[AT] ATIS Holifday Charity Auction

[Grant Brians]

Actually the 1980's GM 4 speed truck tranny's are notorious for
self-destruction. Everyone I know locally with one had to replace it at
least once in the first 100K miles - one friend replaced his three times,
the first time under warranty! His case was not one of abuse, just use. The
reason is that sometime in the late 70's (date is hazy) GM "re-engineered"
the manual transmissions to save weight and money.... They ended up making
them too weak as a result, with the consequent explosion of repairs and
replacements. Shaft breakage, premature bearing failure and case cracking
all became common. This was one of the reasons for GM's precipitous
commercial track sales decline in the 80's. Additionally it cemented the
reputation of Ford for reliable light duty trucks because Ford kept the
heavy duty components in theirs.
    Having said all of the above, GM has returned to better Trannys
since....
        Grant Brians
        Hollister California
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim and Lyn Evans" <jevans at evanstoys.com>
To: "'Antique tractor email discussion group'"
<at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 4:04 AM
Subject: RE: Re: [AT] ATIS Holifday Charity Auction


> Those 4 speeds were just about bulletproof (I thought)  What did you tear
up
> to warrant a transmission replacement?
>
> Jim