Who Has Bought a Rebuilt NSG370?
- Thread starter g.hayduke
- Start date
I may be. I could see a rebuild in my future. It would be an interesting one to take apart. I've done autos but haven't been in a manual since school.
Did you try Royal Purple? I lived in TX at the time. I need to go check which Redlune I had. I kept some left over, but now my brain is scanning and I think I may have tossed it.
No desire … redline is all I’ll ever use for axles and gear oil … I’m perfectly happy with MT90 and my 160k 2005 NSG370 tranny. I actually like the NSG. And yes more than the AX15.
I liked the ratios of the NSG more, but the lack of support is concerning. The AX-15 is still being manufactured new, and is indisputably simpler engineered.
I’ll give you that … the shift mechanism is a miracle that is lasts, pressed steel forks and detents in the shifter, not the shift rails contribute to slop, but they made it work.
The ratios are great, 5 forward gears plus 1 overdrive plus that low third are unbeatable plus the synchros are quick acting, the AX (and Toyota versions) are slow shifting, but will take the abuse of slamming them into gear (perhaps I am too gentle)
Not interested in that. I like the transmission otherwise. It's got some issues but the problems have been figured out and resolved.
You may not be interested and that’s fine. However, in a few years a lot of people are going to be interested, and the problem will exist; there’s no reputable rebuilders of the NSG370.
Plus, did I mention it was engineered by Germans on crack?
Daimler. Stupid Daimler. That merger went really bad for them. Thought minivans were the future.
Chrysler. Stupid Chrysler. Put stupid Daimler stuff in their rigs.
You may not be interested and that’s fine. However, in a few years a lot of people are going to be interested, and the problem will exist; there’s no reputable rebuilders of the NSG370.
Plus, did I mention it was engineered by Germans on crack?
Daimler. Stupid Daimler. That merger went really bad for them. Thought minivans were the future.
Chrysler. Stupid Chrysler. Put stupid Daimler stuff in their rigs.
A friend and colleague of mine was in Jeep engineering at the time and they all hated the nsg370 and would have never chosen it for the wrangler. It got shoved down their throats by management.
You may not be interested and that’s fine. However, in a few years a lot of people are going to be interested, and the problem will exist; there’s no reputable rebuilders of the NSG370.
Plus, did I mention it was engineered by Germans on crack?
Daimler. Stupid Daimler. That merger went really bad for them. Thought minivans were the future.
Chrysler. Stupid Chrysler. Put stupid Daimler stuff in their rigs.
Meh....those of us with the NSG370 will survive. I'm not worried. The transmission has been used for a lot longer than our TJs and seems to be working out just fine. Early issues but overall, it's not a bad transmission.
I'm just trying to help people. I already lived the NSG life. You did too. If they want to live the same life that is their decision. Most won't listen. That doesn't bother me. I just want to help people realize that it's not a good long term investment. Besides, an auto is superior to a manual in almost every way (it's faster on-road with worse gearing, it has more control off-road). LOL (you know I'm looking at you and winking). In all honesty though, I am nobody, and if I can do the swap to a more reliable and supported transmission, then anyone can. If I wanted to stay with a manual I would definitely go with the AX-15 swap like you.
Myself, it makes zero sense to swap to the AX-15. I understand that its a more rugged transmission, but the NSG isn't geared low enough as it is, the AX is even higher. But people's priorities differ, so you do you!
I agree the ratios suck for the AX-15, but if you want longevity and reliability it's the tradeoff. I loved my NSG for what it was and crawled some gnarly stuff. I wouldn't have left, but I was left with no good choices and a $2500 vacuum. With @g.hayduke as the only success story I went another route. I love you manual guys. I was one of you and at heart love the driving challenge and experience.
I won't argue with any of that. But right now I don't have the space to pull off that kind of swap and until I get my oscillating vibes sorted out I don't want to do anything that would require me to regear to something deeper and bring the vibes in at a lower speed.
What would be great is if I could work out a 32rh swap so the regear would be in the opposite direction, slowing down my driveshafts and moving the vibes into a speed I never reach.
I'm sure you're good with the AX-15. That transmission will be supported for a lifetime.
The oscillating vibes is my problem too. And my swap resulted in gears that aren't deep enough (as you describe). IDK if you recall or not, but I initially started a thread on swapping the NSG-370 for the 32rh. That was a no-go for me for a number of reasons, so I went ahead with the 42rle. Now my issue is oscillating vibes come on at 73mph with 456 gears. If I regear to 513 they'll come on around 65mph. That's not really desirable. I know my answer is hubs, but that means selling my beadlocks, replacing them, re-gear, and the hubs. It's a hefty amount of change for 8mph. I think I'll retire mine as a DD in the near future, so it's not money I'm going to spend to solve them. I'm just going to enjoy my Jeep.
You might re-visit the thread I mentioned. Maybe you can figure it out. You're way smarter than me in this stuff.
EDIT: When I found the thread you'd already been there!
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/nsg370-to-32rh-swap.73972/
No, it does not. I just bought one from them and immediately disassembled it in order to install one. The plastic shift rail guide plate in the rebuilt transmission was broken in the usual place. On the case they had written "replace R pads". The shift fork had what appeared to be 3D printed shift fork pads installed on the reverse fork. Other than that I found a very worn out 5-6 slider that I replaced for $60. All of the bearings, synchros and blocking plates were replaced as well as 1st and reverse gears. I'll be installing it after the holidays. Fingers crossed!
Uhm, just because it’s been around, doesn’t mean it’s still not a POS, everyone I have spoken to that has one has some problem with it. Might be ok for a car and the numbers look good, but just isn’t up to what a real heavy duty transmission is. I am on number 3 so far and the rebuilt is not working well for me.
I will disagree, they are still garbage and all of the sheetmetal and plastic pieces just aren’t durable.