Dan i got to say John was having so much fun. The guy literally never stopped smiling. In a tough world you might have found a real close Buddy in him. I think he loves talking engines and power with you and you make him feel 20 years younger. When a older guy sells you his personal stash that says something about how he feels for you. Cool video i enjoyed it!
Please start making longer videos. I wait all day for your show and it's over before I know it. I love this story of the gear vendor , so cool . Can hardly wait to see how your car goes when done , love your show keep up the good work !
Been looking at gear vendors for a long time now... May need to actually pull the trigger after this video. I think I actually understand it now. Thanks guys!!
Thank you John for going through the gear vendor for us I've been wanting one for a couple years now and you just made up my mind. I'll be ordering one as soon as I can get money together. Thank you to Dan for having John on channel.
DD Speed Shop you are blessed to have Jon and Cecil as friends. I learned alot listening to Jon as he is filled with gear head knowledge. More of him please.👍🏁
Dan, Daniel my brother!! Excellent explanation. No worries, you explained it very well. This '55 is going to be such a nice car! You are going to love driving it! You've done such a good job putting this car together. Signed - Your friend as always, Cancer guy! 😊
Reminds me of years ago driving an F750 Ford Louisville box truck with a split axle and red DP button on the shifter. 1st low, 1st high, 2nd low 2nd high, 3 low 4 low etc. Not something your left pedal foot ever misses.
like the old saying,its funner to go fast in a slow car than it is going slow in a fast car............you got a hell of a mentor and friend,John is cool and knows his stuff
35 years ago while I was driving a international cabover 24' box truck diesel with a 6spd with the 1st low 1st high 2nd low 2nd high selector I always wondered if anyone was trying to figure out a way to do that for automobiles !!! 35 years later, here it is simplified !!! Good video thanks DD&J !!!
It's funny no other hot rodder like Finnegan's Garage and Newburn only talk about it like it's just a top gear overdrive unit no one talks about (if they even know about) the gear splitting, as a matter of fact Finnegan only uses his in Blasphemi on the highways after he is in high gear. This is like our farm trucks two speed axle, it turns a 4 speed into a 8 speed, now that's a better unit then just a top gear overdrive
Had a GV back in the late 80's early 90's. We had a old school class A RV, BBC Turbo 400. 32 ft and pulling a 24 ft enclosed race car trailer loaded to the gills. We regularly went over Donner Pass. Friend with a similar set up bought a GV for his rig and after one trip convinced me...being able to split gears climbing up the hill was a godsend. We now pull with a 4x4 Diesel, with manual 6 spd. Saving my $ for a GV for this set up.
Great explanation from John and Dan. I wish there was more of an automatic setting so it could split gear more automatically vs turning it off and on between manual upsetting. In a drag race I could see myself having concentration issues really screwing up shift points on the track. Like everything I guess you'd get used to it. Anyway great informational video. Thanks guys!
It is possible to do you would need to put pressure switches on the 2nd and 3rd gear pressure test ports on your transmission and some creative wiring etc.
Gear vendors is the modern power adder way to go, would have made Splittin gears in dad's ol truck, more enjoyable... Don't even get me started on the 2 speed rear end. Lol😅.
Good times 🎉 I have driven some old farm trucks that what they call a brownie box. You would flip a lever on the dash and it would drop a gear. Didn’t have to push in the clutch. Somewhat similar I guess 🎉
Sorry to disappoint you, Dan-O, but I really enjoyed this video! And you're right! I've searched and searched for information. On the gear splitting capabilities of the Gear Vendors. I never really understood the reason for it or why it was even necessary. But thanks to Big John and yourself, it all makes sense now. Love the content. We need more Big John on RU-vid! Dan and Danny, you two are really fun to watch and inspire me every time I watch. Keep up the good work 👏 👍
Great vid! Remember , they work great with powerglides too! The downside is 40+lbs, some electronics, custom driveshaft and $$. But great for highway driving. Love to have one in my car
I have a conversion kit prints for my old Saginaw OD unit that bolts on the back of aTB400. I had a 3 speed 6 cylinder back in 72 and drove my 63 chevy that had it, and it ran great with my OD. I had 1st then 1stOD, 2nd then 2ndOD, 3rd then 3rd OD. I called it my Super 6. I have the parts and converting my TB 400 that's going behind my 283 55 Nomad I'm making. This setup acts sweet. I love it. I have another Nomad with a TB700r4 and a 4:10 12bolt and the tires just want to spin in 1st. but launches when 2nd kicks in at 20 ft.
