Well as much as I was excited about having an automatic and not shifting gears as much I can now say I hate my automatic! I have hauled two tractors now with my new truck and it absolutely sucks! I am planning to do a 5 speed swap at this point. Here is my parts list so far please add what you think is necessary and add any ideas or concerns about it. 

NV4500

Bellhousing (will the standard one work or will I need a special one?)

Clutch (South Bend ConOFE)

Clutch Fork

Slave cylinder and resivor 

NP241DHD t case (will the DLD behind my 47RE work?)

Driveshafts 

Shifter console and cup holder

PCM

ECM

Gauge cluster (Can I have one programmed to match my mileage?) 

What else will I need? 

I have pretty much the same truck and to be fair I was looking at converting to manual mainly down to what i'd read here and elsewhere but 2 weekends ago I got to see what a bone stock 47RE does when faced with a absolute stupid 2 mile tiny road out of a valley, by the time I realised what TF there was no way back, 30ft trailer at 9k, now 9k is not too much for you guys but the rear tyres were howling spinning for at least 200 yards in the middle of the 2 miles it was that steep, what did I do..... press one pedal and leave it be, trans temp topped at 204 and it was flat out pedal on the mat in 1st gear for nearly 2 miles, oil is crystal clear but I'm going to change it anyway.

How I figure it by the time I've got the parts together to go manual the cost is the same as building my auto to pull houses down, probably take no notice of me as I'm in the uk and a manual is £2k plus shipping just for the box nothing else

Just my take on it

20 minutes ago, wil440 said:

I have pretty much the same truck and to be fair I was looking at converting to manual mainly down to what i'd read here and elsewhere but 2 weekends ago I got to see what a bone stock 47RE does when faced with a absolute stupid 2 mile tiny road out of a valley, by the time I realised what TF there was no way back, 30ft trailer at 9k, now 9k is not too much for you guys but the rear tyres were howling spinning for at least 200 yards in the middle of the 2 miles it was that steep, what did I do..... press one pedal and leave it be, trans temp topped at 204 and it was flat out pedal on the mat in 1st gear for nearly 2 miles, oil is crystal clear but I'm going to change it anyway.

How I figure it by the time I've got the parts together to go manual the cost is the same as building my auto to pull houses down, probably take no notice of me as I'm in the uk and a manual is £2k plus shipping just for the box nothing else

Just my take on it

I agree that a built auto and a swap are about the same money wise. I think that manual is better for towing though. Pulling hills in overdrive just sucks they’re is no power at all. Drop a 5 speed in 4th and you can pull a grade all day.

flick OD off and as best you can keep it in lockup.... built auto with lockup in  1st and 2nd

to be fair  it did take a while for me to figure out how to use an auto and how it all works out

grades is OD off which will drop it to 3rd locked then 3rd convertor, then 2nd convertor and 1st convertor, VB mod gets 2 more gears as in 2nd locked and 1st locked.... thats my thinking ... could be wrong

 

Drive it like you stole it and all works out good

1 hour ago, Marcus2000monster said:

 Pulling hills in overdrive just sucks they’re is no power at all. Drop a 5 speed in 4th and you can pull a grade all day.

@wil440 is right about locking out overdrive and going up hills in 3ed locked.  I do it all the time; slow to 55, lock out O/D, lockup torque convertor, set cruise control, kick back and get up the hill.   Going up the hill in 3ed also keeps the exhaust temps down. 

You wont need a cluster, The PRD21 pops out and a black plastic cover plate goes in its place. I did not mess with my drive shaft lengths. Your bell housing will work fine. DLD tcase will work but need to change input shaft or something, I got DHD when I did mine.

36 minutes ago, 98whitelightnin said:

You wont need a cluster, The PRD21 pops out and a black plastic cover plate goes in its place. I did not mess with my drive shaft lengths. Your bell housing will work fine. DLD tcase will work but need to change input shaft or something, I got DHD when I did mine.

Where do I get this PRND21 cover? So the driveshafts should bolt up? How hard is it to change the input shaft on the t case? 

Get the cover out of a manual cluster. Drive shafts bolt up fine, back is a little shorter and front a little longer but I had no problems running mine. I bought a wrecked truck with DHD so I didnt use my old DLD.

Swapping out the input shaft isn't bad. My front driveshaft on my old 99' let go and cracked my t-case housing. I picked up a used 47RE and DLD for a deal and sold the trans as a core. I just rebuilt the case because you're in there that far anyway.