NV4500 Build Tags for Chevy, Dodge, GMC, and Ram IDN-108

To identify your Chevy, Dodge, GMC, or Ram truck's New Venture NV4500 transmission assembly number, you need to locate one of the two factory data tags. For trucks that still have the original transmission, you can usually order parts based on the truck year/model/engine. However, by now, most NV4500 transmissions have been rebuilt or replaced with an exchange transmission that may or may not be of the original configuration.

New Venture NV4500 5 Speed Manual Transmissions were built with two Identification Tags, that if present, will tell you what the transmission assembly number is. The assembly number will tell us what parts your particular transmission has which is important given the number of NV4500 variations there is. A stamped metal ID tag is secured to the transmission using two of the left PTO cover bolts. There is also an ID decal on the top cover. 

If the transmission was rebuilt and the original data tags were removed or the transmission is installed in different model and/or years than original, you need to do some detective work before ordering parts. A quick example is installing a 1997 NV4500 4x4 Dodge Diesel NV4500HD transmission into a 1996 truck. Externally, the transmissions from both years look almost identical and they are in fact externally interchangeable, but internally the two years have different gears and gear ratios. If you order a 1996 countershaft, it will not fit the 1997 transmission.

1992-1996 NV4500 transmissions have a slow ratio, 2-plane reverse gear power transfer and either 5.61 or 6.34 reverse gear ratios. On these transmissions, the reverse idler gear is about 2-3/4" long. 1997-2007 models have a fast, 5.04 ratio single plane reverse and the reverse idler gear is 1-1/2" wide. You can determine if your transmission has the single (fast) or dual (slow) plane reverse gearing by looking at the left rear side of the transmission case.