Dodge Truck transmission question

My father-in-law's truck needs a new transmission. The truck is a full sized automatic 1981 Dodge truck. It had a 6 cylinder engine, but the previous owner swapped it to a 360, so the transmission may not be original either. I was crawling around under it, and all I could find were some numbers on the driver's side near where the oil pan mounts:

4058308 7046 4661

Wilipedia says it is supposed to be an A727 (36RH/37RH) transmission, regardless of engine type. It is an aluminum bodied transmission. Does this sound right? It looked kind of tiny compared to what I'd expect behind a V8.

In any case, I wanted to search the U-pulls around here to see if I could scrounge him up one.

I believe most of those trucks other than the early slant 6 trucks and the later 3.9 V6 trucks had the 727 or some updated version of it. Now it does look like some cars from the 70s could be had with a 2 barrel 360 and a 904. And since I have no idea what the donor was, the easiest way I know to quickly tell them apart is the shape of the transmission pan.

1981 six cylinder was still the slant 6, which doesn't share a bell housing with the LA V8s. So the transmission pretty much would have to have been swapped at the same time.

727 isn't exactly huge, seen here behind a 440 in RV trim.

You could put a 727 or a 904 trans behind the 360 engine but I would go with the 727 trans. I think you might have a hard time finding a good trans for a 35 year old truck. What about a reman unit?

Thanks for the info! That oil pan method is probably exactly what we need.

There are a lot of old trucks running around down here. It might not be as easy as getting a more modern transmission, but an online search shows an '82 Dodge at a local U-pull. It's been there a bit, so it's probably mostly gone, though.

Is the truck 2wd or 4wd?

If it's 4wd, I'm pretty sure it'll have the torqueflite 727... it was Dodge's standard truck transmission for a long time.

Most 360s got a 727, IIRC. The 727 is stronger. And heavier. And sucks a lot of power. The 904 is not as strong, but it's still plenty stout. These were the only two options for Chrysler automatics until they started adding OD in the late 80s. Either one should work, and all chrysler small blocks have the same bellhousing pattern (so does the 3.9 V6). I'm not sure if there are differences in tailhousing length between the two.

They should be relatively easy to find in a junkyard, or even look for a cheap running 80's Diplomat/5th Avenue/Gran Fury.

Recon1342 wrote: Is the truck 2wd or 4wd?

It's a 2WD truck, sorry.

The truck has been sitting idle for a long time now. As part of the Belvedere project, I may have to eject it from it's resting spot.

Oh, and the transmission is likely an A500 variant of the A904.

Anybody know of a good place to get a transmission rebuilt around Rockingham, NC or Raleigh, NC?  Better yet, does anybody have one laying around for Free-Fifty or so?

A500 is an overdrive transmission.  It isn't very likely to be in an '81, unless someone went through a bit of trouble to make in work with a different crossmember and a switch to activate OD, and possibly a lockup converter. I'm not sure ehat you mean by "A960"

Do you have a photo of the trans pan?  727 is basicallly the same shape trans pan as a 904/998/999 series, except it has that bump out directly under the dipstick tube.  

Either a used 727 or 904 based trans for a SBM is a $100-150 peice, tops. 

I do have a picture, and it was a typo on the transmission type, I meant 904. Still an A500, I think. I posted the numbers on the side of the transmission above the oil pan above; I looked at them again today while I was down there and read something different:

4J58398 7046 1661 

It's sitting behind a 360 in a truck that originally was/may have been a 6 cylinder. The truck's drivetrain was cobbled together out of extra street/strip projects by the former owner.


 
I kind of want to scavenge the engine in here for my FIL's Belvedere. I mentioned it to him, and he's kind of interested in the idea, too. He paid $900 for the truck as a parts donor for his other truck and wound up driving the V8  automatic "donor" truck more than his manual 6 cylinder D100.

I have no luck finding inexpensive 727 transmissions around here. I think all the drag racers bought them. 

I posed in the 2018 thread I have with a bunch of local things for sale about the chevy bolt pattern torqueflight that is sitting in an early model Cherokee- apparently they are kind of in demand for drag racing, too. 

What about getting another 904? 

A909 is a 904 with a lockup torque converter and you could get them from mid 90s early 00s wranglers.  

94-95 cherokee had a hyd. operated O D no computer,  with a hand made external pressure valve it will operate normal with lock up. bolts to 360  google it SO SIMPLE. Here in N. georgia Jeeps Are EVERYWHERE.

 I WILL GET ONE FOR MY 94 RAM 3500 VAN AS THE 4.10 REAR GEAR RUNS OUT AROUND 65 mph. another day care van,  less than 100,000 mi.great body 1500, bucks, should be good for Towing.

The 727 is plenty stout.  I'd plan to find an early 46RH / A518, personally.  It's a 727 with electronic overdrive and electronic converter lockup.  Rest of the trans (including the hydraulic governor) is the same.  And the 727 based transmissions are plenty strong and can be built to be very strong. 

