New Venture

4500 & 5600 Transmissions

In 1992 Dodge and General Motors trucks started appearing in showrooms with one of the most versatile transmissions ever to be offered in a production truck: the New Venture Gear 4500. This transmission is a fully synchronized (except reverse on GM models) five-speed gearbox with all of the strength and low-gear benefits (and then some) of the older creeper gear four-speeds, plus 27-percent overdrive. The cast iron case is combined with massive gearsets in an almost compact 200lb package. As far as driveability is concerned, this unit surpasses the rest with smooth, short action and very distinct shift gates. It has become an extremely popular manual-trans swap and kits are available for Jeep CJ’s, Wranglers and Cherokees; Toyota Land Cruisers; and 66’-77’ Broncos.

Commonly referred to as simply NV4500, the transmission is identified by Dodge Truck as NVG4500, while Chevrolet and GMC designate it as the MT8 and MW3. The manufacturers’ code names for the two transmissions are different and so are some of the internals, yet both gearboxes are made at the same New Venture Gear assembly plant. General Motors applications include it as an option in 3/4 and 1-ton fullsize trucks with a GVWR of more than 8500 pounds (some literature shows 1/2-ton availability, but we haven’t seen such a truck). Dodge versions are used in 3/4 and 1-ton trucks, mostly with Cummins diesels and V10’s.