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Thats a good plan because it's only a matter of time. What sucks is I had one sitting in my garage that I had rebuilt that came out of my CJ5 that I sold before I new how weak the T-5 is
The driveshafts and the bell housing. The easiest way to tell the difference is by the shifter. The T-5 ,T-4 and especially the SR4 all have curved shifters. The T-176 has a straight leaned back shifter. The T-176 was used behind the last of the AMC 304 equipped Cjs and AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l models. I never heard it used behind the 2.5 but it couldve been swapped in.
Heres a link that will show the differences in Transmission .
1979 Jeep CJ5 with 304 V8, T18 Transmission, Dana 20 Transfer case with TeraLow 3:1 gears, 4.88 axle gears, Detroit Locker up front and Ox Locker in back with 1 piece axle shafts, 36" SuperSwamper SX Tires, Shackle reversal, MileMarker Hydraulic winch, MSD 6A ignition.
The T-176 is the easiest swap but you need to replace the driveshafts.
The T-18 is a very heavy duty tranny. That's what I would do. Actually that's what I did do when I was in your shoes. I had a '82 CJ7 with a AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l , a T-5 and a Dana 300 . When the T-5 gave out I put in a T-18 .
DO NOT GET A JEEP T-18 . They only came with the Dana 20 TCase. That's more trouble than it's worth. Get a ford T-18 .
To do this swap I got an adapter from Advance Adapters but Novak sells one too. This adapter and T-18 are the same length as the T-5 so you don't need to modify the drive shaft lengths. Thats uncommon for a tranny swap.
To bolt the Ford T-18 up to the AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l bellhousing I had to drill and tap 4 holes. No big deal. I got a clutch friction plate intended for a Ford and a clutch pressure plate for the jeep AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l . I went with Centerforce and called them up to make sure I got the right parts.
Then to mate the T-18 to the Dana 300 I had to replace the main (output) shaft of the T-18 with the one from the kit. That wasn't hard. The T-18 is easy to work on. Then the adapter bolted up between the T-18 and the Dana 300 .
did a search on car-part.com and thats what it said? was 1 of the 2 it showed that had a bell w/ it, could be wrong
drive shafts seem to be all over but no one really specifies what Transmission .
totally bad timing!! but starting to think the T-5 is not my answer here, just doesnt seem to be anything out there. sux when its your daily driver too
I'm going to disagree with BusaDave here (to a point).
What could be easier to do than swap in a stock Transmission from an identical CJ and have all the parts line up and not have to deal with the hassles and expense of adapters and tearing into your Transmission to change out the mainshaft? I bought my donor CJ5 for a grand total of $800 complete. By the time i parted it out, it paid me back + $$ on top, and I still have all the parts to install the T-18 in my Jeep.
Not everyone needs a T-18 . They don't drive like the other transmissions discussed here, do not have an Overdrive , and could be a serious overkilll for some people.
Please do your research for your particular needs and driving style, don't just go sticking a Transmission in your Jeep that you may very well grow to hate. They are great for those of us that deem we need them, but they are NOT for everyone.
i think in my case the T-176 would be best, vs putting 500+ into another T-5 ....been trying to shafts....Transmission are out there....problem i have now is budget= $0.00
im seeing an add for some shafts say T-176 an T-4 ? is this correct?
The Transmission is out of it. Here is a pic. Looking at a couple of things including the bolt pattern, it looks like a T-15 ...which was offered as an option behind a AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l in this year.
The transmission is out of it. Here is a pic. Looking at a couple of things including the bolt pattern, it looks like a T15...which was offered as an option behind a 258 in this year.
Good call, that is a T-15 . They are a good Transmission , The original to my Jeep survived many, many mud bog races behind a mild build 360 before i pulled it. I still have it as a set with the Dana 20 TC, just in case...
No the shafts are not the same between the T-176 and T-4 transmissions. The T-4 and T-5 could be the same but Im not positive. I believe they share the same cases.
ok cool. seems there are very few T-176 that i can find on line...is anyone familiar w/ what the T-18 is found in...maybe more available at a better price? gonna keep looking for a 176 too
1979 Jeep CJ5 with 304 V8, T18 Transmission, Dana 20 Transfer case with TeraLow 3:1 gears, 4.88 axle gears, Detroit Locker up front and Ox Locker in back with 1 piece axle shafts, 36" SuperSwamper SX Tires, Shackle reversal, MileMarker Hydraulic winch, MSD 6A ignition.
The T-18 was found in Scouts but avoid those. You will have trouble adapting both ends to fit in your jeep.
T-18 was also in Ford trucks from '65 to '91 Those would be the best T-18 swaps becouse they would bolt up to your bellhousing after drilling and tapping 4 holes. You would need an adapter for the Dana 300
The T-18 was also found in lots of Jeeps from '66 to '84 but they were not standardized. Many Jeep T18s would be hard to fit into your CJ. If the Jeep T-18 came out of a full sized jeep it may have a big adapter on the front like the pic below. Then you need to remove the adapter and install a shorter input shaft. You would also need an adapter for the TCase. Almost all Jeep T-18 transmissions came with a Dana 20 TCase. A Jeep T-18 mated to a Dana 300 is a very rare find.
CJs from the '70s often came with a T-18 . Those always had a Dana 20 Tcase. If you fine one of those try to get everything from the bellhousing to Dana 20 . You wouldn't be able to reuse your driveshfts but otherwise that would be an easy swap.
The T-18 is a heavy duty truck Transmission and it shifts as such.
Check out this link: T-18 Manual Transmission
The T-176 would be an easy swap. The only issue is you would need to modify the lengths of the driveshafts. It's a good, strong Transmission . They were found in some CJs from the '80s if the buyer designated the heavy duty Transmission .
this for 1980 jeep, off car-part.com.....does this make sense, will any work?
A.T., CJ7
M.T., CJ5 , shift lever in cover
M.T., CJ5 , shift lever in ext, 4 cyl
M.T., CJ5 , shift lever in ext, 6 cyl
M.T., CJ7 , shift lever in cover
M.T., CJ7 , shift lever in ext, 4 cyl
M.T., CJ7 , shift lever in ext, 6 cyl