Dash button to floor shifter swap

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Jesse_Wenting

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Looking to convert my electronic 4wd system to a manual/mechanical one on my 98 K1500 5L 4L60e. What is all involved with this swap? Can I simply take the shifter from another truck (and if so what years are compatible). What wiring will I need to change/add? Will I need to change anything with the front drivetrain or diff?

Thanks for any help
 

geeeee89

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have to change to a np241c transfer case with 27 spline input (came behind 4l60e trans in half ton trucks). then it's just installing/connecting the floor shifter and linkage after you cut the hole in the floor. i don't THINK you'll have to change front driveshafts but i'm not positive. some of the transfer cases had a front output yoke and some had a flange, so hopefully you can find the transfer case that has the same configuration. if not, should be as simple as changing your yoke/flange to the new transfer case and keeping the same driveshaft. The shifters/trim/linkage should all be the same. the trim piece on the floor has a light in it to show the 4wd shifter position so you'll need to run a wire down there for that. I'm also not positive if the 4wd actuator in the front


that's on the mechanical side of things. i'm not sure what the transmission will require as far as shifting in 4wd or anything so maybe you need a pcm from the donor truck? not positive on that because my 4wd truck is a manual, but i'm sure someone else will chime in.
 
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geeeee89

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no problem. I'm not trying to steer you away from changing it, because manual shifters area awesome and I love having one. Just trying to cover everything so it works for you when you do the swap. I've done plenty of stuff I didn't NEED to do just because I wanted to, so I say go for it if you want the manual one.
 

Jesse_Wenting

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I'll be honest, I think I'll end up preferring the electronic style over the manual. The reason I'm looking into the swap is because although I've never had a failure, and even if tons of other people hadn't reported their systems failing, mechanical is simply more reliable electrical. Plus I kinda want to free up the space on the dash for this beautiful ******* lol
 
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Dravec

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I know I definitely want to swap my K2500 Burb to the NP241 floor shift set-up. But I'm also seriously considering an NV4500 swap in the Burb too....
 

RustyRigs

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When my 4l60e **** the bed on me back in the spring, I bought a complete donor truck to do a manual swap, and it also had a manual transfer case. As has been stated, the mechanical aspect of everything is easy and bolts right up. Really just tear out the old t-case and install the new one, cut a hole in the floor and bolt it all together. The electrical is a little trickier, and I guess it depends on how picky you are. If I remember correctly there's two plugs on the manual case itself, as opposed to I believe three on the auto. One is your speed sensor which will plug right in, and ones the 4wd switch. This tells the truck, and consequently the front axle it's in 4wd and let's it engage. Now, I wasn't terribly picky with the lights and whatnot, because I opted to junk the chunky floor cover and use a rubber shifter grommet like everything else has. So I didn't utilize the light. If you wanted to, they receive power off one of the pins on the differential actuator. I skipped all that to make it simple, ran power to the switch on the t-case, then to the actuator and it applies when it needs to, in 4 hi & 4 low. Don't remember the exact wiring off the top of my head. Wasn't hard once all the gremlins were figured out.
 
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