i've been chasing weird noises in the driveline lately and was unsure about the transfer case.

i removed the rear extension housing and checked the rear snap ring. it was fine. tried to push/pull the output shaft back and forth - no movement.

drained and inspected fluid. it was full and fluid was fine. no shavings, no metal, no gray sludge.

rotated front output flange. bearing was a little noisy. rotated flange back and forth - ok, just normal chain sounds.

rotated rear output shaft back and forth. CLACK, CLACK, CLACK coming from the planetaries (i think) in the middle.

i called here. http://www.transfercases.com/
$795 exchange, including shipping both ways, no tax.
all new bearings, seals, chain, etc, done by someone that knows what they're doing.
get the model, assembly number, serial number from your tag.
they had a 231D in stock ready to ship.
i called friday afternoon and it was delivered by UPS on monday afternoon. i moved the shift lever and vacuum switch from my old one to the new, and filled it with oil. (don't forget this). they send a big warning label which i taped to the steering wheel so i wouldn't forget.

i used Sheriff's DIY which is a great writeup.
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...placement.html
the tcase weighs about 75 pounds and is easy to press up/down with your head toward the front of the truck and your knee under the tail housing.

like Sheriff said, loosen the 4 bolts holding the transmission to the cross member about 1 inch. i didn't remove them for fear of misalignment. jack up on the big hex bolt on the bottom of the tcase to lift the transmission 1 inch so you can remove the bottom-most nut on the tcase. a short 9/16 box wrench is ideal, probably mandatory. i did not remove the transmission cross member as its a pita.

front drive shaft is a little awkward. you can only get a socket on the bolt in the topmost position. once loose, a box wrench gets a couple of positions. i tried to leave it attached to the front diff, but it was just in the way so i removed it. put tape around the ujoint bearing caps to prevent them from falling off

i jacked up the rear to remove the rear drive shaft, then set the tires back on the ground and reused the jack on the tcase lift. if you lift it too high, unless you have long arms you might get it too high to reach stuff. i did not drain the old tcase before removal. the new tcase included a gasket to go between the trans and the tcase. there is a drain hole in the bottom of this junction, so the gasket is just to eliminate metal on metal, and is not a seal.

i'm very slow and deliberate, and did this swap in about 5 hours including some cleanup and lots of doublecheck/compare of the old to new including the shift pattern. anyone in a hurry could do it in half the time.


pics.

 

Well done and good find on the site.

What made you decide to go this swap route over doing a rebuild yourself? Kits from jb conversions, for example. In no way am I saying the swap was bad either. I imagine there is a warranty of some kind?

 

3 reasons not to rebuild it myself.
first and most important is that i've had some strange noises, and i didn't think i'd be able to tell the difference between a good component and a worn out component. i've done that before where i replaced bearings and seals on things and completely missed the worn out component. so that mistake is a big waste of time and energy.

second is that i've had driveline problems for a long time including a reman transmission. then i had to remove my noslip locker because it was popping, and after all that - i still had noises, so i'm tired of screwing around with it and i'm tired of being scared to put it on the road and go wherever i feel like.

and finally, cost and time. a basic rebuild kit is about 200 or more, and the truck would be down for a while. then if i needed more parts, the cost would roll up and i'd either be eaten alive by the dodge dealer, or would have to wait for internet parts. either way, cost goes up, time adds up, savings evaporate, and the pissed off meter goes up. as expensive as it was, look on the bright side - it was cheaper than a transmission.

warranty is one year, unlimited mileage.

 

dhvaughan ... next time you do a drive line ( front, or rear ) you can put it in neutral ( the tras. or T-case ) and spin the the line to where you need it and put back in gear.