I just bought a Herb McCandles 4-speed to go behind my Don Carlton Hemi & would like to get as much info on using & maintaining this transmission as possible before I put it into use so please share any tips or info you can, Cheers

Put it on a shelve. The maintaince is unbelievable,especially the imput shaft at 4th gear.Forget about down shifting.The crash box were designed for race only and a crude design.You would be better off with some of the newer after market clutchless trans available.With every tooth cut from the gear at the lock in position and slide collar as well as the elimination of the syncro rings use of this trans can get costly.

Don't p foot around shifting, they are called crash boxes for a reason, clutch is critical. Timing is critical. When it's right hang on! You're in for the ride of your life.

-Daty

I have a w2 headed 340, 13.5:1 compression, over .700" gross valve lift, runs on E85 with a Dominator, 5.13's with a 26" tire and I DRIVE a Liberty face-plated low first gear four speed on the street A LOT. In fact..it is ONLY a street car....downshifts NO PROBLEM and with the shifter and side cover mods I did I NEVER miss a gear..it is almost TOO EASY to shift....I actually began to MISS and grind gears in my 2012 SRT8 Challenger because I became so accustomed to the ease of shifting the Duster....it is only a 23 spline box...smaller input shaft diameter...so I am sure it wont last forever but for now I drive it like its a family truckster....

I've got an aluminum case 18 spline crash box by Passon in my car and LOVE it........shifts awesome......only has synchro's on 1st and reverse.......car runs 10.60's @ 127..........I've got at least 300 passes on it since I bought it in '09 and have never had it apart.........but, it is not easy to downshift (except into first)......

Kevin says he's putting it behind a Hemi in a Colt. And this is a Chrysler"crashbox" or "slickshift" tranny.

that Dart is awesome!

my face-plated box really does downshift easy but I always rpm match when downshifting...it makes a little bit of a 'clunk' but , then again. it does that when upshifting too!

How high can you take engine rpm before a faceplated trans has issues going into gear? Can it achieve 8400-8600rpm with no issues?

Mine's just an aluminum version of an 833....down shifting isn't easy but is doable once you're used to it...have to be a truck driver and rev it up a little and bang it into gear...it's definitely not made for little old men or women to drive...

Like Bob says the factory type "slick shift" boxes do need regular maintenance if you put many hard passes on them.
I would get a face-plate input and third gear with the correct slider and have Liberty's modify the side cover too.
I have driven just about every different kind of modified 4-speed Chrysler box and the face-plate is the best way to go
Gus

Been there done that.
I would never ever do a slick shift again after trying faceplate.
Slick shift wares out the dog teeths so fast its not even funny.
And thats after you have spent alot of hours grinding every other teeth off.
Faceplate is not cheap but WELL worth it in my opinion.

What is the liberty cover mod?

Slick shift, per Mopars original instructions, grind every other tooth off the sliders and gears, is way different han the later Pro shifted gears and sliders that Liberty and Nash offered The slick shifted gears are very unforgiving, and wear out quick with the untrained driver, miss one shift and take the tranny aprt to fix the burred up gear and slider The Pro Shifted parts are a lot easier to make shift and last a lot longer,(80+ runs compared to 40 or less runs on the slick shifted parts with the same driver and clutch ) Trust me on that OP, convert that tranny to a face plate set up and don't look back

Whats face plate?

I had Liberty Face-plate 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in my 18 spline A-Body box. They cut the synchro rings off each gear and weld a face plate to each. It was $80.00 per gear plus the cost of the new dog ring sliders. The pic shows the gears and the new sliders vs the old ones. Also, the side cover mod, which they bore out the holes and press in seals. The lever rods are larger diameter. Call Liberty, good folks to deal with.

So what good does the cover mod do exept a better seal?

Thanks. I dont have that done to mine but i dont feel i need it either.

What clutch do you guys use and whats your 60 times?

This post came at perfect time. . Mine is just being sent from liberty so parts should be showing up soon... my question is, what gear lube are you guys running in these?
Thank,
Zak