I thought it was fixed yoke - so there would at least be a serious
rear driveshaft change for use of a 241OR in the Dakota. If I'm not
mistaken, the Rubicons use the NV3550 5 speed, same as the Dakotas,
and I think they also used the 545RFE in the newer automatics and the
42RE before that, and I know the non-Rubies used the standard duty
NV231 case, so I'd expect that other than the rear fixed yoke the
case would bolt into a Dakota. I wouldn't think that a slip joint in
as long a single piece shaft as the CC/QC trucks have would be
feasable though, I have enough trouble keeping slip joints together
in my 29" front shaft (I just put in my 3rd slip and 2nd cardan joint
set in 30,000. They just get sloppy - and I don't even keep my hubs
locked, though I do max out the double cardan 1310 at full driver's
droop)
Personally I want to go to fixed yoke with a two piece shaft anyway,
I've already pretzeled mine on a ledge once and had a "friendly"
towtruck driver dent it once as well -- it would be nice to not have
such a fragile, dentible, relatively expensive and rather vital part
dictating my breakover angle.
Unless scoring one from a wreck, going with another option is almost
guaranteed to be more economical (consider a 203/205 doubler for
around a C note if you have fab skills. Upgrade the 205 low range
and be in the same ballpark price with better gears and more options)
and it's not like the Dakota is short on wheelbase -- length of the
solution isn't even a consideration in our trucks, unlike the Sammy
or a Wrangler -- but it would definitely be very simple and solid.
When the truck is still IFS, as long as the front output is clocked
right, the front driveshaft doesn't even have any clearance issue
running above the stock crossmember.
I'll certainly concur on not being able to go slow enough, though I'm
even worse off having not regeared my axles yet and running 4.10s
with 40s with the stock 2.72:1 NV231HD. I really like my current low
range for normal trail driving, but in the rocks it's too high and
lurchy. Hence the 5 speed doubler idea - but the adaptors are a huge
hangup. I don't think I can make something strong enough between the
44RE and the T18, and that's not an adaptor that I want to make a
habit of swapping in trail spares of!!
Just to think out loud for a minute... if I swapped in a 2 wheel
drive tailshaft and figured out a divorce mount for the T-18 at least
I could have an easy-to-change adaptor. Assuming I never snap off
the input of course, which is the next weakest link and would leave
me just as stranded.
On Nov 4, 2006, at 19:53, Miles D. Oliver wrote:
>
>
> The NV241OR is a fixed yoke box.
>
> It is supposed to be able to hold up to the cummins as far as
> strength goes. I would think that if cone could be sourced it
> could be done with the least amount of work and fabrication.
>
> From what I can tell, you can get one new for the same as an Atlas
> or try and source one from a wreck. The Wreck may be cheaper but
> would take some time to locate. You'd have to have friends in the
> salvage industry 'watching your back' for one though. Everybody
> Wants one.
>
> I do wheel my Dakota but only on limited trails that I drive to/
> from I have only upgraded to 265/75r16 Pro Comp All terrains and
> that is it. That and my new winch bumper, (if I ever get it finished).
>
> I have a money pit trailer queen (Suzuki Samurai w/ 6:1 transfer
> case gears, 5.29 geared Toyota pickup axles with detroit lockers
> and about a 120:1 crawl ratio. That I have for the hardcore stuff.
>
> I would love to lower the crawl ratio of the Dakota even if it is
> just for simple trail stuff. I can't seem to go slow enough for my
> liking.
>
> As I said, I wanted to start a discussion, I don't know if it will
> or not but I would certainly like to try and investigate further.
>
> On Sat, 4 Nov 2006, Michael Maskalans wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> On Nov 4, 2006, at 6:31, Miles D. Oliver wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> I recently helped a friend swap in a new transfer case into his
>>> jeep. He was able to find a wrecked jeep rubicon and we removed
>>> his NP231 transfer case and installed the new NV241OR. This
>>> transfer case has a 4:1 ratio and looks very similar to whats in
>>> the Dakota. This was a bolt in and he was able to keep his
>>> driveshafts.
>>>
>>> The NV241OR has a 23 spline input. If I recall so does the NV231
>>> I have in my truck.
>>>
>>> I wonder of the NV241OR would bolt in? Linkage aside I wonder if
>>> something like this could be done, and if so, why nobody has done
>>> it before.
>>
>> That would be a fantastic score. I don't know if the Rubicon has
>> a SYE from the factory or not, I don't know if the stock jeep rear
>> driveshaft has the same slip yoke as the stock Dakota either. I
>> think the reason that no Dakota owner has gone down this path is
>> because so few are actually wheeled. You've made me want to
>> investigate this seriously - it's a drastically simpler solution
>> than I've been hoping to accomplish (range box + NP205). I'm sure
>> that like so many other Jeep parts that Rubi case is worth it's
>> weight in platinum though.
>>
>> --
>> +-- Mike Maskalans ---------------- Rochester, NY ----------+
>> | '98 Dakota CC, SAS on 40s '84 RamCharger 4x4, plow truck |
>> | '02 Jetta TDI 5sp, daily '97 Intrepid, not on the road |
>> +-------------------- <http://mike.tepidcola.com/trucks/> --+
>>
>
> --
> Miles D. Oliver
> www.mmoliver.org
> _________________
> "If a man speaks in the woods where there is no woman to hear him,
> is he
> still wrong? Probably."
>
> "If a woman speaks in the forest with no man near to hear her, is she
> still complaining? Of course."
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Dec 01 2006 - 10:33:46 EST