cheapest way to get an nv3550?

[tommyg]

Been doing many smaller projects on the bronco, holding off on the NV3550 swap (from 3 speed manual) due to the cost. Started thinking that maybe I can piecemeal it a bit, in terms of buying things a bit at a time to spread out the cost.

I like to support our vendors, but I also have to take cost/investment into account. If I breakdown the WH kit, the tranny is roughly $1,500. I can find a new one on eBay for ballpark $1,100 without core charge, roughly $100 shipping but no tax making that about break even and saving me roughly $400 versus buying locally (WH).

Not a big fan of buying off eBay for something like this, thought I'd hit up the community for any feedback/thoughts/recommendations. I'd really like to get a new tranny versus a used one hoping it doesn't need any reconditioning...

 

[fatboy]

I bought my kit in pieces. I posted in the wanted section and bought most all of the parts One piece at a time that way. I bought a few of the pieces directly from AA once I had a majority of the other parts and it looked like the last few would not come up for sale. I then bought a tranny from my local pick and pull that had been sitting in inventory for well over a year. They wanted $450 but I offered then $200 as a core price to move the inventory. We settled on $225; one issue was that it had a 1/4" pin in the bottom of the case when they pulled it. Was not sure what the pin was or if it did any damage going through the case but for $225 I took a chance. Brought it to a transmission shop who rebuilt it for $250 and the pin ended up being from the shift rail with no damage. I think I have about $700 - $800 into my conversion but it did take me two years to pull everything together. Still building the truck so I do not know if my gamble paid off but I do trust my transmission rebuild since he is a bronco brother locally with a transmission shop.

I was back at that yard two weekends ago and there were 5 or 6 Jeeps of the vintage that has that tranny in it so they are starting to hit the yards now.

Good luck.

 

[ScanmanSteven]

I think that New Venture is out of business so the new supply is dwindling. You could also use a Ford 5 speed, not the ZF but MO5A. That is the 5 speed out of F150 pickup.

 

[76Explorer]

In order to avoid dealing with the pitfalls of a used transmission I bought one of the "new" NV3550 transmissions from one of the big Ebay vendors and stored it away while I worked on other areas of my Bronco. When I got around to installing it a couple of years later I found out that my "new" transmission would randomly pop out of first gear at the most inopportune times. Granted the warranty period had expired but when I contacted the vendor they were very sorry and would be happy to repair it "at cost" provided I pay for shipping both ways. Yeah I declined that deal. In hindsight I would not pay the premium for one of those "new" transmissions. I think I'd do what Fatboy suggested and hit the local pick and pull and take a chance on a used tranny. You might get lucky and get a good transmission. If not at least you didn't pay too much for it and knew going in that rebuilding it was a possibility. On a positive note I bought the AA kit from Tom's and that part of it went together without a problem.

 

[Pops68]

I know there is at least 1 Jeep site similar (but not as good!) to CB.com that has 'for sale' items.

I got mine from a local guy (NE Ohio) who has a Jeep boneyard. Low mileage (engine fire) for about $800 - it was/is excellent shape and works flawless.

Pops

 

[broncnaz]

Many of the jeep guys are swapping to ax15's when the NV's die on them. As was said NV's are no longer produced so parts are not as availible as they were. So keep the AX in mind as well. Its actually said to be a better tranny than the NV. And its still produced so parts are availible. But really if your in no hurry to do the swap just start searching you may find that deal that makes the differance. The thing is you may find deals on other parts that can be used or sold to fund your project.

 

[Jon67sport]

I found mine on CL. It came out of a rolled Jeep with 82000 miles and I didn't have to pull it. Transmission was good and I couldn't go wrong for the price. On a side note, people used to say that the NV's were an upgrade over the AX15's and now you hear that the AX's are better than the NV's. To me, that says that there is not much difference between the two as far as strength and reliability is concerned, only availability.

 

[jmangi62]

Bronco Graveyard now sells the ax15 kit,it's the same price as the nv3550.I bought my nv3550 from the "For Sale" section here.Two of the cooling fins were chipped,not bad enuff to send back so I got a good deal.I love the NV3550,there was a custom shop that was selling them for $900,can't remember the name of the place,I think it was in Alabama or maybe Georgia?