first gear don't work!

[travisneville]

a friend and i just finished a 5.0 motor swap and np 435 tranny swap on his 70 6cyl Bronco. we went offroading this weekend a Rausch Creek and everything worked fine except when you put the truck in first gear it made a terrible grinding sound when you let the clutch out. would this be a clutch problem or does the heavy a** tranny got to come back out. reverse worked fine and no trouble putting it in 1st gear, just when you let the clutch out it made a noise. thanks for any help?:?

 

[gearida]

Sounds like a gear problem, by your name I am wondering where you are from. I am in E'ville IN.

 

[Pa PITT]

Well you know that the NP435 is not synchronizer.in 1st gear...So it is going to grind when going into gear unless your completely stopped ..But it is not supposed to grind after you let out on the clutch...But now again 1st gear in an NP435 is very noisey it will talk to you..

 

[broncokak]

Did you use a pilot bushing or bearing? I had a pilot bushing make some awful noises in my Dad's 71 F100 that I put a NP435 in. I used Pilot bearings in my 76 EB when I put the 435 in and never had a problem. Oh ya, the 71 only did it in first gear too. Never heard it in any other gear unless it was really cold out.

I also agree that 1st gear can have a little growl to it like PAPITT said.

 

[csjr]

It's possible the shift fork is not getting enough throw if the shifter is contacting the body. If the gears are not fully engaged it will grind away. I would pull the boot and shift through all gears just to make sure you are getting enough throw first. Could be an easy fix of just cutting a little bigger hole in the floorboard, esp. if you have a body lift. Good luck!

 

[Broncobowsher]

First gear (granny gear) requires probably 60% more travel forward from nuetral then 3rd gear, did you make enough room for the shifter to travel that far? Remember non-syncro and shifting as speed it will make ugly noises.

IF that isn't it I would pull the trans take the top cover off and inspect.

 

[br0nc0xrapt0r]

It's possible the shift fork is not getting enough throw if the shifter is contacting the body. If the gears are not fully engaged it will grind away. I would pull the boot and shift through all gears just to make sure you are getting enough throw first. Could be an easy fix of just cutting a little bigger hole in the floorboard, esp. if you have a body lift. Good luck!

this was my problem, check the shift forks, if anything is broken shoot me a pm I have almost a complete set of guts for a 435 %)

 

[Pa PITT]

I almost addressed make sure the hole is large enough for the shifter to be put all the way forward ...1st is taller than the others ..I just didn;t want to step on any toes ...But we all hate it worse when we miss the ovious....
An old tech I used to go to used to say ""I just hate when you come w/ a problem'' because you've always checked the small ones..."YOUR ARE ALWAYS A BITCH''

 

[broncokak]

Any report on what you may have found wrong yet?

 

[travisneville]

thanks for eveyones help with the problem. were going to work on the bronco this afternoon and see if we can figure it out. thanks again.