i finally put the drive shafts back on today.
after i put them on i dropped the transmission pan so i can replace the leaky gasket and i saw that the transmission shop used a paper gasket that's one more strike against them. i specifically told that guy to use the plastic/rubber mopar gasket and i told him that i had one that he should use if he didn't have one in the shop, ugh...

 

I finally got the time to work some more and got the rear of the t-case off.

I answered my own question in that yes, you can just remove the rear stuff



Here is the culprit I think. Sad too cuz its a frickin $40 seal/gasket and I don't think attempting to RTV that would be a good idea. And of course NO ONE carries it, except for the dodge dealer 350 miles away.

 

350? thats what you get for living out in the middle of nowhere.

did you call them and see if they can mail you one?
is that rubber or some type of silicone that is messed up? i know that the transfer case is a no-pressure deal because of the vent hose so i think silicone would work just fine.

look at the 2001 FSM on page 21-844 in the transfer case-nv231hd section and you will see re-assembly instructions.

 

Yeah I am fine with using RTV to seal the two halves together and the rear extension to the rear retainer. But the rear retainer to the rear half of the T-case is where that aluminum gasket thing is, and it is near where the oil pump outlet is for the fluid in the t-case. Its a no pressure system but when you have fluid being pumped out near that broken spot on the gasket (which is rubber) it will leak I am sure. And yeah, Fairbanks is 350 miles from Anchorage. Fairbanks even has a 5 star chrysler dealer but they just dont stock many parts. The Anchorage dealer is mailing one to me.

 

its nice of them to get off their horse and mail you one since you're a thousand miles from nowhere.

keep us updated on how everything goes.

 

Well I am waiting for the wife to get home to go get a torque wrench so I can put it back in. I had to buy a seal/bearing driver set at $68 to get the new rear extension seal back in. I know you said not to lower the tranny to far as to put too much tension on the back of the motor but when I was taking it off I couldnt get to the top bolts without lowering it down more than I felt I should have. I have no clue how I am going to get a torque wrench on those upper 2 bolts that the manual says to tighten to 20-30 psi and the drive shaft bolts to 90-130. Especially the tcase to the tranny I dont want to be wrong.

I will re-tighten the t-case halves and such as well when I get the wrench, just to make sure.

But at this point I am getting closer. I am dreading the crossmember to be honest.

 

20-30 leaves a lot of room for error.
take your torque wrench and tighten some random bolt to about 25 ft-lbs, then put a wrench on it and turn it until it just starts to move. that will give you a good feel for 25 ft-lbs.
i used a wrench for all but the top two bolts on my transfer case because i didn't have the wrench adapter for my torque wrench. i did it by feel and i'm sure that i got them all between 20 and 30 ft-lbs.

and i see what you're saying about the top two bolts. i used a socket with a swivel adapter for them.

the cross member isn't that bad as long as you have a 3lb. dead blow hammer.
just be careful, that thing takes a little sweet talking to get it started and in the process it is easy to drop. so be careful not to drop it on a hand or your head.
also wear glasses when you're on your back, dirt that was stuck to the truck falling in your eye is no fun.

 

Yeah, I went and bought TWO torque wrenches sadly. One with 3/8 drive cuz the tcase to tranny bolts are 14mm like you said and there are few of those that are 1/2 drive. And then I bought a 1/2 drive one as well for the driveshaft bolts. The 3/8 drive only went to 75lbs and the driveshaft bolts needed to be 90+. $30 a piece... sigh. Prob not "necessary" but the last thing I want to happen is to drop a driveshaft on the street.

Yeah I bought a gator style wrench heads that you can attach to a 3/8 drive. If that makes sense... anyway, I used that to test n see what 20-30 felt like on the bottom bolts that I could get to. And used a best guess on the tops. Same for tightening all the rest of the bolts so far. T-case is in, front drive shaft attached, plate and tranny mount attached, all that's left is the crossmember and rear driveshaft.

 

i just got the rear drive shaft bolts good and tight with plenty of loctite.

i have a craftsman 3/8" drive inch pound torque wrench that goes from 25 to 250 in-lbs (2 to 20.83 ft lbs). so i just multiply by 12 to get my ft-lbs. and i use that wrench a lot.
right now i have a cheapo 20-150 ft lb torque wrench but it doesn't go high enough for the hub nuts.
and one of these days sears will put the 20-250 ft-lb torque wrench on sale so i'll have 2-250 ft-lbs covered.

have fun with the cross member. if you put some gloves on you'll be able to avoid busted knuckles like i ended up with.

 

Well I got ONE side bolted in, the other is yet to come... its close, just needs some re-adjusting. I will tell ya, I thought I'd never get close. And I did get 2 skinned knuckles so far cuz I could only find one glove, lol. That bugger is a beast and I have dented it in numerous places. More to come after a short recess to run into town and pickup the wife. I have had a lil stuff get close to my eyes but I have been keeping head clear of the area. I cant find my safety goggles either. Winter time up here leaves very lil room in the garage and stuff gets piled up.