[DetroitDan]

well now I'm leaning towards wanting to do an NV4500 conversion. I looked around on Craigslist, only found one Chevy nv4500 in my state or neighboring states, and the guy wants a grand for it. A little rich for my blood, I'd pay a few hundred for a used tranny, but not a thousand bucks. I'd rather find a whole truck for a donor, then scrap it and get some money back.
SO...can someone tell me what trucks would be an acceptable donor? I keep hearing Dodge had a lot of nv4500s, but then nothing else is going to bolt up. I'd like to have it as simple as possible ( because I am simple). I did see an early 90s Chevy parts truck with a 5 speed, but it was a half ton, and I didn't know if that was a 4500, or if the half tons had a different, wimpier tranny. I would really like to keep my existing transfer case if at all possible, but if I cant, then I cant.
How about length, is the 4500 longer or shorter than the th400? Can't do much without having to rebuild the front driveshaft, with the 6 inch lift I was told I'd have to lengthen it, but I didn't. It looks fine right now, but I'm sure it won't extend any further to reach if the standard is longer. Maybe the simplest thing would be to swap the trans and transfer together, along with it's crossmember, then just have two new driveshafts built. IDK.