Topic: R150 parts into R151F?

[2manytoys]

Tried calling Marlin's shop but trans man is on vacation. Searching helped some but still have doubts.

Will R150 (2wd) or R150F (4wd) guts fit into my R151F housing?

Rebuilt my R151F about 2 years ago with OEM bearings and Syncros. Also put in Marlin's Shift fork, retainer plate and shifter seat/socket. Got over 30K miles on it and it's starting to make some noise. No metal in oil and still shifts fine.

I can't afford a lot of down time if I end up needing hard to find hard parts. Wondering if the other R series stuff will go right in if it comes to that. Not real fond of the super low 1st and 2nd gears anyway.

Seems from searching it will fit but, no details on what years work or if 2wd and 4wd are the same internally or not.

Anybody know for sure?

[2manytoys [OP]]

Looks like 88 - 95 R150F is what I need. Going to start on it tomorrow. I'll take plenty of pics and post up when I get it done.

[2manytoys [OP]]

Got it done today. If anybody wants to know, 88 - 95 R150F swaps right in. So if your R151F Turbo trans is toast or you don't like the super low 1st and 2nd gears. Just put the turbo bell housing and tail housing on the R150F V6 trans and your good to go.

[nisota]

Good knowledge thats awesome, glad to hear it worked out for you.

[SolidAxle]

HEY I did this exact thing. I had a r151f with a chipped counter shaft so I bought an early 90's 2wd r150 transmission, used its counter shaft and swapped all of the output shaft gears onto the r151f output shaft. its all together in the r151f cases running a 23 spline transfercase and everything. hope this helps/i didn't respond too late. Just be organised and pay attention.

I have roughly 250km on the transmission since installing it, I have had no issues with it.

[2manytoys [OP]]

SolidAxle, good to know the 2wd R150 will work. I never got an answer on that so I played it safe and went with a 4wd R150F.

Got any pics of a 2wd trans side by side with a 4wd trans? The guts are all the same?

[SolidAxle]

That is what a 2wd transmission looks like without cases.

Here is what a 4wd/ my frankenstein looks like. the only difference is the outputshaft and maybe a few related parts.



I noted that the countershaft bearings were slightly different. i think this is some kind of updateed bearing as the 2wd transmission was about 7 years newer then the r151. r150 2wd on the right.




I also noticed the 1-2 shift fork (common problem on r series transmissions) were different between them. They look noticable different, I really had a hard time picking which one to use. in the end i picked the newer (2wd) one because it was newer and had VERY slightly less wear. hey atleast I have a spare lol.

R151 on left and 2wd r150 on right





R151:


2wd R150:



I even michmatched the 5th gears.the counter shaft 5th gear is from the 2wd... i think and the output shaft 5th is from the r151f. this was because i was a noob on the press and chipped one of the gears. I ordered a new 1st gear as well for the same reason. i was a little scared about doing this but so far no issues and no weird noises.

One last note. i converted my transfercase to top shift and modified the transmission shifter so that it fits in the w series center console. I had make my own rubber shift boot retainer out of 2 cut and welded to make them longer, and the transmission shifter itself is cut off short and then another piece welded to the side of it so that it clears the little change pocket in front of the shifters on w series trucks... this was on a 2nd gen pickup with no body lift looks very clean with the stock shift "leather" shift boots covering up all the surgery.

[2manytoys [OP]]

SolidAxle, Thanks for the info. I think I'll stick to the 4x4 trans if I ever need another unless I get a freebie 2wd.

The R150F was pretty much the same internally as the R151F except for the ratio differences of 1st and 2nd.

[hansi530]

Looks like 88 - 95 R150F is what I need. Going to start on it tomorrow. I'll take plenty of pics and post up when I get it done.

i have a complete r150f and tcase out or an 88 4x4 forsale in truckee ca if that helps at all

[2manytoys [OP]]

Thanks hansi530. Already found one and I'm up and running.

[SolidAxle]

i agree, its alot more work to use a 2wd trans. I couldn't find a 4x4 one at the time and the 2wd one wa CHEAP.

Is the output shaft the same as an r151? Did you just swap the rear case and thats it?

[2manytoys [OP]]

Yep, rear case and bell from my R151F was a direct swap on the the R150F. Has to be pre 95 though.

After 95 the input shaft is longer and the rear half has some differences. Still some interchangability but, I'm not sure of all the details.