Swap Manual to Automatic?

[earthmover]

I'm just curious and couldn't find the answer anywhere....Is it feasible to swap a 13 speed Mack transmission with an Allison Automatic in a 1999 RD 400HP E7? Any idea on cost? I know automatic adds around $15K to a new truck.

My buddy and I were having a discussion on this the other night and he bought a automatic truck and couldn't stop saying how much he liked it. I'm just wondering if its a possibility when my truck needs a new/rebuilt trans.

Edited March 8, 2014 by earthmover

[REEL ADDICTION]

i dont think it is worth the money to do.

[earthmover]

That's what i was thinking. Just want to see if anyone has done it or knows the cost.

Edited March 9, 2014 by earthmover

[41chevy]

Trans, Flex plate, starter, mounts, front drive shaft different length, front yoke, transmission cooler and lines followed by shifter assembly, neutral safety switch, calibrate speedometer and hope its not over or under geared for the auto. Stick with the stick. Paul

[1958 F.W.D.]

I have a lot of time with Allison HT740's which are bombproof, as well as the newer 4000 "world series" trannies with the integral hydraulic retarder. This is a really nice feature, however it tends to heat up the ATF really fast- especially if you do a lot of start-stop city driving or have a PTO- many residential trash collectors are now doing away with their integral retarders in favor of Jakes or even Telma retarders.

If you do a LOT of local driving, it might be something you want to seriously think about. But if you do more road work than local work, stick with the stick.

[rsb502]

Its a 99 so its got an electronic engine and therefore both engine and body controllers that would have to be reprogrammed to work right after the swap. I like the Allison but its gonna be expensive, as long as the gearing is below a 4.64 you should be ok there especially if your running 22.5's. I would leave it alone unless you have a wore out trans and need a clutch, at least then your gonna be there already.

[96bulldogpower]

I did the swap on a 1991 Mack with an e-7 Mack 9-speed. The donor truck was a 1996 Mack mr model trash truck with a full mechanical e-7 the transmission was an allison ht-740. All that was needed from the donor was: transmission frame mounts, flexplate, complete transmission assembly, liquid heat exchanger, and the shifter control tower for the cab. The only problem we ran into was having to replace the air modulator for an electronic kind ($90) and installing a micro switch under the accelerator pedal to signal the transmission to up shift or downshift at 75% throttle.... The speedo has to be recalibrated using the jumper pins behind the cluster, and it is important that you get all the nuts and bolts involved in the donor truck. Remember, the driveshaft will have to be relenghtened and depending on your rear hear ratio you will lose top speed. Our truck now only reaches 59 miles per hour because it has 4.17 rear end gear ratio and the ht-740 trans does not have overdrive.

[96bulldogpower]

Also our truck runs 11r24.5 rubber... It was an interesting swap and definitely rare to see an older ch-613 set back axle tandem dump truck with an automatic transmission.... It runs absolutely great with the exception of it's lack of top speed... It has globs of power and torque to take off especially in those boggy construction sites. We use it for local work and I basically only sees road time when driving to the site itself. Typically 400 miles a week of highway time, the rest is all local. The ht740 is definitely a solid trans in my book. All in all with parts, oil, and beer, the cost to build was close to $3000..... Considering we did all the work by ourselves in our own shop

[earthmover]

Also our truck runs 11r24.5 rubber... It was an interesting swap and definitely rare to see an older ch-613 set back axle tandem dump truck with an automatic transmission.... It runs absolutely great with the exception of it's lack of top speed... It has globs of power and torque to take off especially in those boggy construction sites. We use it for local work and I basically only sees road time when driving to the site itself. Typically 400 miles a week of highway time, the rest is all local. The ht740 is definitely a solid trans in my book. All in all with parts, oil, and beer, the cost to build was close to $3000..... Considering we did all the work by ourselves in our own shop

Very interesting. 3,000 not bad if I had the mechanical knowledge to do it in house I would do it in a heartbeat. It's not worth the big money to have someone do it though. The truck runs good the way it is but I was just had the idea for less maintenance and fatigue. When I add another truck it will be an automatic!

[doubleclutchinweasel]

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