Drive train upgrade

[wadefreedomvehicles]

Sure this has been topiced several times.
I want to swap engine and transmission, and possibly t-case.
Reason: I want to be able to drive my M37 wherever I want to in order to take it to mobile displays I do with Freedom Vehicles association, and still tow a trailer(m101 or M416.)
Will the stock axles work fine to do this?
I was thinking Chevy 350 with th400 trans, and possibly going 2wd instead of 4wd. Just keeping the front axle unhooked up and rolling.
What are thoughts or opinions on this?
I want to have a more reliable vehicle, and with an automatic so anyone can drive it when needed.
Is there a better set up I can do?
Also looking for ease of doing the conversion, I am handy and can handle putting whatever in there, but less work the faster I can have it running.

[rickf]

You can take the entire driveline from a one ton Chevy and put it under there if you want. That way you have everything you need from engine to axles and it will all match. The only thing you will need to do is fabricate mounts for the engine, trans and transfer case. Mount the rears under it and have a couple driveshafts made.

[Cal_Gary]

Wade, PM sent, unrelated to this post.
Thanks,
Gary

[wadefreedomvehicles]

Thanks gary, Got it.
I want to keep the stock look, so I would prefer to keep the original axles under it, if I can make them work. I don't mind going stock speeds either.
But a Chevy 350 and TH400 will work good with those axles once I create mounting for them?

[rickf]

Well, the Dodge and Chevy both use a passenger side drop on the transfer case so you will be good there if you want to use the Chevy transfer but I would go with a 700R4 transmission for the lower first gear and also the overdrive. And a 205 transfer case if you can find one. You are going to have to have custom drive shafts made.

[rickf]

Something to think about, If someone cannot drive a stick shift they probably should not be trying to drive a 60 year old vehicle with manual drum brakes and steering!

[NAM VET]

just came home from a 600 mile trip, 300 down in one day, then split the return into two days. Some small city, mostly very rural back roads. I am much more comfortable driving my stock M37. But it certainly does take vigilance and caution, anticipating stop lights, cars suddenly braking in from of me, trucks coming up from behind, and much more. If there are any hills, have to anticipate braking and gear changes, I too would be cautious about letting others with no experience drive one of these trucks on the open road.

NV

[Kaegi]

if it doesn't stop on a dime with stock brakes then they need at least an adjustment or maybe more work. maybe worth taking a look. mostly what I see is they are not adjusted correctly. They must be adjusted by the book to work great. they are a non servo brake so adjustment is absolutely a key issue. later vehicles use servo drum brakes and "close enough" works on adjustment but not with non servo.

[rickf]

Boy this discussion made a left turn! How many young people today would be prepared to just jump in a vehicle with a steering wheel the size of the kitchen table and have to lean hard on it to make a turn. All the while if you slip it is going to whip back around before you can catch it. No one finger turns while sipping latte here. If someone needs to have an auto trans so they can jump in a drive the 37 they better have power steering and power brakes too. Even perfectly adjusted drum brakes are a different animal than your average SUV. That was the point I was trying to make.
Sometimes it pays to read the thread from the beginning.

[dmowrey3@comcast.net]

I have a 350 sbc ...350 turbo 3 speed in mine the rest is stock ....running on 39.5 Tires. Top speed is about 50 with no issues

[wadefreedomvehicles]

Well, I have a TBI block 350, with a TH350 trans and a NP205 Transfer case that I am going to prepare to drop in an M37.
I am also considering a power steering upgrade too.
I will keep stock axles, and stock look everywhere, except under the hood.
And of course, 12 Volt conversion.

[Drew M.]

Dave at Midnight Engineering in New Castle, DE used to swap M37 bodies on Chevy 1 ton truck frames. He beliived it was easier to swap the M37 body onto a shortened frame b/c everything driveline-wise is pre-engineered by GM.

I swapped 1 ton GM narrowed front Dana 60 and 14 bolt pickup width rear into mine with a divorced Dodge NP205. I would have used a married trans-transfer case if I was to do it again or swapped the body to a GM frame. Keeping the M37 frame led to lots of fabricating, which is time consuming for me. (Reverse p/s box setup, mod np200 brackets to np205, add brake to np205, narrow front crossmember, fab front shock mounts, find pto shaft to winch interfers with modified crossmember b/c Chelsea pto on the np435 trans sits lower than stock unit....).