questions at the end, as usual....
got the 'case out about an hour ago. it's just as broken as it was
when it was under the truck. got a bunch more pictures but they don't
show much new.
had to get the topmost bolt from the top - pulled the center 'thing'
apart and went through the hole where a stickshift belongs. I thought
I could get at it by going in from the right, underneath, so I pulled
the exhaust (had to borrow an angle grinder to take care of the quick
bead Jon laid for me after my exhaust wouldn't stay hooked up, since I
left mine in Rochester and the 'rents don't have one), but couldn't
turn the ratchet once I got it on.....
pulled the seats to make working up there easier, and to get a head
start on my center console. that was the simplest big thing I've done
during this project yet =)
while I was burning some time on the phone, I also found the cause of
the damage - there is a ball and socket arrangement in the center of
the double joint to keep their motions in synch and in line. a piece
of the socket broke off and seems to be wedged inside, occasionally
jamming the motion of the joint. Not A Good Thing, but now I *know*
what happened.
so tomorrow I can parts-chase for either a new joint to get welded on
and balanced or a junkyard driveshaft (good idea? non-lubable and
all...), and hopefully get a replacement transfer case in process.
I've got the $400 rebuilt case in Cedar Rapids, and I just found a $150
242 in Mass, but I don't have any details at all on that one yet, and I
also just found out a buddy of mine just opened a shop here and
probably has all sorts of possible avenues for parts....
I did get a few pictures up. the removed case, the extra cracking in
the castings that didn't actually break, the hole in the floor, the
missing seats, my messy garage now with seats, and one interesting one
- there seems to have been some leaking of gear lube and external
contamination in the area between the transmission and the transfer
case; you can see the buildup in the picture of the mounting flange of
the transfer case (1280).
the $150 242 is out of a Jeep of some sort (belongs to a friend of a
guy on pirate4x4) - I know someone here (neil?) said that a 4L jeep's
case is /probably/ right and a 4 cyl's is /probably wrong, but if the
spline count is wrong, would it be possible to just swap the input and
slip yoke parts from my broken case (assuming they're in good shape)?
who might know what parts are shared between a 231 and a 242? I
suppose any SCORE folks who work for NVG would have a chance. any
other ideas? Any ideas who would know for sure if a 231 out of a '90
Dakota is the same as a '98 231?
in summation, I'm tired and going to bed.
-- Mike Maskalans <http://mike.tepidcola.com/dodge/> '98 Dakota CC 0x4 318 '84 RamCharger 4x4 360 mobile.612.618.4652 campus.585.274.2246 fax.360.364.3930
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Feb 06 2004 - 11:47:13 EST