Another D-20 TC question

I just had the T-86 on my '67 vert rebuilt because the boy came home, "I don't know what I could have done, but..." SO, a month looking unsuccessfully for a T-14 w/ side load led to the rebuild w/ new main cluster, second, first and reverse slider, trust washers,etc. The bearings were still good from the rebuild last July.

Anyway, it is all back in and the TC shifter is major league floppy in 2 Hi. It feels good in 4 Hi and 4 Lo, but is not really in gear. If you start to let out the clutch all you get is some nasty grinding, though 2 Hi works fine. What's up? There is no adjustment to the linkage, the shift rails are in the proper position for each of the range selections, but it doesn't work! I don't know if it was like this before the rebuild. The boy had been 4 wheeling just before the transmission blew up. I didn't even think about looking at the TC the 2 months it sat on the ground. I didn't get any metal out of it when I drained it to pull the tranny/TC.

Help?

 

Shifter lever bolts tight?

 

They dont call it a slush box shifter for nothin

Its in that stupid box.

If your hard on it it will fall apart when old and worn.

The good news is there are tons of used ones out there.

If you search you will find an exploded view of it here.
I have rebuilt one.
When I took out my Tcase on the Jeepster I converted to twin sticks way better, way.. way better.

 

Yes, the bolts that hold the top plate on the shifter box are tight and, as I said, the shift rails move as the manual says they should.

I went to a Jeep swap meet this morning and a guy had two D20's at $25 for the pair. I did not buy them because the shifter mechanism was way different. I wasn't even sure if the bolt pattern was the same on the case.

I take it this means pulling the whole thing again?

 

The box can come off seperatly.
But I would look at all your options first.

 

If the vehicle would really see off road, I would go the twin stick route. But it is primarily a transportation and pleasure machine, so I am trying to maintain the stock appearance. I am open to any and all suggestions of how to proceed. My usual general mechanic I go to when I haven't time or skills to tackle a problem has no idea. He is not a 4X4 guy.

 

looking at the exploded view, not a lot of possibilities.
either the shift lever/pin, the fulcrum plate(18-152.1) or a combination of.
tear down and inspection of the shifter may be the only way.

 

Yes, it is a simple mechanism, and appears to be working. I guess I am going to have to drop the bottom plate and take a look. I am thinking perhaps the shifting fork has taken a header.

I'll let you all know what I find.

 

-edit

 

Stock J shift mechanism on jeepsters are prone to wearing out, hard to use, and take some wiggling to engage right. Replace it with a twin stick (lots of on ebay for 100) or modify cj5 shifter. Put the 77 cj5 shifter on mine and ended up with 4L, 2L, N, 2H, and 4H. Just had to make longer links and move out mount farther on the mounting shaft.

 

JD,

I went into mine many years back attempting to tighten it up... found the "tension spring" (flat steel plate spring) to be broken and the face of the "ball" on the end of shifter was worn BADLY.

I visited a construction site and was given a short length of banding, which once cut, gave it tension, but was still sloppy. That's when I ran a few beads of weld down/around the face of the ball end and a spot or 2 where the pivot ball slot (keeps it from twisting) was worn, and ground it smooth to where I figured it should be. I then drilled/tapped the bottom cover for a zerk to keep the water forced out (the top). I also shimmed between the top cover & pivot... worked GREAT until I traded it for a TH400 setup.

Since I predominately use the Moss offroad and wasn't willingly to rebuild the "new" (uber sloppy) shiftbox in the same manner, I converted to twin-sticks years ago and have been VERY happy with them.

 

Thanks again folks. I am trying to get the enrgy to take things apart. Perhaps this weekend.

 

Okay, I am back on the transfer case again. had a bad bout w/ the back that prevented crawling under the rig. It has been driven some as is, in 2X, of course. Is there any danger of it trying to shift into 4X on its own, since it seems to fall into no detent in 2X? I need the Jeepster for the daughter to drive to school very soon, and I doubt I will have a solution to the D-20 in time.

I did pull the bottom cover off yesterday and could find nothing broken. The slider gear does not move far enough when the TC is shifted, thus the grinding if you let out the clutch. I purchased a shift box from a gentleman and compared it to mine. They seem to work in the samer fashion, only falling into a detent in 4 low.

Ideas? Again, can I run it this way w/o fear of further damage? Should I take a bungee cord and secure the shift lever in the 2X position?

Thanx for any and all suggestions -