[DirtyDan]

Originally Posted by Driving_Nomad

Further, is my understanding correct that I will be able to cruise comfortably at 90-95 if I mate this with the XD3P?

I think you should lower your expectations of this vehicle as anything approaching a "highway cruiser". "Cruising" stops at about 60kph and "driving" with two hands takes over. Much beyond 75kph puts you in touch with your adrenal glands.

The real charm of these vehicles are the out of the way places they can take you. That is their wonderful strength. Short family outings into the countryside? Yes! 90-95kph highway cruising?...you are going to shake the filings out of your teeth and scare the brown goo out of all occupants, and its going to get messy. Cruising at 60 in one of these is a blast. Cruising at 90-95? You will think you are IN a blast of another kind. Enjoy the vehicle for its unique low speed talents. Have fun with it!

[Driving_Nomad]

Originally Posted by DirtyDan

I think you should lower your expectations of this ..

Thanks Dan for the reply. Let me rephrase. With the current setup, i.e XD3P and KMT 90, I am able to reach 100-105kmph (that's what the speedo shows) although it needs an open road to get to that speed. While at 80kmph, I feel the engine is generating enough power but the gearbox is restricting the speed and adding to the NVH.

I am not looking at increasing the top speed. I have got the compass for that and I haven't even tried once just to even see what the top speed is. Cruising at 100-120 is what the compass can do all day effortlessly and I am quite happy with that.
What I want is to reduce the NVH while at 70kmph+.

I want this vehicle to be something that will not shy away from going places where there are bad/no roads and at the same time do a minimal of one highway run of 300+ km a month. My monthly highway runs are anywhere between 1200-1500km and I want the Jeep to be a stand-in for the compass once atleast just for the fun and love of driving this machine.

Coming back to the topic, I searched around in the forum and couldn't find enough data as to what else needs to change if I change the GB.

Here's what I think the list of things would be, but am not sure whether this covers everything:

• Front and rear diffs to center/left front the current right offset
• Drive/propeller shafts need to get shorter as the NGT would occupy more space length-wise
• An adapter plate for mating the XD3P to the NGT
• Gear levers and knobs along with their grommets
• If at all, a support cross member for the NGT gearbox

Now, what am not sure about is:

• how much changing the diffs would cost me.
• Is it just the axles of the diffs that change and I can retain the carrier (pumpkin) and everything inside them?
• Can I re-use the existing propeller shafts trimming them to required size? If yes, would it be safe and work like it/they actually should?
• Anything else I am missing

The reason I ask is, if u buy the GB, I would not want to spend another 20 grand to fit it and make it work, and I don't want to jump in and buy the GB unless I know my reserves are sufficient.
The GB is in a good condition. All it might need is a synchronizer here and a bearing there, to be replaced.

Just an FYI, a new axle along with the diff and crown, pinions etc.. costs a whopping 90k+ and in BLR, unlike Kerala and up-north, there are not a lot of scrap dealers who would stock these parts (or I am not sure)

Will be really helpful if I find any directions/guidance here.

[dieselhead]

Originally Posted by Driving_Nomad

Can someone help me recognize?

This is a NGT520 with T18 Transfercase manual shift. You need the single lever 4x4 shifter from your NGCS to operate.My 2007 NGCS has the same one.

Originally Posted by Driving_Nomad

Will be really helpful if I find any directions/guidance here.

What is your current final drive ? 5.38 or 4.88 ? You can go upto 4.27 without changing the cage. Yes you need to find the GB cross member which is straight compared to KMT, shorten and elongate the rear and front driveshafts( also true them), the bell housing needs to be changed for the NGT, hydraulic clutch lines and master/slave cylinders to be installed.
Other smaller stuff needs to be done. The NGT 520 with T18 as shown in pic, will always have offset rear/front diffs.

[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by Driving_Nomad

Here's what I think the list of things would be, but am not sure whether this covers everything:

Will be really helpful if I find any directions/guidance here.

There are two ways to tackle this situation.
1) your current crown pinion ration must be 4.88, you can go up to 4.27 which will increase your speed with existing GB
2) Buy NGT520 GB with bell housing for XD3P and you wont have to change rear diffs. Though you will have to change rear prop shaft which i suggest to buy instead of chopping existing one as it needs to be trued with weights to ensure it does not vibrate in high speed.

Shubhendra

[jeepster]

Originally Posted by Driving_Nomad

I have found an NGT 520 Gearbox with Borg Warner TC for a good price. However, am not sure whether it's electric or manual shift?

Its a T18 TC.
You can see the pics of BorgWarner here:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-t...ml#post2423248 (Need advice:MM 550 BA 10 : 4x4 gear box direct Shift.)
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-t...ml#post3902177 (Mahindra Transfer Cases)

Regards,
Nikhil

[M.R.Boruwa]

That's a wonderful machine . I am fairly confident that in the standard avataar also it will be quite capable. Of course with pointers from Guru here it can go to next positive transformation for performance. Please do keep the thread posted. I am very keen to understand the paperwork process. Also have some queries for which I will probably I will send you across as PM.

