brownie type boxes urban myth

[eggman918]

I have herd of rockcrawlers using tranys hooked up backwards to get multiple under drives

I'm not an expert but if I'm correct that would give you multiple overdrives and a second tranny hooked up the same as the first would give you multiple underdrives. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Jake

I think you are correct

[Redcap]

I have herd of rockcrawlers using tranys hooked up backwards to get multiple under drives

I'm not an expert but if I'm correct that would give you multiple overdrives and a second tranny hooked up the same as the first would give you multiple underdrives. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Jake

Yup.

[Fordnatic]

Growing up on the ranch in WYO we had a GMC cabover with a Detroit Diesel. It was a flatbed of about 25'-30' length. It had a 5 speed. It was a real dog, as the old 2 cycle Detroits have a narrow power band, and the 5 speeds spacing between ratios was to much. We had another Freightliner semi and we would haul hay long distances with them, and the GMC could never keep up. Dad found and installed a 3 speed under-direct-over brownie box and turned the 5 speed into a 15 speed. It took a lot of practice to learn how to split the gears, and the linkage was homemade and sloppy, but when you got on to it the truck would really go-in fact outrunning the Freightliner. I knew of a few people who used them in pickups. They were pretty heavy. The biggest problem I heard of in pickups was that most of the Brownies had straight cut gears which would cause quite a whine. They were practically indestructible, though-especially in a pickup.

My idea for an overdrive that I never tried was to use a 3 speed toploader from a mustang. The idea was to cut off the tailshaft and cut new splines so the box would fit in place of the front part of the 2 piece drive shaft in my 70 long bed F100 in which I had already installed a 4 spd toploader from a 65 Galaxie 500. The plan was to run it backwards-so when you were getting on it and applying a lot of torque it would be in third which would be direct drive and hopefully pretty strong. Then when you wanted to cruise in OD put it in second gear, which would have resulted in a pretty steep OD. I was going to carry the front piece of the drive shaft with me because I didn't know if the 3 spd would hold up-that way I could just put the drive shaft back in if it let go. It would have been fun to try-I spent a lot of time dreaming about and planning it.

This was back in the early 80's when there weren't really any OD's available. The other option then was to run high speed rear gear and use a Doug Nash 5 speed which had a really low first gear. But even back then the Nash 5 spds cost about $1500. More than I could afford as a student.

[Dirty Offio]

If you live near an agricultural area, drive around the back roads a bit. Look for 10 wheeler ag trucks sitting out in fields, behind cellars, etc. The truck can be any make, I have driven GMC, International, and Ford trucks hauling potatoes and grain that had 4 speed brownies. Or, ifyou can find a wrecking yard that has a few of these older big trucks, or better yet specializes in them you are in luck. Looks like you are in California. If you can find a place like that, grand. If not, try getting ahold of Holst truck wrecking in Ucon, Idaho. http://holsttruck.com/ They have 40 acres packed full of trucks of all types. If I still lived there, I could help you out with another yard that has been closed for 15 years, they had alot of trucks of the right vintage, but now you have to drive up and ask to poke thru the place.

As a side note, I will risk sticking my foot in it since no one else has mentioned it. If you do not know how to shift without using the clutch, you will need to learn. The clutch does nothing for the brownie, it is not a syncronized transmission. I have been toying wth the thought of sticking one in my 68, but never have. Upshifting a brownie is pretty easy, downshifting going up a hill and under a load takes practice, patience, and the willingness to screw it up a few times. They will do what you want to do, it jut takes time to aquire the skills to drive one. I think one would be great in these trucks with the NP435, since there is such a titanic jump between 2nd and 3rd gear. Just my 2 lincolns worth.

Offio

[carpenter547]

you hit the nail on the head there and while i have been quietly offline that is what i have been doing.

i live in southern california / northern mexico. by that i mean 10 miles north of mexico not near disney land and there is so many farms here you can see them from space LOL bright green in the middle of a desert brown.

i see alot of trucks around but not so many that aren't in use. i am gonna start hitting up the machine shops what work on them and see where the boxes come from etc .

funny thing i am gonna slap a np435 in my truck with a aux tranny and i am only descent at driving stick LOL. but then again who was ever born knowing with out practice right?

[fmartin_gila1]

If you can find one of the Little boxes that I referenced earlier, you may be able of fit one under a pickup and have room for enough driveline but the larger units may prove to be too big to use in a pickup sized vehicle. If you do find one to use, you should try to get both crossmembers from either end as they are the mounts.

Fred

[Dirty Offio]

If you can find one of the Little boxes that I referenced earlier, you may be able of fit one under a pickup and have room for enough driveline but the larger units may prove to be too big to use in a pickup sized vehicle. Fred

I THINK it will fit. It has been a few years since I was under a truck that had one, but I remember it being about the same front to back length as a NP 205 tranfer case. Like I said tho, it has been a number of years, and I could be full of bull doo-doo! I don't think that vertical size would be an issue on a 4x4, but could be on a 4x2...I just don't remember the height. (too many years, too many beers!)

Not sure what he be wanting to use the truck for that he wants to put it in. My crewcab used to be my primary towing rig, it routinely went down the road at or over 26,000 pounds, that is the truck I wanted to put it in. Now I have a Dodge Cummins dually that has taken over the towing duties, the Crewcab is still my favorite truck, and I am considering a cummins transplant for it. If I do transplant the cummins, I still might try to slip the brownie in!

Cheers!

Offio

[carpenter547]

i am putting 33's under the truck to keep my clearance from the dana 70 pumkin *a soon to do mod* it will be gas 390 with np 435 tranny 4x2 so the whole unit should drop in with out going past my carrier bering in the center especially since the np is shorter than the c 6 in right now on the verticle side i stick to just crappy dirt and very light and dry off road *it's a work truck* so just the aformentioned tires should keep things high enough

[two-stick]

I installed a Spicer 7231-B into my 1986 F-250 extended cab PU a couple of years ago.
I have uploaded pictures into my album, two-stick/7231-B.
The reason for the installation was towing in the Sierra-Nevada.
The origional 6.9 has an old ATS turbo kit and I added a later model Ford aluminum intercooler.
The intercooler installation was a harder task than the 7231-B.
The installation works really well.
I will be happy to answer any questions.

[Fordnatic]

Where is the album? I'd be interested in some pics. Thanks!

[Dirty Offio]

I almost had one today! Called the guy, made arrangements for a buddy to pick it up since he was going to be near there visiting his girlfriend. He called to let the guy know he was coming over, guy said, oh, I sold it 2 days ago. have a nice day. grumble grumble... Oh well, I will find one somewhere.

[two-stick]

fordniac,
The easiest path to my album is; Photo Galleries, Last uploads, was on page 3 but was posted June 22, 2011.

[two-stick]

fordnatic not fordniac
Sorry about that.

[Brady]

If anyone is interested, I have a full PDF file of the 1969 Spicer 5831 catalog pages. 12 pages total with part numbers, applications, and isometeric drawings. It's a little large to post using an outside storage provider, but if a moderator would like to post and save this file for members to view using the forum servers, I would be more than happy to send them the file.

I believe the best information provided in this file aside from the brownie's specific parts is the information regarding the input and output shafts for yoke and flange sizing/adapting. Unfortunately, since this is a parts catalog, it does not contain information regarding torque and horsepower limits of the brownie. But I did find that a lot of the bearings that the brownie uses are fairly common and can still be found. Also, if you're smart enough to figure things out, it also contains the information needed for converting one model to another model by switching gear sets.

~Sean

[fmartin_gila1]

Go over to '6066GMCtrucks.org' There is a good article about the Spicer 5831.

Fred