700r4 is a great transmission with a 307 gear. Takes a highway gear and makes it great again. I ran one for many years with tci internals and a reverse shift manual valve body behind a roller cam 406 pushing 500hp. Really the best of both worlds internally it's a turbo 400 with overdrive so it just needs upgrades to take the abuse. Upgrades with a tci converter that doesn't have lockup it was the best overdrive for many years until the 4l80 came along.
A semi transmission known as a 'Super 10' does the same thing. 1st gear, switch up, as your shifting to 2nd gear, switch down, and so on and so forth. Which is my only quibble with the floor dimmer switch use. Put the trigger, on the shifter. On a super 10, the switch is... well, google it so you can see it. Very intuitive to use. I taught my smallish (ex)wife to do it in a day. Seeing all 5'4" of he banging gears behind an old school 425 cat, with a big smile on her face, was cool.
This was a bit hard to follow at times, but it rings true. I had a 98 Chev truck with a 350 and the 4speed transmission where you would lock overdrive out in order to tow - I had an old, heavy travel trailer that I pulled with it. Then I bought a 2009 GMC truck with the 5.3 l LS engine and a SIX speed transmission. It was immediately noticeable that the LS engine had LESS TORQUE than the 350, BUT with the 6 speed transmission you always had a gear, so the overall towing ability didn't suffer. Since then I've had a pair of Ford trucks with the 5 l and 10 speed transmissions. I'm told that it's actually a dual-range 5 speed transmission, so maybe exactly what the Gear Vendor overdrive accompishes - don't know for sure. What I CAN say is that with the 10 speed things are amazing, especially towing. Even though towing locks out the top 2 overdrive gears there are still LOTS of gears left so that the engine can rev as much as it wants to. As a side note, both the LS and the Ford Coyote engines really do like to rev and make most of their power up high.
Wow that split shifting kicks ass. Keeps it in the power and. That’s way more important than the drop between gears and waiting for it to catch up. Love the interior on the Vette. Looks similar to my hobnail late 70s Trans Am like my 81.
Good evening. Dan and Co. I've guessed about the same invention on the shift. I thought you could tap the brake pedal and downshift. Meaning ". Light Lock out torque control. Yes! Great idea 💡👍👍👍👍👍
Drove a C40 dump once with a 292, 4 speed, and a two speed axle. If you were loaded you had to use all 8 but unloaded you didn't need to split all the gears. Your Gear Vendor reminds me of that just in a different application.
Back in the 60's and 70's lots of British cars had overdrive units behind the 4speed gbox (Laycock de Normanville) Even Volvo used them behind the m46 gbox. But those overdrive units could only be used in 3rd and 4th. Then there was the Mitsubishi 'supershift transmission' it had 4 speeds and a HI-LO shifter , 8 ratio's in total.
Brings back memories seeing someone playing with them. Those things were neat years ago, but doesn't compare to an 8 or 10 speed with millisecond shift rates. Ok for a 3 or 4 speed though, kinda. We don't even use a trans in the dragsters anymore. All clutch and electronics. No carbs either. All EFI since 1982. Have fun Jr.
It's interesting hearing a racer saying more gears are better when so many race cars are using 2 or 3 speeds since gear shifts take time. The gear splitting wouldn't interest me with a 650 hp big block, but the overdrive on the highway would. But I think this is 90% of the reason they make them. The gear splitting is just an added "selling point." Right?
I have a 1986 C 30 dually 454 , turbo 400 with 3:73 rear gears . This has had a Gear Vendors overdrive since early 90's . The unit just works well , certainly reduces RPM at highway speeds . Change the fluid in the Gear Vendors unit regularly and hopefully it will last forever.
Very cool! It reminds me of 2019 Chrysler 8 speed. When you nail it, it acts like a 4speed. But if you let up at the right moment you get the second shift for each gear.
