New Venture Gear
Industry | Vehicle Transmissions | |
---|---|---|
Predecessor |
| |
Founded | 1990 | |
Founder |
| |
Defunct | August 20, 2012 | |
Fate | Dissolved | |
Successor | Parent Magna Powertrain | |
New Venture Gear was an
History
Founding plant histories
Hydramatic Muncie
In 1902, Thomas W. Warner formed the Warner Gear Company in
The Chevrolet division reopened the plant in 1935 to build car and truck transmissions. World War II halted non-military vehicle production and the plant was converted to serve the needs of the U.S. military until the war ended. The 1950s and 1960s saw expansion and growth. In the 1970s and 1980s, GM swapped the plant to many different GM divisions, ending with Detroit Diesel Allison in 1984 and GM Hydramatic in 1986.[2]
New Process Gear
In 1888, Thomas W. Meachem founded the New Process Rawhide Company in
New Venture Gear
In 1990, the Hydramatic Muncie plant owned by GM and New Process Gear owned by Chrysler formed a joint GM–Chrysler venture called New Venture Gear.[5]
GM exit
In February 2002, General Motors sold its minority 36% stake in the New Venture Gear company to
In 2004, Magna International purchased 80% of New Venture Gear from DaimlerChrysler and put it under Magna Drivetrain.[8] Magna purchased the remaining 20% interest in 2007.[9] The New Process gear plant remained property of DaimlerChrysler. Chrysler then leased the facilities to Magna.[10] This lease arrangement made it difficult to compete with the European manufacturing operation Magna directly purchased located in Roitzsch, Germany.[11] A downturn in Jeep demand combined with DaimlerChrysler not replacing the Dodge Neon sharply curtailed demand for the Syracuse New Process Gear plant production. In 2009, design and engineering services were moved to Troy, Michigan, and Magna International announced its intent to close the Syracuse plant.[12] The Syracuse New Process Gear plant had been planned for closure in November 2011, but was pushed back to the first quarter of 2012.[13]
After 124 years in operation, on Thursday, August 24, 2012, New Process Gear ended production and closed their doors for the last time.[14][15]
Transmissions
The Muncie, Indiana, plant under New Venture Gear produced the NV5600, NV4500, NV3500, and NV3550 light truck transmissions.
Transfer cases
The Syracuse New Process Gear plant produced transfer cases for all of the "Big Three"—Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors. The NV247 all-wheel drive transfer case, sold by Chrysler's Jeep division as the "Quadra-Trac II," the manual transaxle for the Dodge Neon and PT Cruiser (T-350), and manual transaxles for European-export Chrysler minivans (T-650 and T-750) were the bulk of the plant's last years of production.
Model nomenclature
The model numbers of the transfer case consists of the manufacturer, the number of speeds/gears, the strength (1–7), and a number from 1–9 describing the type. The following table delineates the format:[16]
Manufacturer | Number of speeds/gears | Strength | Type |
---|---|---|---|
NP = New Process Gear NV = New Venture Gear |
1 = One speed (high range) 2 = Two speed (high and low range) |
1 (low) to 7 (high) | 1 = Part-time 4WD 2 = Full-time 4WD 3 = Electronic shift 4 = Not used 5 = Torsen-type differential 6 = Computer-controlled multi-plate wet clutch 7 = GeroDisc 8 = Not used 9 = Viscous coupling |
Models
Model | Full-Time High | High Lock | Low range | 2WD | Differential |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
119 | Yes | No | No | No | Yes (Viscous) |
125 | Yes | No | No | No | Yes (Open) |
128 | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes (Open) |
129 | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes (Viscous) |
136 | |||||
147 | Yes | No | No | No (GeroDisc) | |
149 | Yes | No | No | No | Yes (Viscous) |
203 | Yes | Yes | 2.01:1 | No | Yes (Open) |
205 | No | Yes | 1.96:1 | Yes | No (Locked) |
207 | No | Yes | 2.61:1 | Yes | No (Locked) |
208 | No | Yes | 2.61:1 | Yes | No (Locked) |
219 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes (Viscous) |
228 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (Open) |
229 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (Viscous) |
231 | No | Yes | 2.72:1 | Yes | No (Locked) |
233 | No | Yes | 2.72:1 | Yes | |
236[17] | Yes | Yes | 2.72:1 | Yes | |
241 | No | Yes | 2.72:1 | Yes | No (Locked) |
241OR | No | Yes | 4.0:1 | Yes | No (Locked) |
242 | Yes | Yes | 2.72:1 | Yes | Yes (Open) |
243 | Yes | No | Yes | ||
244 | Yes | Yes | 2.72:1 | No | Yes (Open) |
245 | Yes | No | 2.72:1 | No | Yes (Clutch) |
246 | Yes | Yes | 2.72:1 | Yes | |
247 | Yes | No | 2.72:1 | No | No (GeroDisc) |
249 | Yes | No (Pre 96), Yes (96+) | 2.72:1 | No | Yes (Viscous) |
261 | No | Yes | 2.72:1 | Yes | No (Locked) |
263 | No | Yes | 2.72:1 | Yes | |
271 | No | Yes | 2.72:1 | Yes | No (Locked) |
273 | No | Yes | 2.72:1 | Yes | No (Locked) |
References
- ^ "COMPANY NEWS; Joint Venture Planned By G.M. and Chrysler - New York Times". The New York Times. February 7, 1990. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
- ^ "Muncie Chevrolet Plant Architectural Drawings, 1918–1920" (PDF). Bsu.edu. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
- ^ "MoparWiki". Moparstyle.com. Archived from the original on May 26, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
- ^ Central New York (December 22, 2011). "Last day for 300 New Process Gear workers; here are three who've moved on". syracuse.com. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
- Ward's AutoWorld. Archived from the originalon December 26, 2004. Retrieved January 3, 2006.
- Ward's AutoWorld. Archived from the originalon January 20, 2005. Retrieved January 3, 2006.
- ^ "New Process Gear and New Venture Gear History". Allpar.com. September 29, 2004. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
- ^ "History of Magna International Inc". Magna International. Archived from the original on November 11, 2010. Retrieved December 21, 2010.
- ^ "Magna Completes Acquisition of New Venture Gear" (PDF). New Venture Gear. September 29, 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 1, 2007.
- ^ "New Process Gear, Inc. | Company Profile from Hoover's". Hoovers.com. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
- ^ "Magna Completes Purchase of New Venture Gear". Geartechnology.com. December 22, 2003. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
- ^ Hannagan, Charley (February 5, 2009). "New Process Gear plans exit strategy". syracuse.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2009.
- ^ Dennis Nett / The Post-Standard (November 10, 2011). "New Process Gear in DeWitt plans to remain open into next year". syracuse.com. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
- ^ Central New York (August 20, 2012). "New Process Gear stops production this week after 124 years". Syracuse.com. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
- ^ Hannagan, Charley (August 20, 2012). "New Process Gear stops production this week after 124 years". syracuse.com The Post-Standard. Advance Media New York. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
- ^ "SAE TopTec: Innovations in Four Wheel Drive/All Wheel Drive Systems". by Dr. Brad DeLong. Archived from the original on April 3, 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2010.
- ^ "NP236 Transfer Case". Midwest Transmission Zumbrota MN. 2010. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
External links