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Gear Vendors Overdrive it is

truck1

Member
332
10
18
Location
San Anselmo,CA.
Glad it worked out for you.I bought from a dealer in Texas also, saving 300$. You will love it. Worth the investment. I drive this rig more than my Ram 2500 with all the bells and whistles.
 
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GPrez

Member
208
0
16
Location
Mt. Airy, MD
Glad it worked out for you.I bought from a dealer in Texas also, saving 300$. You will love it. Worth the investment. I drive this rig more than my Ram 2500 with all the bells and whistles.
I have mine already installed with the exception of the wiring. I purchased from a local dealer. I did pay sales tax, but was still less than the GV website price even with paying tax.
 

PETE BALLARD

Member
205
0
16
Location
Plainfield,Il
just inquiring, do you have the task completed yet? If so, how does it perform? Are you happy with the out come? would you share your total cost? Sound like a straight forward installation - would like your input as i am considering tha same upgrade. thanks - pete
 

natem

Member
692
17
18
Location
freeland/michigan
Pete, I'm happy to see search has worked for you.:-D Now while you are on this thread scroll to the bottom and you will find similar threads.

I should add I am very pleased with my Gear Vendors overdrive.
 

GPrez

Member
208
0
16
Location
Mt. Airy, MD
The driveshaft showed up Friday and I put it in yesterday. Took it for a 10-mile ride, but the unit isn't working. I ran thru the troubleshooting guide and everything appears to be hooked up correctly. The guide says the red light on the switch should illuminate when I turn the ignition key but, it only comes on for a brief second then goes out.

I've got voltage where I should and the ground for the controller checks out so I'm at a loss. All the wire harnesses are color coded so it's tough to mix them up. I'll call GV tomorrow and see if we can figure it out. Hopefully it's something simple.
 

MarcusOReallyus

Well-known member
4,524
816
113
Location
Virginia
How are you checking the voltage? Meter? OR test light? Meters can lie. You can see great voltages until there's a load, then the jolts drop to near zero. This happens because there is a high resistance somewhere upstream from your load.

Also, check your ground with a meter. Disconnect the batteries, then connect one end of the meter to the battery cable ground terminal with the other end on your grounding point. You should see just a few ohms of resistance.
 

natem

Member
692
17
18
Location
freeland/michigan
Is your speedometer working? I had in issue with my cable not engaging the speed sensor.

Also, does your 4x4 light come on when you engage 4 wheel drive? If not the 4x4 lockout prevents overdrive operation.
 
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GPrez

Member
208
0
16
Location
Mt. Airy, MD
How are you checking the voltage? Meter? OR test light? Meters can lie. You can see great voltages until there's a load, then the jolts drop to near zero. This happens because there is a high resistance somewhere upstream from your load.

Also, check your ground with a meter. Disconnect the batteries, then connect one end of the meter to the battery cable ground terminal with the other end on your grounding point. You should see just a few ohms of resistance.
I was using a meter. I 'm getting 12.4volts to the controller using the controllers ground as my ground point. I was getting 11.3 volts at the blue wire on the manual/auto controller as per the troubleshooting guide. I'll play with the wiring some more tonight.

Is your speedometer working? I had in issue with my cable not engaging the speed sensor.

Also, does your 4x4 light come on when you engage 4 wheel drive? If not the 4x4 lockout prevents overdrive operation.
The speedo was working although 3-4 mph off according to my GPS. I took it up to 60 though and it should kick on at 47. I have not tried engaging 4wd to check the lockout, but I did have a thought last night that perhaps I tapped into the wrong wire for the 4x4 lockout. I disconnected the 4x4 lockout wire from the controller this morning and it did not make any difference.
 

PETE BALLARD

Member
205
0
16
Location
Plainfield,Il
FYI- you do not want to engage this unit while in 4 wheel as when it does engage you will then have conflicting gear ratio's between front and rear differentials - just in case this slipped by
 

GPrez

Member
208
0
16
Location
Mt. Airy, MD
It turned out to be a bad ground and the 4x4 lockout tapped into the wrong wire. I ran a new wire for the ground when I got home from the ground block on the firewall to the inside the cab to the unit. It still was not working so I called GV and spoke with a guy named Mike. He was very helpful and patient. He walked me thru a few things and then stayed on the phone with me while I took it out and drove it. It still was not engaging so he had me pull over and disconnect the 4x4lockout from the controller and try it again. That was it. It kicked in and I had the biggest grin on my face. I'll drive it tomorrow to work and see how it does.

The instructions say to tap into the white wire going to the transfer case shifter except for Fords which will be a colored wire for the 4x4 lockout connection. Apparently that is not correct for the CUCV for anyone else installing one. I thought about putting a test light on it before connecting it, but I didn't.

Overall the install is very simple and I hope I enjoy my upcoming miles as much as I did my 10 miles tonight. I'll report back after getting some miles on it.
 

truck1

Member
332
10
18
Location
San Anselmo,CA.
Gprez,I had (have) the same situation with my GV and the 4x4 lockout wire.I tried splicing into both the white and black wire and the unit would not engage.I just left it disconnected at the controller module still spliced into the white wire for the dash lite and don't engage the unit in 4 wd.I've been running like that for 1 1/2 years with no problem but if you figure it out please post your solution.I've just been too lazy to figure it out.Great unit you will love it.Really makes these trucks highway drivers.
 

truck1

Member
332
10
18
Location
San Anselmo,CA.
Natem is that switch located on the TC? Maybe that is my problem but my dash lite 4wheel drive indicator works fine. I'm assuming by your post you have a GV also and experienced the same situation?
 

Dave Kay

Active member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
501
29
28
Location
Kingman AZ
Glad to hear you found a quick solution, wishing you good luck going forward and hoping to hear about your first impressions. Also hope to get MY INSTALL going here asap--- but work has suddenly reared it's ugly head... can you believe I've had this brand new GV unit on my garage bench for over 6 weeks now and it's making me a little crazy every time I walk by it because I can't make the time to do the install....aua

Anyway, when it happens I'll post my results and any install issues here on your thread 'cause it just seems appropriate.

Cheers :beer:
 

GPrez

Member
208
0
16
Location
Mt. Airy, MD
Also hope to get MY INSTALL going here asap--- but work has suddenly reared it's ugly head... can you believe I've had this brand new GV unit on my garage bench for over 6 weeks now

Anyway, when it happens I'll post my results and any install issues here on your thread 'cause it just seems appropriate.

Cheers :beer:
That's terrible that work is getting in your way. :). I didn't track the total time of my install, but I would say 6-hours or less. I think I spent more time figuring out where to install the controller than nothing else. I ended up mounting it behind the glove box.
 

scottladdy

Member
538
8
18
Location
CT
The instructions say to tap into the white wire going to the transfer case shifter except for Fords which will be a colored wire for the 4x4 lockout connection. Apparently that is not correct for the CUCV for anyone else installing one. I thought about putting a test light on it before connecting it, but I didn't.
gPrez, did the GV guy Mike tell you what the unit is looking for on the 4WD circuit? Does it want to see 12 V relative to ground? Or ground relative to 12 v? The way that circuit is wired, the circuit runs through the light, down to the switch on the T Case through the white wire, back to a splice under the dash via the black wire, which then connects to that spider ground under the far left dash. The switch on the T case just completes the circuit to ground. Check Figure F4 in the -20.
 
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