Nick came over from Wise Owl to install a Roverdrive with me. It took just under 2 hours complete, and was a pretty logical process. Why a Roverdrive and not one of the other types of overdrives that are out there? Local connection to parts. Good self oiling system. And a rather creative methodology -- using a planetary gear set meshed to one end of a series III sychro hub, from the look of it.
So far I'm impressed with the way it lowers the RPM, but I think, with my 33 inch tires and 2.25 petrol engine, I'll have a bit of a strain actually maintaining speed on the highway due to lack of power. I'm planning an engine replacement at some point anyway, or I'll just have to tickle some more horsepower out of this one. Ray says a bit of port and polish and shaving the head to increase compression will do the trick nicely. It may be worth the effort before going to a full engine swap, as the cost of head tweaks will only be a couple of hundred bucks, a head gasket and my time...
In the meanwhile, its pretty quiet, with a slight whine, which will disappear as the new main gear wears in with the old idler. This is very minor compared to what I heard -- that overdrives could be rather noisy beasts.
I like the smooth, positive shifting. Well done. And the clean well machined castings. Very thorough and professional. The body and guts of the unit are very well put together and were a nice clean fit.
It will be a few days before I have the floor and the rest of the truck assembled, but then I'll take it out on the highway and see what it can really do.
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