don't worry if you miss something: I'll be giving lessons for a very modest fee
at future DML events.
So I got my transfer case from Buck in Cedar Rapids today via UPS. was in very
good condition except for two (out of six) bent mounting flange studs. It
looked right at first glance but it really wasn't.
I had to swap output shafts becuase the case I got from Buck wasn't an HD
model, and had a very much smaller output shaft.
since it wasn't an HD, it also had a narrower chain, so when I swapped the
output I had to change the chain and thus the front output too.
then as the case whent together, I realized that I didn't have the pump pickup
screen in, and had to take it apart and reassemble it. and then I didn't
connect it to the pump before reassebly, so the case had to be split again.
then the shift fork's shaft turned out to be too long (the old case used it as
the trigger for the 4x4 indicator, which I'll no longer have) for the old
case's tail housing, so the shift fork had to get swapped out too - the case
wouldn't go all the way together.
there were horrible snap rings all over without holes in their ends, just
tapers. they were fun to play with. not. they hold all the shafts in place.
then the transfer case didn't fit! there wasn't enough room in the
transmission tail housing for the slightly longer input shaft of the new case.
so the input shaft had to be swapped too, which also includes the planetary
set. final assembly wasn't so final when I forgot to put in the spring that
goes on the shift fork and had to open the case to replace that, and in the end
it also seems that the magnet got knocked out of the case, and that was not
caught until driveshafts were already in palce.
when I put the old planataries in the new case, they sounded a bit noisy, and
that has continued in a rather severe fashion now that the truck is put back
together. I'm a big non-fan of rather loud gear noise right under my feet.
I was incredibly thankful for the help of two friends. I don't think I could
have made the half dozen (maybe seven or eight...) splits and reassemblies for
parts-swapping and mistakes without them, and they made final reassembly under
the truck drastically quicker. Even so, from my start at about 16:00, it was
about a 9 hour job (Nick and Justin showed up around 19:00), and the quick test
drive I made only led to more questions of noise.
The shift linkage still needs adjustment, and I'm going to recheck the fluid
level.
Before I knew of the horrible noise I'd planned to put on a couple hundred
miles in the next few days, change the fluid and call it good to go. but this
gear noise has me rather concerned. is it possible that just the lack of
hundreds of thousands of matched meshing has caused the planetaries from on
case to make noise with the ring from the other case? that's my assumption
now. consequinces? is it going to blow up halfway across Ohio again? Should
I park the Dak for spring semester instead of parking the RamCharger?
I really would like some input on this. and I also know that gear noise means
gear wear, and I'm pretty sure that I'm missing my magnet from inside, which is
Not A Good Thing.
in summation, AARGH!
-- Mike Maskalans semi-borked '98 CC Dak '84 RamCharger
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Feb 01 2004 - 16:29:49 EST