cj5 trans help

Flex5 said:
A T18 and D20 combination provides a plenty low crawl ratio for 33's Way cheaper than adapting to a D300. If you can find that set up. The original Big Foot ran a D20 according to Novaks. They are plenty strong and CHEAP!!!!
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I have the dana 20 still but the 3 speed trans came apart and I have a 4 speed that uses the dana 300. So what your saying is find a t18 and I can use the stock drive shafts still?
 
The Dana 20 and T18 came factory in Cj5's but the input shaft on the CJ T18 is shorter than most. If you can find one that was original to the CJ, that should work. I am not 100% on the drive shaft length. If you go bigger than 33's youre going to want to run a tera low kit in the D20 and that gets expensive.

I wish you were closer. I would let you drive a CJ5 with a 6cyl, this set up, 4:11 gears and 33's.
If you go this route, this is the transmission and T case set youre looking for http://www.nc4x4.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113150
 
im running 33s now but its like everything you always want bigger thats why I was looking into swaping in the 300 and using the trans I have.
 
12.64 ratio

A t150 has a 3-1 first gear with a dana 20 has a 2-1 so the combo is 6 to1. A t176 (assuming thats what you have) has 3.52 -1 and dana300 is 2.46 to 1. Thats a 8.659 to 1 ratio. A t18a has 6.32to1 first with a dana 20 is a 12.64 to one ratio. Unless you have all the parts to do one setup you'll end up buying something. The drive shafts are different. All three trannies are different lengths pushing the transfer case further back. You can save money on all the fancy adapters with the t18/dana20 setup. As a matter of fact, there is one for sale on here for 450. Not telling you how to go just pointing out how the combos match up. And that a dana 300 will not give you that great crawl ratio without a different tranny or rear end gear.

Just a thought on the tires. I ran t18/20 on a cj7 with 33s. I had no problems with 3.54 gears. I could have easily went to 35s. The only reason i dont have 35s on my scrambler, is i have 2.73 gears. The t18 can get me out of anything with low gear and i can run the interstate all day at 20+ mpg
 
No ones asked but what gear are you running in then rear. That also has alot to do with your setup
 
Since this thread is kind of heading this way, here's my CJ drivetrain progression with .02 added...

T150/D20/3.54/31"AT...OK highway, crawling sucks
T150/D20/3.54/33"BFG...highway starts to suffer, crawling still sucks
T150/D20/4.10/33"BFG...highway RPMs border on too high, crawling still sucks
T150/D20/4.10/35"BFG...perect highway, crawling marginally better
T18a/D20/4.10/35"BFG...perect highway, crawl is awesome
T18a/D20/4.10/36"TSL...tire too big/heavy starting in 4HI, crawl is awesome
 
Im running 3.54 gears and 33 I have a 4 speed trans to swap but don't have a 300 I have a dana 20 but no trans so am open to what im going to run
 
RenegadeT,
What motor are you running?
I know that with a T18, D20 combo, I didnt have enough power to push much bigger than 33's real well. Then again a worn out 258 makes 1.5 hamster powers.
 
I was thinking the same thing. Motor has to be able to turn bigger tires. I had a stout 304 in my cj. My scrambler has a 258 and i miss the v8 but the milage is great
 
I have the 258 with Mopar MPI FI, its also got an aftermarket cam in it, Mopar Perf. Stage II I think. With T18a/D20/4.10/35"BFG on aluminum wheels it was perfect for cruising. When I put the 36" SXs on steel homemade beadlocks, it was way too much for street, but fawesome offroad.
 
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