T-15 or T150

I have a 74 CJ5 with the 304. I was doing some wheelin got into some soft stuff and and tried to power out of it and boom My gear shift lever became real floppy and now I have the tranny and tc in my shop. It's a T-15 DM20 combo.

I have a T-150 from my old 77 CJ7 that was kicking around the shed at my folks place. They both need to be rebuilt. After doing some looking around it seems that the T-15 is the more robust of the two but harder to find replacement parts. The T-150 seems pretty straightforward to rebuild and has plenty of spare parts.

So here is my question. Which one to go with or neither? I am pretty sure that the T-150 will mate with the DM20 but will it fit the bellhousing and will the trans mount be in the right spot? What should I do to the tc seeing as though it is out and on the bench also?

I want to do the job right without major expense. Moderate on/off road use is my goal. This old girl has other needs too so I don't want to go get too crazy with the gearboxes. I will post some pics in the garage section of the carnage.

Thanks

 

What broke? If it's a cheap fix, you may want to stay with the T-15. Would the T-150 swap in without changing driveshaft lengths, etc.?

 

I think you have the relative merits correct; the T-150 is essentially a 3-speed Ford automotive transmission, so parts should be somewhat easier to find. However, the T-15 is beefier and fairly bulletproof, except that the blocking rings wear out faster than you might like. This is probably becasue of the combination of heavy gears and owners shifting faster than they should, I expect. Most people would likely consider my T-15's blocking rings as worn out, but it's fine as long as you shift slowlyand match speeds to some degree. The T-15 is a real truck transmission, and was standard in Wagoneers and Jeep trucks including the highest GVWRs with all engines except the 401, through 1979.

I would expect the transmission lengths to be different. A lot is different between '75 (T-15) and '76 (T-150), including the crossmember and frame design. The bell is also different betrween the two transmissions, so that will affect the overall length. If you want to go with the T-150, you'll need to compare the bell and clutch linkage length, as well as the overall length. I'm sure you'll have some modifying to do to install the T-150. Very possibly change the driveshaft lengths, adapt the crosmember mounting, adapt the clutch linkage; otherwise it'll probably fit ok.

I'd say if you don't have any broken gears in the T-15, keep it and rebuild it. The B-W 3-speeds are pretty easy to rebuild. I believe that gears can be found now, but probably not so easily in another decade. You might want to look around for another T-15 to put away for parts, if you decide to keep it.

hth!

 

I tore down the T15 today and what I found is there are more gears missing teeth than not! The clutch shaft, the countershaft, the reverse idler gear, and reverse gear are busted. See pictures below.

Looking at these parts at 4wd.com it seems that at minimum if available it would cost at least $800. The manual says that I should replace the gears that mesh with the replacement gears also. That would be every gear in the box!

Does anybody know where to get a complete T15. Either in or out of a Jeep? Or have any other cost effective solutions? What about the replacement of the meshing gears? Anyways check out the destruction!

 

Wow. I wonder how that can happen - looks like it was in reverse? The input-to-cluster was damaged, but I don't see how that and the reverse and idler could have broken simultaneously.

<edit> On second thought, what's that piece of metal coming out of the front bearing? Could it have been the bearing that failed?

You can advertise on the Want-To-Buy forum here or on Willystech. http://www.willystech.com/parts/board.shtml E-bay is also a possibility. I've had good luck finding parts on the NEOW forums. http://www.neow.org/ Here in the NE you may be able to find a complete rusty Jeep - they turn up occasionally. Shouldn't take very long to find one. hth!

 

Wow, that sucks. I just went through my T-15 about 2 weeks ago because I was doing a motor swap and upgraded the T 14 to the 15. It had a liter of water in it. Anyway, if you do just get another T-15 (I would, it would be cheaper.....I got my whole donor Jeep for 400), any way, if your going to throw it away, any chance I could get the brass synchronizer ringd from you...I was in a rush and put mine back together with one that has a crack in it.....works fine, but I don't like it. Yes, I know the're only 15 bucks new, but they fit in an envelope so nicely....
OH yeah, just to warn you if your searching for gears or such, almost none of the T-14 parts interchange with the 15.

 

If no one has one on this board or you can't find a reasonably priced one, call R&P at 503-557-8911. They sell rebuilt ones for far less that the price quote you received for yours. They also have used parts and new parts for them so maybe able to help there as well. Nickmil.

 

Thanks for all your help and resources. I believe the reason for the "failure" was from operator error. I think I was in reverse but it wasn't long before that I was in 1st! I was able to find a T15 locally for $300 in good shape so... OnlyinaJeepCJ give me a few weeks to finalize the solution and if I don't need the synchro its yours.

Thanks