogether stronger work horse.
 
Turbogus said:
When 'Black Betty' and I are on the road, we generally stay off the freeway @ 75 - 90 mph traffic. So when I'm wheeling north it's on secondary highways which I find are at least more scenic and interesting that the arrow straight I5 in the central Willamette valley where I live. Our short wheelbase 5's aren't really built for speed anyway, IMHO.
Click to expand...

You really do have some great back roads there. My brother has been in Eugene for some time and I have been all over that area with him. I've been all over the Rouge Valley and east and west of there where my family is from. All true jeep areas
 
I dunno Hendehog, back in the day my 'Steppenwolf' Jeep CJ5 (1977) w/AMC 304 had a T-150 behind it. This 360 in 'Black Betty' (1978) also has a T-150 behind it, while the motor certainly isn't original I think the Transmission is.

There's some great old logging roads that I've explored out Five Rivers and Valsetz, Oregon way. While it may not be so rugged (unless you count the overgrown blackberries) is certainly is scenic. I haven't explored further south much except around Cheshire and slide rock.
 
How stout are those T-14 's & 15's?
I know a dealership broke the T-150 in my '77 CJ5 , they didn't own up to it and I bet a lot lizard was joyriding in it. "It was broke when you brought it in" yeah right, it didn't arrive by tow truck. Wound up having to buy a new Transmission , and later they offered to cover part of the cost but I was so pissed I told 'em were they could put it.
 
That's just the reason I went back to the dealership once, and never again. They b s you about what they did, and didn't do :dung:
 
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