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Tranny to look for when buying a CJ

Tranny to look for when buying a CJ
M

m2244

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Washington VT
Hello,

I'm new to this forum. I owned a 1984 CJ7 and a 1985 about 15 years ago. The 84 had a 4-speed tranny and the 85 had a 5-speed. I loved the 4-speed. I am not sure which one it was but it was smooth and seemed to be bullet proof.

My question is, which transmissions are considered the best ones to look for when buying a late 70s to early 80s Jeep?

Any advice on what to look for or watch out for when buying would be great.

Thanks.
 
It would really depend fully on what you want to do with it.:rolleyes:

Also do you want a stock drivetrain, or someone else's Modified one?:cool:

Rock crawling / moderate to high off road, you's probably want the T-18 with Granny Low 6.32:1... But most of the time you'll be finding that as a mod / swap... I forget the years (if any) that the CJ actually came with them?? :confused:

Let Us know what your plans will be for this dream machine :chug:

~ JR
 
Oh... And :ww:

:punk:
 
JR74CJ5 said:
It would really depend fully on what you want to do with it.:rolleyes:

Also do you want a stock drivetrain, or someone else's Modified one?:cool:

Rock crawling / moderate to high off road, you's probably want the T-18 with Granny Low 6.32:1... But most of the time you'll be finding that as a mod / swap... I forget the years (if any) that the CJ actually came with them?? :confused:

Let Us know what your plans will be for this dream machine :chug:

~ JR
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Oh, just light to moderate off road. Mostly on road I guess. Small town back roads and the occasional logging road.
 
Late seventys would have had a T-150 3spd or T-18 4spd im using the T-150 in mine and using it for just light offroading on hunting club lands etc. it does just fine no problems of no kind. T-18 is a great unit but if you stay on the road more you probably wont ever use first gear its a granny so its reletively low. In my oppinion as far as just normal driving goes in the eightys era early that is the T-176 is the better unit does good behind v8s light in weight alluminum housing and comes bolted to a 300 tcase the late seventys units bolt to the 20 tcase.
 
Johnboy said:
Late seventys would have had a T-150 3spd or T-18 4spd im using the T-150 in mine and using it for just light offroading on hunting club lands etc. it does just fine no problems of no kind. T-18 is a great unit but if you stay on the road more you probably wont ever use first gear its a granny so its reletively low. In my oppinion as far as just normal driving goes in the eightys era early that is the T-176 is the better unit does good behind v8s light in weight alluminum housing and comes bolted to a 300 tcase the late seventys units bolt to the 20 tcase.
Click to expand...


This forum is awesome. Thanks for the help.

I may have found a Jeep similar to my old one with the 4-speed. Going to try to take a look this weekend but I am in the Air National Guard and we are on alert for this damn hurricane.

Thanks again.
 
In the '70's jeeps have had some excellent transmissions. Unfortunately many of them were 3 speeds. The best tranny is the T-18 but as Johnboy already stated the granny low first won't be used much on the street.

In the '80s Overdrive transmissions were much more common. Unfortunately many of them were very light duty. Avoid the T-5 Overdrive Transmission and it's cousin the T-4 . As already stated the best transmissions from the '80 were the T-176 series.
 
jbabb said:
So, not to steal the thread but, I have a AMC 304 with a T-150 and would like to go to a four speed. My jeep is a 78 CJ7 . If I was to find a T-176 would it bolt to the bellhousing of the AMC 304 and to the Transfer Case ? I am still pretty new to this as well and learning as I go. Thanks in advance.
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No, the T-176 won't be the easiest swap. You have a Dana 20 TCase. The T-176 will mate up to a Dana 300 TCase. Those two cases are much different. I would look for a Jeep T-18 . If this doesn't answer your question you can start a thread yourself here: CJ Forums - Drivetrain at Jeep-CJ.com
 
My 86 has a I6 AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l T-176 a Dana 300 and 4.10 in the axles and 33" tires this seems to me for what I use it for to be a good mix. At 65mph on the highway it runs about 2800rpm. Its good for curising the back roads and mild off road use. And the highway use also. My jeep came with 2.73 in the axles and was just to high for any off roading. IN 4wdh it couldn't pull its self up a hill had to drop to 4wdl Just my 2 cents
 
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1986cj7 said:
My 86 has a I6 AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l T-176 a Dana 300 and 4.10 in the axles and 33" tires this seems to me for what I use it for to be a good mix. At 65mph on the highway it runs about 2800rpm. Its good for curising the back roads and mild off road use. And the highway use also. My jeep came with 2.73 in the axles and was just to high for any off roading. IN 4wdh it couldn't pull its self up a hill had to drop to 4wdl Just my 2 cents
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Did you re-gear your stock axles or did you buy different ones?
 
If you are looking for a late 70's, 80's CJ. T-176 is medium duty, T-4 is light. I actually did lots with my T-4 but I did explode it eventually, literally, it pretty much took a dump and sounded like it :D.

I had opportunity for a cheap T-176 but decided just to go for the T-18 as I am more into moderate/hardcore wheelin.


And Welcome!
 
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diddy2003 said:
Did you re-gear your stock axles or did you buy different ones?
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I regeared my stock axles, The AMC20 can be trussed and tubes welded to gain strenght. The d 30 is just fine for me.:chug:
 
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