Transfer Case Questions '97 NP231 D
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Transfer Case Questions '97 NP231 D
Hello!
So, I just recently bought a 1997 Dodge Dakota, it has a 5.2l, an NV3500, and a NP231 D t-case. I bought it cheap, the last person to drive it grenade the t-case by shifting it in between 4-LO, 2-HI, and 4-HI while trying to get it out of a some snow, while loaded down with a 5th wheel trailer full of hay. The front half of the case (toward the tranny) has a hairline crack in it, where it had leaked all the oil out. The chain sounds like its slapping around in there pretty good. Also, it wont come out of 4-LO. I bought it expecting to be able to find a replacement junkyard t-case easy, that was not the case. After going to U-Pull and Pay with no luck, I found myself hopelessly searching through craiglist as well as all the online auto parts stores. I bought the truck cheap expecting to fix it for cheap, I cant afford to throw a $600-$1000 t-case in it right now as I am a college student with no work opportunity for the time being. After doing many hours of research, I came to the conclusion that I could just rebuild the t-case with a 98-99 Dakota t-case internals, and J-B Weld the case where it leaks and call it good. Since I'm a few hundred miles from home, I cant necessarily take the t-case apart to see what damage has been done at this moment, so I have a few questions. 1. Is this the best route to go? Because I had considered taking a same year Jeep t-case and swapping the shafts and tailshaft housing with the hopefully good ones from my t-case. 2. If I decided to go with the Jeep t-case, what other potential problems might I run into? 3. What are my other options?
So, I just recently bought a 1997 Dodge Dakota, it has a 5.2l, an NV3500, and a NP231 D t-case. I bought it cheap, the last person to drive it grenade the t-case by shifting it in between 4-LO, 2-HI, and 4-HI while trying to get it out of a some snow, while loaded down with a 5th wheel trailer full of hay. The front half of the case (toward the tranny) has a hairline crack in it, where it had leaked all the oil out. The chain sounds like its slapping around in there pretty good. Also, it wont come out of 4-LO. I bought it expecting to be able to find a replacement junkyard t-case easy, that was not the case. After going to U-Pull and Pay with no luck, I found myself hopelessly searching through craiglist as well as all the online auto parts stores. I bought the truck cheap expecting to fix it for cheap, I cant afford to throw a $600-$1000 t-case in it right now as I am a college student with no work opportunity for the time being. After doing many hours of research, I came to the conclusion that I could just rebuild the t-case with a 98-99 Dakota t-case internals, and J-B Weld the case where it leaks and call it good. Since I'm a few hundred miles from home, I cant necessarily take the t-case apart to see what damage has been done at this moment, so I have a few questions. 1. Is this the best route to go? Because I had considered taking a same year Jeep t-case and swapping the shafts and tailshaft housing with the hopefully good ones from my t-case. 2. If I decided to go with the Jeep t-case, what other potential problems might I run into? 3. What are my other options?
Administrator
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 87,480
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From: Clayton MI
Check car part.com. See if you can find the correct t-case for your truck nearby for a reasonable price.
Don't know if the 98 and up t-case would work, even swapping parts around, Shift pattern changed in 98, along with the tailshaft mounted VSS going away. (and I don't think the newer output shafts had the splines for the VSS drive gear either.....)
Don't know if the 98 and up t-case would work, even swapping parts around, Shift pattern changed in 98, along with the tailshaft mounted VSS going away. (and I don't think the newer output shafts had the splines for the VSS drive gear either.....)
Legend
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 8,058
Likes: 184
From: Fort Worth, TX
I want to say that GM used the 231D in the colorado/hummer H3? Along with several others. If you can score a good dodge case, internals can be made to work.
http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/tr...d-and-beef-up/
http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/tr...d-and-beef-up/
There is some debate as to the naming conventions for the NP231s available over the years. It seems to us that New Process was filling orders that met various manufacturer specifications and thus most NP231s can have different internal components while looking almost identical on the outside. The main differences between all NP231s are the number of planetary gears and the chain width. Some GM NP231s or NP231Cs are marked “HD” (heavy-duty) and contain wide chains and six-gear planetaries, but we have heard of non-HD NP231Cs with wide chains and six-gear planetaries. Most Dodge NP231s or NP231Ds have a wide chain and may or may not have a six-gear planetary. Our NP231C from a 1997 S-10 truck has a wide chain (1 1/4 inches) and a four-gear planetary.
One of the wider sprockets drives the front output, but the other wider sprocket rides on the main or output shaft of the NP231. Here our NP231C sprocket and hub on the left is in contrast to a NP231J sprocket and hub on the right. At some point New Process also switched from roller bearings (right) to a metal-on-metal design (left). Both seem to work well, but shafts and hubs must match to avoid damage. Some, if not all, Dodge NP231s also have larger hubs and shift collars than the Jeep and GM T-cases we have seen.
Our NP231C has the 1 1/4-inch chain from the factory but also has an odd front output shaft for an undesirable GM front driveshaft (right). Our S-10 Blazer that this T-case is going in will require a collapsible shaft without a double-cardan joint. That means we had to source a front output with a wide sprocket (for the wide chain) and a traditional splined shaft with a nut (middle). The best source for this was a Dodge NP231, or NP231D. In the factory application the NP231D uses a large flange, but a YJ front yoke will fit the Dodge output shaft and accept a normal 1310 jointed driveshaft, while a yoke from a TJ or XJ will fit and accept a 1310 double-cardan joint driveshaft. The front output on the left is from a narrow-chain NP231J that was in a YJ.
Last edited by magnethead; Oct 15, 2017 at 08:49 PM.
