brownie type boxes urban myth

[carpenter547]

durring my search for an under drive unit i have come across 3 terms

auxiliary transmission http://www.usgear.com/dual_range.htm
under drive / over drive http://www.offroaders.com/directory/pro ... lune-v.htm and http://www.gearvendors.com/index.html
gear splitters http://www.high-impact.net/transmission ... rdrive.htm

i have finally figgured out what each of them are. i think.

auxiliary transmission seem to be geared and built for towing and either add more to your granny gear or give you an over drive that can be used while towing. but the shifting of these units seems to be pick before you need and stick with it

under drive / over drive seems to be either for empty or light hauling *over drive* or for rock crawling *under drive* not towing.

gear splitting seems to sound like it is the best it allows you to shift on the fly and is meant for towing however it appears it is a light weight system *at least the only unit i can find is*

and lastly and the point of this is the mythical "brownie box" a rare creature said to contain internals strong enough to haul heavy load. so well engineered you can shift on the fly. set up with 3 count them 3 gearing ratios under , direct, and over drive. it could leap tall buildings in a single bound had xray vision too and if you painted it blue or put and S on it then i would repel bullets like a pimple faced geek repels the ladies *yup that good* but.... other than the rememberings of the gray hairs *nothing against that lots of wisdom there for sure* i can't find any info on it any where.
it is turning into a chase for a white whale for me *and we know how that ends *

[eggman918]

Brownie box is an old school term for the second transmission,they were common before 2 speed axles.the last one that i drove was in'62 F500? with a huge gas motor and it had a 5 and 4,both boxes shifted OK but the linkage on 4 speed was sloppy but it was 40 years old. so they do exist,but getting harder to find.I have seen 3,4 and5 speed "brownies"
look for '50s to early'60 commercial rigs without 2speed rear ends

[eggman918]

"REDCAP" has a lot of data on gear boxes maybe he will have useful input

[carpenter547]

look for '50s to early'60 commercial rigs without 2speed rear ends

okay will do.

at this point i will now ask the stupidest question of the day. *drum roll*

if these are basically second transmissions would it be worth it to get a second tranny and hook it up behind the first?

and also as i understand alot mabey most of the gas powerd big f series trucks actually ran a 390 ft in them. that is what got me thinking about the aux tranny issue in the first place.

[eggman918]

look for '50s to early'60 commercial rigs without 2speed rear ends

okay will do.

at this point i will now ask the stupidest question of the day. *drum roll*

if these are basically second transmissions would it be worth it to get a second tranny and hook it up behind the first?

and also as i understand alot mabey most of the gas powerd big f series trucks actually ran a 390 ft in them. that is what got me thinking about the aux tranny issue in the first place.

motor in that truck was a 534"
they were normally mounted in tandem,I have thought about a browine because I have divorced transfer case so there is room
the last one that i saw in boneyard was a 3 speed and the case was the same size as a NP435 dident buy it wish I had
I have herd of rockcrawlers using tranys hooked up backwards to get multiple under drives

[carpenter547]

i would love to get my hands on a 3 speed aux tranny under direct over would be sweet.

i am gonna run 3.5ish on my rear so an over drive would be awsome let me get 70 mph on the free way when boss says move your ass now

[Redcap]

A lot of the above info is correct.

Brownies were typically 2 or 3 gear auxillary transmissions, though I have seen a 4 gear ones. 2 speed were typically under/direct. 3 speed were either dbl under/under/direct or under/direct/over. The only 4 speed one I've seen was dbl under/under/direct/over.

[eggman918]

The truck with 4 speed brownie was if I recall is a super duty,it had a i guess you would call it a cold air scoop on passenger side that faced backwards with a vac. controlled flap like on shaker hood mustangs.the truck started as semi tractor with a single drive axle,last 30 or so years it has had a 50 ton water well pulling rig on it runs on propane will probably run for ever

[fireguywtc]

I think most 4 spd type brownies were used in class 8 tractors, obviously for heavier type hauling. I know a logger in my home town which one of his log trucks was an older KW with a 10spd and 4spd brownie. Oh, yeah! 40 foward speeds. He wouldn't let me drive it though.

[fordman]

yes you can still even get a brownie type box in bigger ford trucks now days. like the garbage trucks here in town have right now. so you dont need one unless you are hauling trash or something heavy or slow moving.

[eggman918]

The idea of a brownie for me is for forest service roads in the sierra Nevada mtns.VERY steep would help going up or down

[carpenter547]

yeah i will be moving heavy stuff alright i need it outa the way haha

[ak-1970-360]

Last years working on the north slope in the oilfields i drove a 1975 Peterbuilt with a 350 Cummins Big Cam and a 5/4. That was fun on ice roads

[fmartin_gila1]

Back in the day,Ford used 4 different "Brownie" boxes. The Spicer 5831-C was a under-direct- over box used in 302-2V: T-700 & 332-2V: T-750, T-800. The Spicer 5831-D was also a 3 spd used in 302-2V:T700 & 332-2V:T750, T800. This small box weighed 154 pounds. The Spicer 7231-B & -D were also 3 spd boxes and were used in 332-2V: T750, T-800. This box weighed 237 pounds. The Spicer 8031-C & G were also 3 spd boxes used in 332-2V: T750, T-800. This box weighed 425 pounds. The Spicer 7041 & 8341-A were 4 spd boxes used in 332-2v: T-750, T-800. This box weighed 471 Pounds. Which "Brownie" used depended upon the specified Wheelbase of the Vehicle, and the engine/Transmission combination. Later these "Brownies" could also be found behind the Larger Gas(534) and diesel engines. These "brownies could also be found in other Truck makes as well. I have seen the 5831-C or -D in a 56 GMC Dump Truck, and the heavier duty ones in all kinds of Kenworth's, Peterbuilts, Autocar's, Western Star's, International's and such. As the newer multi spd-air shifted Transmissions came into use in the 60s, the "two Sticks" gradually started to lose favor. I drove a Peterbuilt with a Cummins 350 with a 6 gear main box & a 4 spd "brownie" for many years, and with that selection of gears could run with the drivers running larger engines with the 10 and 13 spd boxes, as I could always keep the proper Torque RPM, we were always loaded between 78,000 & 80,000 pounds.

Fred

[ForingaMex]

I have herd of rockcrawlers using tranys hooked up backwards to get multiple under drives

I'm not an expert but if I'm correct that would give you multiple overdrives and a second tranny hooked up the same as the first would give you multiple underdrives. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Jake