Gears vs. Nomad Valve Body with TC lockup.....?

[tlin]

Curious what the experts think about these two options if only ONE were going to be upgraded on your rigs. The goal here is basically to optimize long freeway hill climbs on your way to the trail/camp spot of choice. A few thoughts from me:

1. Re-gearing has never seemed like a perfect option since the new ratio is based on tire size. So changing tire size again down the road theoretically gets you again to a spot where you need to consider....re-gearing. Further, getting back some RPMs helps with most on-road situations but doesn't entirely overcome the experienced higher rotational mass and freeway hill climbs still require downshifting which isn't locking the transfer case and just feels a little loose/sloppy to me.
2. It seems that Wholesale Transmissions Nomad Valve Body is now an option for us. I came close to pulling the trigger on one of these with my 80 a few years back but was never confident that upgrade itself would overcome the HP deficiencies with my 3FE so....didn't do it. That said, this item seems to be a great solution for longer freeway runs when coupled with the transfer case lockout option also offered. Second, this really seems to mate well to a supercharged 2UZFE (another item I'm contemplating).

The two options here are pretty darn close in $$ (not including a supercharger obviously). Not an immediate upgrade for me but one I keep thinking about.

I know it's a little apples-n-oranges here but I'm sure there's plenty more I can learn from this group. Thoughts???

thx!!

--t

 

[GXO]

I have done both, but I don't get to test it until the end of the month when I get the truck. Will report in when I pick it up.

 

[krice118]

@tlin I am not familiar with the 120 much but maybe a High range gear and the Nomad is more feasable?
YWST: Low Range T-Case Gear Sets for the 1980-2007 Cruisers

I thought that gears were more correlated to your tire size than overall weight (YMMV), aka if you only want to run 33s the Nomad Valve Body is probobly a better mod

 

[tlin]

I have done both, but I don't get to test it until the end of the month when I get the truck. Will report in when I pick it up.

Suspense is killing me......we there yet?

 

[GXO]

I drove from north Tahoe to Delta CO. Massive difference. Way more power, cleaner shifting. I got 13 over 560 miles with at least 7 6500-7600 foot summits. Lots of hills. Not a replacement for gears but major manner improvement and gear hunting is gone.

That's 13 with 35s, full armor, fully loaded.

 

[lndshark]

High time to upgrade the profile pic there, Vlad...

 

[ewillis]

I'm struggling to understand the sluggishness. The GX feels like a freakin rocketship to me...

 

[GXO]

Add as much weight as I did and you will feel the slow shifts. Climb a long steady grade and feel the gear hunt. All that is gone now.

 

[GXO]

High time to upgrade the profile pic there, Vlad...

Better?

 

[NMBruce]

Add as much weight as I did and you will feel the slow shifts. Climb a long steady grade and feel the gear hunt. All that is gone now.

I like that.

 

[tlin]

I drove from north Tahoe to Delta CO. Massive difference. Way more power, cleaner shifting. I got 13 over 560 miles with at least 7 6500-7600 foot summits. Lots of hills. Not a replacement for gears but major manner improvement and gear hunting is gone.

That's 13 with 35s, full armor, fully loaded.

Thx for the update! Must not be subscribed to my own thread, just seeing this. So.......

1. I thought you were running 37's???
2. By "way more power", are you referring to the observed benefit of the TC lockup in the lower gears?
3. Were you ever manually downshifting for long freeway hill climbs (even after re-gearing) and if so, has that need been eliminated with the Nomad and TC lockout upgrade?
4. I downshift frequently for longer freeway hill climbs so haven't personally seen the need to re-gear (also avoids the auto "gear hunting"). If you were going to only do ONE of these upgrades (re-gear vs. Nomad/TC lockout), which would you go with???

I know a forum post can't replace directly experiencing the differences between the two upgrades but $$$ doesn't grow on trees.

 

[GXO]

1. No, 35s
2. Sharper and longer shift points (valve body) allowed for it to hold gears longer and hunt less
3. I downshifted out of OD with the TC up (locked it as soon as i got to speed) and just used the gears to get up hills and never hunted
4. If I wasn't on 35s I would say the valve body and TC lockout. If on 35s both.

 

[scooterp7]

My GX470 is stock. I dislike how the trans shifts and how sluggish it is to downshift from 5 to4 or even 3 if you want to accelerate. Do you think the valve body would help this? I understand my situation is different than yours. Maybe I spent too nany years driving a manual trans. Thanks

 

[GXO]

Oh it will for sure! That's exactly what it does! Firmer, faster shifts, and better shift pattern (holds gear longer per and downshifts faster and firmer when dropping out of OD, etc).

 

[scooterp7]

Ok. Thanks for the info. It is not at the top of the list, but it is now on the list. That is really the only thing I don’t like about the truck. The soft suspension, but that will be fixed soon enough.

Scott

 

[alia176]

I'm late to the party but for those of us who tows a camper frequently, this upgrade should make the tranny happier.

 

[tlin]

I'm late to the party but for those of us who tows a camper frequently, this upgrade should make the tranny happier.

Yup, yup, yup....haven't done this personally but knew about the Australian company making these eons ago - same product for the FJ80 which I almost-but-never upgraded. Glad this is now available.....I just need a trailer and then this upgrade is a must.

 

[GXO]

I have it. It is a game changer

 

[Lifted]

Vlad, did west coast cruisers do the install or did you do it yourself? Also has anyone here done a supercharger? How about on GXOR? It says the valve body would make a supercharger more feasible. One other question, isn’t the URD supercharger good for any gx? Not just the ‘03,’04?

 

[GXO]

URD has an 05+. TRD is for 03-04. Cruiser Brothers did my VB when it was out there for Rubithon.