Topic: 2wd to 4wd tranny? whats the diffrence??

[SQUIRREL MONSTER]

anyone know what (if any) diffrence there is between the 2wd tranny, and a 4wd tranny?

friend has a reeally nice tranny out of a 94 2wd... and wondered if he could use it for the 84 4wd he has. if its usable, what would we have to do to convert it over to the 4wd truck?

[Hottrod81]

I know at the very least, he would have to change the output shaft.

[79coyotefrg]

84  is a  G54, most likely  and the 94  is a W56

but besides that,  output shaft

[inmyownsummerami]

The tail housing would also need to be swapped. The 2wd tail housings are set up for the slip yoke that is on the 2wd drive shaft, and the 4wd tail housings are set up for having a flange on the out put.

[jimbo74]

if they are the same model of tranny, liek a 2wd w55 and a 4wd w56, then all that needs to be changed is the tailshaft assemlby of the 2wd swapped for a tcase, and the output shaft of the 2wd swapped for the output of the 4x4 tranny, that then mates to the tcase



the 2wd tranny from the 94 is a w55.... the 84 truck probably uses a g series.... you would jsut need the output shaft from a 4x4 w series tranny, and then bolt it to a tcase compatible with a w56....

[inmyownsummerami]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that swapping the output shaft involves tearing down the whole tranny, and swapping the gears on the output. Once you get that far into it, instead of pulling 2 trannys apart, and moving the parts around between the 2 it is IMO easier to just buy a rebuild kit for the 4wd trans.
 I converted my 2wd L43 to 4wd, just because I had a free 4wd L43 with bad bearings, and my 2wd tranny had very few miles on it since being rebuilt. If you haven't pulled a tranny apart before, I would recommend taking your time, and laying everything out in the order that you removed it, to avoid losing parts, and make it easier to put back together. Also take a lot of pics, before and after removing each part for reference when reassembling.

[SQUIRREL MONSTER [OP]]

ahh... i see, so in order to make the 94 2wd trans work id need the output shaft out of the W series trans to slap in since the G series trans has a diffrent output... the 84 trans is a G-54. so i guess this means its gonna be easier to build the G-54. what is the main advantage the w series trans has over the G series? was it a total redesighn? or just same parts only heavier duty? i know they have a diffrent gear ratio through the gears and a lower reverse but thats about all i know.