833 aluminum overdrive reinforcement

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thanson_mopar

thanson_mopar

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I have a very low milage OD f body trans to go behind my 360 in my duster. Its what i have to work with, i dont have the budget to buy a new overdrive trans. Mild street car, wont be drag raced, just a street machine.

I understand the countershaft wear issue on these and i can trip it down, have it machined out and have steel sleeves installed. I would think that would take care of that issue.

What are other weak points of the od trans?

I hear the od gear is weak, what can a person do to correct that?

Thanks
 
If you sleeve the countershafts you'll be more than fine with a mild 360 on the street. I know a couple of people that have run 833OD's behind 440's in E-bodies without any issues at all, and one of those was used on the drag strip for a season. The 833's are tougher than people give them credit for.
 
Unless the transmission has been beat on hard with many many miles don't fret it.
Take a look at the cluster shaft pin bore for signs of hammering. It don't hurt to look at the schyncro's also for signs of a driver that never let's go of the shifter. Most show no wear that I have picked up.
I have also treated them very mean on the street behind mild 440s and never ever broke one. Not a single one not even the aluminum cased ones.
I know there are guys that say different on the site here but this has been my experience
with the overdrives. Nothing to worry about.
Your rear axle will break first. I have broke every single 8 3/4 I had ever used until the day I had to give up on them as they were getting harder to find and I got costly to replace them.
Dana = problem solved. But likely would be overkill with a 360.
 
You don't put steel sleeves in. You have bronze bushings pressed in and then sized correctly to the counter shaft.

That said, I have not seen one single failed aluminum OD transmission in that area. Seen a lot of people spouting off about it though.
 
RustyRatRod said:
You don't put steel sleeves in. You have bronze bushings pressed in and then sized correctly to the counter shaft.

That said, I have not seen one single failed aluminum OD transmission in that area. Seen a lot of people spouting off about it though.
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Nope, steel sleeves. Why bother with a bronze bushing? Remember on regular 833's the countershaft is a press fit directly into the iron case.

Here's an article that was originally in Mopar Muscle. It describes the "problem" with the 833OD countershaft (the aluminum case and a .005" tolerance vs a light press fit on the regular 833's), as well as the fix, which is a set of steel sleeves pressed into the case.

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/transmission-drivetrain/mopp-0110-a-833-aluminum-case-buildup/
 
72bluNblu said:
Nope, steel sleeves. Why bother with a bronze bushing? Remember on regular 833's the countershaft is a press fit directly into the iron case.

Here's an article that was originally in Mopar Muscle. It describes the "problem" with the 833OD countershaft (the aluminum case and a .005" tolerance vs a light press fit on the regular 833's), as well as the fix, which is a set of steel sleeves pressed into the case.

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/transmission-drivetrain/mopp-0110-a-833-aluminum-case-buildup/
Click to expand...

Ok, well that's not how OTR truck transmissions are, and they have aluminum cases. Their counter shafts are not pressed in, either. Neither is the counter shaft in my T5.

Learn somethin new everyday I guess. Thanks.
 
I won't dispute the guy repaired a transmission that was on its way out
in that article. But I have never seen a transmission that needs this repair myself.
I have a direct connection aluminum case that was made with the steel bushing so I would go along with the fact that Chrysler deemed the bushing needed in a racing application.
Not so with the production line aluminum cases. No bushing.
If a countershaft ever does get hammered over away from the main shaft enough for a tooth to jump it would be over in a split second. Instant broken case iron or aluminum.
 
ssba said:
I won't dispute the guy repaired a transmission that was on its way out
in that article. But I have never seen a transmission that needs this repair myself.
I have a direct connection aluminum case that was made with the steel bushing so I would go along with the fact that Chrysler deemed the bushing needed in a racing application.
Not so with the production line aluminum cases. No bushing.
If a countershaft ever does get hammered over away from the main shaft enough for a tooth to jump it would be over in a split second. Instant broken case iron or aluminum.
Click to expand...

No disagreement here. I have several 833OD's sitting on the bench and none of them seem to have any countershaft issues that would require a bushing. The ones that I know about that were run behind 440's didn't have the sleeves either, just the stock cases.

