Re: spicer 5 speed


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Posted by David Sherman on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 14:00:46 :

In Reply to: spicer 5 speed posted by Bob in Indy on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 13:31:15 :

Sounds like a Spicer 3053, which is the overdrive version of the 3052. The 3052 was used in the gas-powered 2.5 ton trucks. When they went to the multifuel diesel, they came up with a new tranny, the 3053, because the diesels didn't want to rev as high. In the 3052, 5th gear is direct. In the 3053, 4th is direct and 5th is overdrive. The shift pattern changed also. Both are easy to find, though beware of water running down inside through the shift tower on any that has sat out in the weather for any length of time. Since most of the 2.5 ton trucks were rag tops, trucks that have sat out in a yard for a long time with a rotten or no canvas can be expected to have had water run down into the tranny. The rubber boot doesn't fit very tight around the shifter, especially when it's old. Pull the cover off and look inside before you get committed to using it. I've found an awful lot of them are rusty.

The one thing I don't like about the 3053 is that there's too big a gap between 3rd and 4th gear. The 3052 has the gears more evenly spaced. I blew up a 3053 a few years ago but that was with a GVW of 31,000 lbs, going up the Orondo-Waterville grade on US2. Strangely, what happened was the main shaft twisted right off. This is about a 2" dia piece of steel, and it was sheared right through. Looking closely, I could see the crack had progressed for a long time from a small initial crack, so perhaps it was a manufacturing defect.

Somebody else would have to tell you whether to use the 2.5 ton bell housing, and what it would fit. I know it's an SAE standard bell housing, with an aluminum adapter ring on the front to make it fit the multifuel engine. If you use a 3052 or 3053, another thing to be aware of is there's no font seal on this tranny. The input shaft floats loosely in a bronze sleeve with a spiral groove that pumps oil back inside. If you overfill it, the oil will run right out the front and soak your clutch. I learned that the hard way, but fortunately the clutch has metal friction pads and once you clean the oil off, it's as good as new.



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