833 overdrive

[c00nhunterjoe]

i have the opertunity to get an 833 od out of a van from a friend at work. it is in perfect workign condition. he only wants 100 bucks for it........ i have heard that these od tranny's are not strong. is this truth or myth? i know the bellhousing opening needs to be changed for the bearing retainer but is that the only issue? i am debating picking it up for my car to get me the od for lower rpm cruising and occasional track use

[Troy]

The big issue with what you described is that the van has a different tail shaft housing and won't fit. As for the transmission itself, no, it's not as strong. First, it's still a 23 spline transmission - although all the output shafts were the same. From what I remember, 3rd and 4th are flipped so that 3rd is the direct drive (everything is locked) and 4th is using some combination of gears to get the OD. With everything moving in 4th there's more wear and less strength which leads to breakage. Chryco Psycho has run them at the strip before (behind 440s) without problems but always shifting like a 3 speed. 4th gear is for the ride home.

Reading material:
http://www.bigblockdart.com/techpages/4sptech.shtml
http://www.slantsix.org/articles/4-speeds/ODA833fourspeed1.htm

Troy

[A383Wing]

 

[elacruze]

Here's about everything you could want to know about a833s, overdrives, gear ratios, strength, etc.

http://www.passonperformance.com/

http://www.gearvendors.com/hrdodge4sm.html

I went for the GV, because it was in the budget and takes nothing away from the track ratios.

[Rolling_Thunder]

I've had OD 4-speeds behind stock 440+6, hemis, and also a high HP blown 440 - they all lived just fine...   

4th gear is still 1:1 ratio and 3rd is .73 - the shift lever is inverted to keep the factory shift pattern.... 

Bearing retainer is larger but can be turned down a bit on a laythe - or if your running a scattershield you should be fine.

[Cooter]

The biggest problem with the overdrive trans's is 1. Aluminum cases, and runs the cluster gear in overdrive. Either one is not very good when it comes to beating on it at the track..Sure, it will live for a little while but will come apart soon.

[six-tee-nine]

I heard that too....

knew a guy, that put the internals of a od into a steel case from a non od tranny and it worked fine. I have no idea however how many horses ha was running in front of it though....
But for cruising it will probably do fine and it wont certainly put you back as much as a Gear Vendors unit...

[Rolling_Thunder]

As long as you're not running slicks and big HP you'll be ok - honestly I have done donuts, burnouts, and road racing in my boss's Superbird when it had the alum case 833 OD in it with no problems...         

I just picked one up tonight actually for a friend's 65 Fury convertible.

[70daytonaclone]

Hey Joe you don't want it I'll take it I love these transmissions. Steve

[bull]

There's nothing wrong with them. I asked about this same topic a couple years ago: http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,35972.0.html

[c00nhunterjoe]

well everything i have read says that i would be good to go with this tranny. i think i will pick it up for my cruising and if i want slicks and a track day i will just swap out the standard 833 for that.

are there any tricks to the bearing retainer? i assume i cant get as lucky as just swapping the one from my standard 833 to the od 833.

[Rolling_Thunder]

are you going to run a scattershield - if so then the bearing retainer will fit.    If you're using a standard bellhousing (big block) you will have to have the bellhousing machined to accept the larger retainer...   

[c00nhunterjoe]

no blowproof, just a stock housing. can the bearing retainer be cut down so i can still swap my standard 4 speed back into it?

[Rolling_Thunder]

believe so   

[c00nhunterjoe]

ok, sounds pretty painless, i have a metal lathe at work, should be a peice of cake

[Rolling_Thunder]

if it does not clear (pretty sure it will but not 100% - memory is fuzzy) you can machine the bellhousing and have a locating ring made to a standard 4-speed could be bolted back in -   just throwing options out there.