I can see how the countershaft could theoretically develop issues, and it sounds like the one mentioned in the article had issues, but I've never seen it myself. And although I haven't done it, I have heard of at least one other 833OD that was in a car that destroyed an 8 3/4 rear without destroying the 833OD (the 440/833OD e-body that was raced that I referenced above).
 
Interesting, Well i huess i will just leave it alone for now. Internally it looks like new, just got new gaskets/seals for it.

Recomendations for gear oil?

Proper procedure for adjusting shifter linkage?

Any way i can get the trans to shift in the same patern as a reg four speed?
 
To adjust the shift linkage you put a pin through the shift box, it captures all the levers. Then you adjust the linkage to fit the levers.

The 833OD shifts in the normal pattern. The shift tab on the 3-4 linkage arm is flipped, so while the box moves through the gears different, the shift pattern is the same.
 
72bluNblu said:
To adjust the shift linkage you put a pin through the shift box, it captures all the levers. Then you adjust the linkage to fit the levers.

The 833OD shifts in the normal pattern. The shift tab on the 3-4 linkage arm is flipped, so while the box moves through the gears different, the shift pattern is the same.
Click to expand...

Easy enough, not sure why i thought the shift pattern was different. Thanks!:burnout:
 
I am going to put an aluminum 833OD behind the 331 Hemi in my rat truck and not think another thing about it. But then, if the truck weighs more than 3000 pounds when done, it will be a miracle.
 
Use 90wt gear oil rather than automatic trans fluid if you want it to stay a good transmission.
 
80-90 works great in my wore out 833 OD. Shifts like butter even at 6,000 rpm.


They are great transmissions mine must have 100k+ on it makes all sorts of bearing noises and OD makes horrible noise, I think the gears are worn out. When I put it in and heard all the noise I expected it to blow within a week. Many 6k rpm burnouts and powershifts and it just keeps going! They aren't as junky as people make them out to be.
 
I have run a dozen of OD in different mopars over the years.
They were cheap and easy to get a hold of.
Never had a counter shaft failure.
Just freshen it up with a kit from Brewers, and forget about it.
 
RustyRatRod said:
......... But then, if the truck weighs more than 3000 pounds when done, it will be a miracle.
Click to expand...

Doesn't the included siren add a little?

VictorySirenTop.jpg
 
berry-cuda said:
so it would be the same fit as a iron case regular a833
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Right, at least as far as I can tell. I've never seen it specified as being different, the only tolerances I've seen published are for iron cases and aluminum cases, with no separate specs given for iron case OD's.
 
72bluNblu said:
If you sleeve the countershafts you'll be more than fine with a mild 360 on the street. I know a couple of people that have run 833OD's behind 440's in E-bodies without any issues at all, and one of those was used on the drag strip for a season. The 833's are tougher than people give them credit for.
Click to expand...

Just curious, how bad did the 1st to second gear jump hurt him at the strip? I think first is 3.07 and second is 1.67? I know the 440 would have tons of torque but that's a big jump.
 
Walker434 said:
Just curious, how bad did the 1st to second gear jump hurt him at the strip? I think first is 3.07 and second is 1.67? I know the 440 would have tons of torque but that's a big jump.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I don't have that info, although I'll shoot him a message and see if he gets back to me. First is 3.09, 2nd is 1.67

I went back and checked a few of his old threads at another forum, I was mistaken about it being an E-body, apparently it was a Duster. It's an E-body forum so that's what threw me. I know that it was a 440 making about 500 ft/lbs of torque, and that it was running drag slicks at the track. According to him, and this is a quote

I raced my Duster for 8 seasons with an 833OD behind a built 440 , it pulled the front wheels off the line & did 60` in 1.48 , never hurt the tranny
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Not sure what his rear gear was, if he gets back to me with anything else I'll post it up.
 
Cool thanks. Do you know if he'd done the steel leave on the countershaft? Reason I'm so full of questions is that I'm planning my build for my 82 D150 shortbed. Currently slant 6 833od. I'm going to swap in a Dana 60 and a big block.
 
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