Give it a few turns on the line pressure screw on the valve body, keep good fluid in it, adjust the bands occasionally and run a big-ass cooler and it'll live a long, happy life. 

There is an awful lot of misinformation in here to clear up. 

First off, if you have a MoPar produced 2wd overdrive transmission, your tailshaft will look like either the one on the left (A518) or the one on the right (A500) The trans in the center is a 727, for reference.  You can see the bumpout for the dipstick tube on the two 727 based transmissions on the left (the A518 is derived from the 727)

This is a 2wd 904 (998 and 999 use the same case) Notice how narrow the tailshaft housings are on the 2wd transmissions. Now, it is certainly possible that you have an A500, but not very likely, because of the reasons I stated in my earlier post. If you don't have a wide tailshaft housing, you don't have an A500.  Plain and simple. 

If the second digit in the numbers you pulled off the transmission is an 0 instead of a J, then you have an early to mid '80s 904 based trans. 904, 998, and 999 all use the same case with different clutch packs and lockup/non lock up guts, but are all called "904" as a simple, generic term, as you can swap all sorts of combos into the same case, no matter what it had originally; I used the guts and tailshaft and ts housing from my 999 Jeep transmission in my Scrambler in a 904 case and input shaft/front pump setup from a V8 2wd van to make a 4wd transmission that had extra clutches, no lockup, a short adapter to fit my Dana 300 transfer case, yet bolted up to the 380 Hp Dodge 360 that I swapped into it. 904 based transmissions do just fine behind V8s, and modified ones are used in drag racing applications daily without issue. 

This brings up several other points-

Wrangler transmissions won't bolt up to a Chrysler 360. 

Neither will a 90s Cherokee; it came with an AW4 with an AMC bellhousing bolt pattern.  If you meant a 5.2 Grand Cherokee, then it still won't work in a van, as you can't get a 2wd V8 Grand Cherokee. You would have to tear the trans apart to swap out a 2wd tailshaft and tailshaft housing, which would come from a 2wd A500, which defeats the whole purpose of getting the trans from a Jeep, as you can easily get a 2nd A500 or A518 from a van or pickup truck in the first place. 

Bear in mind, there are other names that the A500 and A518 were called in later years, and I left those out to keep this from getting even more complicated than it already is. 

The 2wd 904 and A500 share the same driveshaft yoke, as do the 2wd 727 and A518.  Additionally, none of these transmissions are the same length as any of the other model numbers, so keep this in mind, as getting a new driveshaft will up the complexity and cost quite a bit. 

How do you kill a Torqueflight-with a six popper?

In reply to Appleseed :

I did it with a Cummins which is technically a 6 cylinder...

The only goal I have here is to replace the broken transmission with one that will get the truck operational so he can drive it. This isn't any sort of project beyond that.

I'll have to get a better look at it when I am down there next time, or have him send me a picture. 4 hours of driving to peek at it means I don't see it often, and it obviously hasn't been a high priority.

Thanks, Cooter. There is a replacement 904 on CL locally for $100. I'll probably just pick it up and bolt it in while I investigate getting the other one rebuilt.

Appleseed said:

How do you kill a Torqueflight-with a six popper?

You bolt a 360 where the 6 banger was.

How do you kill a Torqueflight-with a six popper?

Transmissions have wear parts. Sometimes they even have leaks! 

All I can do is agree with all the info already posted about IDing your current trans.  I'll add that if you can get a A518/46RH out of a 90-92 you can make the hydraulic OD work with external pressure switches relatively easily.  FWIW most of the A518s didn't also have lockup but the A500s do.

minivan_racer said:

All I can do is agree with all the info already posted about IDing your current trans.  I'll add that if you can get a A518/46RH out of a 90-92 you can make the hydraulic OD work with external pressure switches relatively easily.  FWIW most of the A518s didn't also have lockup but the A500s do.

IIRC the later A518s from when they started calling them the 46RH are the ones with lockup.  The first few years are mostly non-lockup. An A500 would work as well, but they've got wider gear spacing for 1/2/3 and they're not as strong (they're based on the 904 rather than the 727).  They can still be built pretty strong though and have less rotating weight and parasitic loss if you care about going fast. 

WOW,  Brett hope you don't mind me here,  my 94 dodge ram 3500 5.9  360   w/ 4.10 rear didn't come with O D . I didn't see this as unusual  till i saw two years later they did offer o d in the same van but computer driven. which one do I need I was told the 46 rh with the pressure switch trick, but now which one bolts in with the correct bolt pattern.

In reply to GTXVette :

Ok is it a 5.2 or 5.9? 5.7 wasn't until 2003.

If its a normal magnum, 1994 or 1995 46rh from a pickup should work. I have a 46re that came from a 1996 van and it is identical to the 46re that came out of my 1996 1500 pickup.

Pickup (both Dakota and full size) and van transmissions should be the same.  Avoid Jeep trans, the starter is on the opposite side (plus, V8 2wd ones aren't a thing in those years without a tailshaft swap). 

In reply to Daylan C :

sorry my bad, 360=5.9l