Hey guys - not sure if this is the best spot for this, but I wanted to save it for posterity. (Mods, feel free to move it…)
Now, I’ve got an ‘86 Diesel Trooper, but I wanted to share that a 1996 Rodeo V6, 2wd 5 speed speedometer driven gear (which was marked “6-18”) does fit in the 1986 Trooper’s 5 speed. I gambled on it today at the Pick and Pull for $10, and even though the Rodeo was using an electronic speedometer, the gear fits the older cable driven speedometer in my 5 speed. I’m not even sure what the 2wd Rodeos had in terms of rear end ratios, but my Trooper is geared 4.55 and has 31s on it. I haven’t done more than run it down the road to verify it works, so I’m not sure how far it might be off, but it’s fairly close, based on RPM and what I’ve previously measured against with GPS.
By the way, reinstalling the driven gear housing, which has a 12mm bolt on a locking tab, can be frustrating, I put it in the freezer for a few minutes, hit it with a dollop of lithium grease, and was able to easily drive it into place with a wood block and some light taps with a hammer.
I don’t know if this helps, and maybe it’s common knowledge, but I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere else. All I know is that I can finally track mileage and my speed, not that a Diesel Trooper has ever actually been pulled over for speeding.
Maybe this helps a few folks keep these rigs on the road. If I remember correctly, the P’ups and the LUVs also used this transmission (or at least the 4 speed version) back into the late 1970s.