I want a gearvendor now. It’s basically low to high range for each gear. Would be so awesome 1st and 2nd with my 3 speed 727. No matter what rear end ratio your running it would double the fun.
Hay Dan Just think if it works for a big guy like John just what can do for us 6 footers lol. We real love your show ! Miss having Danelle's reactions in Johns car. Would she go with him and video for another show. Just saying. You two could sell a screen door to a submarine captain and make him think it would never leak ! :) Captain Steve
Awsome used to be able to do that with 2.5 triumphs they had eletric overdrive Mitsubishi had a 5 speed with an electric overdrive i put a switch on it so had splitter gear bit of getting your head around it 1st push switch 2nd switch off then switch back on 3rd switch off then switch on 4th switch off then switch on made it 8 speed
I saw John working on Alex & Dennis Taylor's car after he has been on your video. It wasn't till he was back on your video that I was sore it was the same guy. LOL Something I noticed about your little ride,,,,,,,, You fit inside the Vette pretty well. Way easier than the Camaro!
John here, sorry but I have never worked on any of Alex and Dennis Taylor's cars.....I would if asked, but they can handle everything their cars throw at them.
I just put a 700-r4 in my 57 Chevy and John is right the drop in momentum from first to second is enough to make car fall on its face. But that 1000rpm difference on the highway is nice.
Ok, I get the GV a bit better now. It tightens up the RPM range and keeps the car in the powerband instead of losing the powerband in the gear drops. My neighbor has one in his '61 Apache 350/TH400 and loves it. I think it would be amazing to have a GV in my tow rig, especially with the grades we pull going to Bakersfield with the racecar, trailer and tools in tow! The one trans that was completely overlooked in this video and is a real honorable mention here is the 2004R. The 200 has been called a TH350 with OD and the the 700R4 has been called a TH400 with OD and crappy gear splits. I had an Art Carr 2004R in my wife's '57 Chevy Wagon and I wanted to replace the TH400 in my '55 Chevy with a 200 after driving her wagon! The 200 has waay better gear splits than the 700, has a lower OD ratio than the 700. The 200 also scavenges less HP from the engine compared to the 700 and Art's Street 200 that we had, handled up to 800 HP. The driveshaft length is the same as the original cast iron PG, TH350 and uses the same yoke. We lost Art last year but, the family still runs the shop in HB and the 200 is definitely worth its salt. I guess I will have to try a GV next. Great video Dan, Dani and John!
I only wrote a negative comment because dan said those were his favorite. 😆 🤣 😂 this was an awesome educational video almost makes me want to take out my 4 speed and put in an automatic with the gear vendor, almost but that looks like hella fun.
This is like a big truck transmission with 13 speeds for instance (there are of course other combinations) When you get into the higher range in your transmission you have the option of a splitter to give you the extra pulling power between the upper gears. Of course, this is for hauling heavy loads, but the principle is the same. Also, one can shift without using the splitter and just use the ten speeds available for instance. In other words, if I am pulling a lighter load, I can just use the regular transmission with the high and low ranges and not use the splitter but if I am pulling a real heavy load, I have the option of using the splitter to get those half cogs as we call them.
Awesome Content Dan and Dani great information on Gear Vendors ......Question ? do we get a double Vidja today missed y'all yesterday LOL Keep them coming I liked your sneak peek of Dani's Nova
Everyone forgets about the 200r4. With some upgrades they're great and has better gear ratios then the 700r4. They lived, in stock form, behind grand nationals.
Yall are so right about a 700r I put one in my 71 elcomino that had a 402 that only made about 450 hp tops and it didn't last 2 days 1st gear was super low and when I brought the motor up to about 6200 rpm and shifted it I then had a 2nd nutarul just like I did my brand new turbo 400 it only has 1st and 3rd in it now and this was a built 400 all good parts reverse valve body shift kit brand new converter and the motor only makes 650+ hp 605 torque at 6200 RPMs my trans guy said it has to be the sprag tore up I need to pull it out and if the casing is still good I'll have him go through it but put a transbrake in it this time I'm going to put my 2 speed turbo 400 that came out my buddy's 496 blower car in it if this one comes apart I'll go with a trimic 5 speed .
