The late 70s to the late 80s was the four wheeling hay day for my friends and I. Most of us had trucks, and a couple of Jeeps were had from time to time. None of us had a great deal of disposable income so the muddying machine was also your daily driver. Mods were usually limited to a 4 or 6 inch lift kit and as big of a tire that could be stuffed in the wheel well. Other than that it was pretty much all stock. A lot of the trucks were auto trans but if you were lucky you had a truck that came equipped with a four speed that had the ultra low low gear known as compound. We called this granny gear, and any truck so equipped was said to have a granny tranny. A friend from back in those days called me a couple days ago telling me he had purchased a mid 80s Chevy with a 305 and auto trans that he planned on turning into the ultimate mud monster he could never afford in the old days. He plans on a big block and manual trans. He wanted to know if I knew the model of the old granny tranny. I told him that for his application I would look for the Muncie SM-465. He said great I thought you would know. Then he said before calling you I thought that I would try and find the model myself, so I just Googled granny tranny. I sure ass hell wasn’t ready for that. I couldn’t help but laugh.
SM-465
- Thread starter ytradio
- Start date
Ah yes, the NP435, SM 420 and 465. Don't rule out the T18 too. Im in the same boat now at 62. Ive had so many 4 speed/205 T case trucks, Power wagons, square bodies, F250 Fords... I cant remember them all anymore. I told the wife if I had them all It would be like a mini Barret Jackson gig on my property. I still see the occasional 1 owner cream puff pop up, and one of these days I'm gonna grab it. They will bury me in it. Never again will I own a computer controlled, over priced, electronic gizmo laden, IFS suspended, foo foo mobile. 
Piratesailor
Member
Yeah.. granny tranny is something different these days. Back in the day.. late 70’s a college friend of mine had an f250. I can’t remember the engine size right now but it had a granny tranny. Pulled him out a a few scrapes…