Dana 18 and locked rear wheels

Does your tranny share lube with your t-case? otherwise I dont see any other location that would have brass in a D18...maybe the pilot bushing for the front output???

 

Yup, brass. The trans and transfer do share some oil. The transmission shifted perfect and seemed to be fine. There are definitely some shipped teeth on the intermediate gear.
Milenium, I think that I'm ready to pull the trigger on the T18, does it share oil with the T case? I have been frustrated from the start with the saginaw 4 speed overfilling the transfer case.

 

Typically the T18 doesn't share oil with the t-case. At least mine doesn't. The only brass in a D18 would be the thrust washers and the bronze bushing that supports the front output shaft at the main shaft. My best guess is the brass is from the thrust washers. On a recent rebuild, the only thing I can think of that might create a situation where those thrust washers would self-destruct might be if they didn't get all of the rollers inside the intermediate gearset. If someone wasn't paying attention when they put it together it's possible to leave one roller out and it looks OK. But it won't last. I don't remember if the rebuild kits ship with exactly the right number of rollers or if there are extras.

 

It's definitely a thrust washer. Pics coming soon.

 

Ok, It looks like somehow, the thrust washer came off of the front of the intermediate shaft and jambed up the intermediate gear and rear drive gear. You can see the intermediate gear damage in the pics. Next question is, what would cause the thrust washer to get spit out?

 

Most likely.......it dropped down out of place when the intermediate gear was installed
or....they didn't notice an old one stuck to the side of the case; it dropped down when the gear and thrust washers were installed.
or....something else has happened....

 

:iagree: The thrust washer can't be spit out, it had to either fall out of place when the shaft was installed or as jpflat2a suggests, one of the original washers was still in place and was knocked out when the shaft went in.

 

If it still has a thrust washer in the proper place then you have your answer. If no thrust washer where you are supposed to have one then the repair was done wrong.

 

The 2nd picture shows a large amount of space between the gear and thrust washer. Is the other thrust washer missing?

 

There is probably an 1/8th in that the intermediate gar moves forward and back. The thrust washer is in 3 pieces in the pan.

 

Just saying, I've rebuilt many D18's and I don't remember that much space there. It seems that your rebuilder screwed up.

 

I'm pretty sure that the re builder screwed up. He is kind of a family friend and builds/ sets up the gears for our 9" fords. (We have a half dozen different gears for traveling to different tracks.) He didn't charge me any labor when he rebuilt the tcase, just for the parts.The last time he had it, it took 2 months to get it back.
I'm kind of thinking about just rebuilding the case my self. From what I can see, the only chipped gears are the intermediate and the rear output. My input gear is a 26 tooth which means that the replacement intermediate gear is stamped 18-5-7. $194 and the sliding output shaft gear stamped 18-8-17 $120. That puts me @ $314 in parts if I have to buy them new. If it gets too much more expensive, I might be better off to just pick up a rebuilt transfer case from herm @$475 when I get the T18 from him. I could just have him mate them up and put them on a pallet, and id have con-way pick it up. While I'm spending lots of money maybe I should have herm bolt an overdrive on the combination and ask for the combination discount .
I have some decisions to make. Anybody know of a source for good used individual gears other than posting a WTB in the classified section? I checked all of my local Craigslist's with no luck.

 

How bad are the thrust washer seats in the case? If you have to find another case, I would be shopping for a complete used unit and rebuild it myself. Pretty basic, easy job. As for the Saginaw and the lube sharing, can't you put a fully sealed rear bearing in it and eliminate the oil transfer? That is what I did with the Muncie's and that problem did go away.

 

I would also just look for another D18 and use it for parts . yep 2nd picture too much gap . thrush washer is probably the one behind large end

 

I wish you were closer....d18's can be had for $50-100 on craigslist.. I got 3 of them for $50 last December. They needed some new gaskets and a good cleaning but were solid otherwise.

 

Thanks for the options guys. A couple members have pm'd me and I have a few options.
Out here in California prices are pretty inflated.
Duffer, I really would like to get away from the Saginaw box. My box is in great shape, complete rebuild, synchros bearings, hot tanked and less than 200 mi on it. It has the 3ring input with the 3.50 first gear, but I want a lower first gear and I don't like the shifter or the location. I have a hurst competition plus shifter and all new linkage bushings, but it's darn hard to beat the ease of a top loader trans like the t18.

 

I'm still trying to grasp how a thrust washer falls out.

x2 on ditching the saginaw. My '71 had one in it when I bought it. Goofy shifter for sure.

 

A good Hurst Comp Plus shifter is gonna shift a lot better than a T18.....