[Harshith]

Hello, Nice to see your project. I am new to this portal. Therefore i want to know is there any way to solve some doubts by asking you?

MOD NOTE - Removing e-mail ID for privacy reasons. And discussing automotive things in private defeats the purpose of an online forum. Please have a discussion here. Others will benefit from the discussion too.
Thank You .

[Harshith]

Thank you for your concern. I have understood the purpose.I don't know the relevance of this post. Correct me if I go wrong.

I am looking for Mahindra MM 550 ex-military Jeep. I have tried a lot to get the information about the disposal dealers.

I am from southern part of India and hence it is little difficult to physically attend any auction or visit the dealers in north part of India.

I need details of those jeeps, their condition and cost. I am very much interested about restoration of vehicles, which I have done few times. So planning to have a restored jeep. This is the only platform which I find useful.

[Driving_Nomad]

Originally Posted by Harshith

Thank you for your concern. I have understood the purpose.I don't know the relevance of this post. Correct me if I go wrong.

I am looking for Mahindra MM 550 ex-military Jeep. I have tried a lot to get the information about the disposal dealers.

I am from southern part of India and hence it is little difficult to physically attend any auction or visit the dealers in north part of India.

I need details of those jeeps, their condition and cost. I am very much interested about restoration of vehicles, which I have done few times. So planning to have a restored jeep. This is the only platform which I find useful.

Please feel free to post here and I will help you out to the max extent I can and there. And there are the gurus too whose vast knowledge is invaluable. If you need some specifics on pricing and things like that, please PM me.

[Harshith]

Thank you for the support.

Let me tell you regarding one vehicle which i found near my place. Owner of the vehicle is willing to sell it for his own reason.

Mahindra MM 540 DP 2WD. Model 1993. It has gearbox with 4+1 gear. Might be a modified gearbox. I think it comes with XD4.9P Engine. No transfer case, rear differential is at the centre. It has closed knuckle ball joint axle at the front.

Steering play (slack) is there. I will get the vehicle to do a test drive within 2 days. Condition of the body and chassis looks good.

Insurance and RC emission documents are clear. If he quotes 80K for the 2WD MM 540 DP (1993) is it worth to consider ?
I know to repair most of the vehicles with the guidance of my dad. I would like to know the response of senior members...

Thank You,
Harshith

[Harshith]

I am from Mangalore and i don't know much about the automobile field here in local. What will be the price range of Ex-Army vehicles available around Bengaluru? Do we need to get the vehicle from Pune?
Kindly give me the details. I am not rich enough to use these 4x4 vehicles to modify. But badly in need of one 4x4 jeep. Atleast 2wd. Expecting your reply...

With regards,
Harshith

[Driving_Nomad]

Here are some updates from March-2020 till now.

Up until the first lockdown, the Jeep had become my daily drive to work and it was a breeze to drive her in any sort of traffic. Third gear in BLR traffic was no-sweat!

During the last few months I have taken up a minimalistic but practical set of mods which'll help the vehicle become better.

1. Seats: I bought a pair of used seats for the front. The seats are from Creta 2019, have fabric seat covers. I chose these over Innova since the Innova seats were too bulky for my liking. The support on these seats are really fantastic and the cushion is excellent.
   Cost: 8K plus shipping from Haryana to Karnataka
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   The installation is currently in progress and I expect it to cost another 2K (frame/labour etc)
   
   
   Had to remove the existing feet and re-weld it after the frame was made
   
   
2. Off-road bumper: Got an off-road bumper fabricated with 2 spot beam lights fitted to it along with Wrangler style hooks.
   Cost: Fabrication: 7K Painting:1.5K Hooks: 700 Lights: 1K + shipping
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Rear Foot-step: The rear footrest was missing in my jeep since the day I bought. With the Jeep being put to more use and people hopping in and out, I thought there was need for one. Luckily, I found an OE foot-step from the guy who fabricated my bumper (He also deals with MM-550/Thar accessories and parts). Asked him to paint it in black and ship it along with the bumper.
   
   
   
4. Tail lights: I have always liked the looks of the tail lights (or i think they're called bindi-lights ) that come in an army 550. One of the lights' internals in my jeep were all rusted and were beyond restoration. So got a new pair.
   Cost: Rs.550/- shipped along with the bumper and foot step
   
   
   
   
   
5. Wiper motor: I have been driving the Jeep without a Wiper motor for the last 1 year. Although it was not a problem to drive in the rains without the wiper, (hardly any raindrops stay on the windscreen) I still had second thoughts about safety/visibility. I wanted to get the Bolero type (read linkage-system) motor and wipers installed, but the tinkerer who'd agreed to do that modification had been dodging. Finally, he said that the space in the 550 isn't sufficient for the linkage type and that I will have to go with the OE cable type motor.
   
   
   
   
   The motor pushes and pull the cable which is loaded with a metal thread on which the gear in the milling box move. The wiper arms are directly connected to the gear's centre and hence oscillate.