Anyone use the AA SM420 adapter?

[Benjitis1]

Decided to go with a 420 tranny. Cant decide on the AA or ExtremeBends adapter. Seeing if anyone has the AA adapter and if theyve had any problems. Did the rear spring flip, so ive got the room for the 4.5" adapter. Does the AA adapter keep the t-case up at stock height? Doesnt the EBI adapter lower the t-case 1.5"?

 

[gid1972]

I too have the AA adapter for the 465 and haven't had a problem with it. Very well built and incorporates a spot for a crossmember as well.

As for stock height, your height will probably change a little bit since you are changing trannies anyways but i can't imagine it changing by much. You will probably just need to change your cross memeber, if you have one to match your new set up.

Good luck!

 

[vtcruiser60]

lchamma on the board is selling an AA adapter right now in the for sale section.....best price I have seen on that unit ever.

 

[fyresq]

I have run one but kinda like the plate adapters myself......keeps it short and no extra shaft or bearings, also IIRC if you are running it on one of the older 40's, you run into the crossmember

 

[Jakes40]

no incite on AA but another post sead EBI is not making the 420 adapter. may make your decision easier. I may be wrong (I hope I'm wrong) you should call EBI
I was looking to go that way to.

Chris

 

[Benjitis1]

EBI is still making them, or at least they still have some in stock on website. I wondered if the AA would hit the crossmember, looks close. I read that the EBI plate makes the t-case 1.5" lower, does the AA unit lower the t-case at all?

 

[LCOwner]

EBI is still making them.

Good for him if he has a market for them now. 6 months ago he said he didn't and had no plans on doing a run of parts. I nagged him for a month brefore I gave up.

 

[orangefj45]

fwiw, i have installed a few of the AA adapters and sold a bunch to fellow cruiser owners with no complaints.


one thing i like about the AA adapter is that you do not have to grind the transmission case to clear the front drive-yoke.

i also like the built-in transmission mount "platform" although i usually make a steel adapter plate to go with the full size truck mount versus the smaller car mount. the truck mount uses a wider bolt pattern and is a ton stronger.

hth

georg @ valley hybrids

 

[Jakes40]

I'm glad to here EBI is still making them and I also read an article in 4WD toy owners about them I must have read an old post

chris

 

[Benjitis1]

Just got an email from EBI. They are actually out of plates and sm420 parts at this moment. So goin with the AA unit.

 

[JONNYFJ]

AA makes a great product I have one in my 40 no problems yet.

 

[Markh]

AA makes a great product I have one in my 40 no problems yet.

Ditto.

 

[Benjitis1]

Good! Thats what i want to hear since i just bought the AA unit. Thanks.

 

[Sputnik40]

Several years with the AA 4.5" adapter and 10 spline spud shaft - no issues. I still had to grind some of the tranny reverse hump as I had a ribbed version - no biggie - still able to use a 4-speed shaft end/flange, versus the 3-speed one required on the plate style sometimes.

Georg - Do you have a pic of the truck style tranny bush you adapted to the AA part? PN? Imagine it's just wider - and you just used a beefy piece of flat stock to accomodate? Good idea.

 

[pbgbottle]

the EBI plate adapter rotated ,clocked the t-case down . i am using the long AA on my 465 no issues . just clears the crossmember in a 78 frame.

 

[dargreg]

useing AA adapter with 465 and 6.2 sprung over just position engine and trany in place with drive shaft installd and weld in . works great

 

[Mud_Guppie]

Hi guys,
We're making a batch of SM420 plates soon. If anyone is interested in doing a pre-order, I'll give you a discount. Our diesel parts sales have increased and our gas parts sales have decreased. I'm a little worried about making a large batch of plates with the decline in gas powered conversion being done lately. If you show an interest in the plates, I'll keep making them. The plate has been in production for 10 years and I don't plan on quitting. I will however be a little more cautious with production levels than I have been in the past.
I ran an AA adapter for years. There are pros and cons to both so it all depends on what you want. We actively market AA as well as our EBI plates.

 

[Tigerstripe40]

I run a plate style adapter for my SM420 that is VERY similar to the Extreme Bends plate adapter.

I've been very pleased with the results. I replaced a stock 4 speed transmission and I didn't have to do *ANY* drive shaft modifications to my truck. IT all just bolted in which was very nice.

Personally, if I am going to loose a few inches of drive shaft, I want to make those inches count ie Gearing. IMHO, go with a toybox between the SM420 and your t-case. You lose 1 more inch of drives haft over the AA adapter, but gain SO much gearing.

 

[Downey]

I've never used the plate type adapter, so have no first hand knowledge, but a couple industry insiders told me that some were having problems with the T.C. input gear dislodging from the tranny output shaft???. We saw that with a 1" thick adapter, the input gear would not be fully seated onto the output shaft. We then designed (on paper) a 5/8" adapter plate (using a freeze plug in the adapter at the lower bearing), and then the input gear would be fully seated onto the output shaft. We would not sell enough of these adapters to recover our mold and tooling cost, so deceided to just continue selling the AA.

 

[Mud_Guppie]

we split the difference and used 3/4 thick plate. No Freeze plug needed and still enough spline to hold the gear in place

and yes, you need proper hardware to hold the gear to the stub shaft of the SM420