State Of The Art Gear Splitter/Overdrive

State of the Art Gear Splitter/Overdrive TRUCKS Accessories 15-4-3 "I installed a gear splitter on my 1987 Ford 2-WD diesel pickup that works so well I'd like to tell FARM SHOW readers about it. It's a state-of-the-an piece of equipment that works unbelievably well," says Harmon Pfister, Bondurant, Wyo., who telephoned FARM SHOW one day recently to tell us about his "Under/Overdrive" gear splitter from Gear Vendors, El Cajon, Calif. Pfister lives up in the mountains and had trouble pulling big loads with his pickup, which is equipped with a 4-speed automatic transmission and a410 rear end. "Installing the Gear Vendor's splitter lets me gear low for heavy pulling or gear high for cruising in overdrive at highway speeds. I now get 20 mph just cruising around - without the split-ter, I got 14 to 15 mph - and there's no comparison when pulling a load," says Pfister. The Gear Vendor's splitter is not a new product. It's made in England and has been on the market in the U.S. for 10 years. But Pfister says it's not well-known to farmers and he thinks it should be. "There's no comparison between it and other splitters on the market in terms of sophistication and quality. It's very slick. No plastic parts and some of the finest machining I've ever seen. It's got an internal pump for pressure lubrication, planetary gears, and is built to last 250,000 miles." Rick Johnson at Gear Vendors says the company's splitter is the only auxiliary trans-mission on the market that's used in new cars and motorhomes. It's standard equipment in Chevrolet Corvettes, for example, and Volvo buys more than 40,000 of the units a year for its cars. It's also widely used on many RV's, including Ford and GM. The splitter/overdrive is designed for both manual and automatic transmissions. When installed on an automatic, it shifts automatically without any input by the driver. When installed on a manual transmission, it works like a 2-speed axle and is shifted by depressing the clutch and pushing a button. On both models, it splits the existing gears in half. Pfister says the splitter is easy to install in less than a day. It mounts a few inches behind the existing transmission. You simply shorten up the existing driveshaft and connect it up to the splitter. A dimmer-type switch on the floor of his pickup turns it on and off but, since he has an automatic, he usually just leaves it on all the time. "My pickup now pulls like it's got a heavy-duty 310 rear end yet cruises down the highway like a car. I wouldn't want to operate without it," he says. "We have a 2-year warranty and a 30-day money back guarantee. No one else in the industry even comes close," says Rick Johnson of Gear Vendors. "It's much higher quality than most after-market products and is very quiet - it actually reduces engine noise because it lowers engine rpm's." Over 700 dealers handle the splitter, which sells for around $1,600, depending on the model. Models are available to fit all 1980 and forward Ford, Chevy and GMC pickups and some Dodge. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gear Vendors, Inc., 1035 Pioneer Way, El Cajon, Calif. 92020 (ph 800 999-9555 or 619 442-0365).

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