how are the 833 overdrives???

The 833 OD trans was created by putting an overdrive gear ratio in the 3rd gear position. Then the lever on the side of the trans was flipped upside down. This causes the shifter to shift the trans in this order: 1,2,4,3, Since 4th gear was a 1 to 1 ratio, the 3rd gear (shifter position) is now 1 to 1 & the 4th is now an overdrive ratio (.73 to 1). With a normal transmission, 4th gear power would go straight through the mainshaft to the output shaft, while in the OD trans 4th gear (the overdrive ratio) is mounted in the 3rd gear position and the power in high gear is going through the countershaft & then back to to the output shaft. It's my understanding that the biggest weakness of this design is that since 4th gear power goes through the countershaft there is a high side load on the countershaft & trans case while in 4th, which is where the trans is the majority of the time. The powertrain also has the most load because this is where the total gear reduction is the least advantageous. Chrysler increased the size of the input bearing to help prevent wear because of this. I've also read somewhere that the aluminum cases tend to wear out where the countershaft is inserted into the front of the case. I think this can be fixed by bushing the hole. These transmissions also have a larger diameter input bearing retainer, (5.125") so they normally need the corresponding bellhousing. Some of the other transmissions used the same bearing & had a smaller diameter (4.8") retainer, so swapping the smaller retainer will allow use with a bellhousing with a 4.8" hole in the back. Supposedly these transmissions were not designed for high performance but I know I've seen at least one magazine article where somebody was using one in a Superbird.


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