Low range t-case question

Timgr, IMHO the autos are not useless, IIRC the transfer case is the same as the manual, you just need to find a manual bull gear to use with it.

 

Right. But I thought the bull gears were unobtainable, and Nick corrected me. You might have a hard time finding an OEM 6-spline bull gear that's not part of a Scout or Jeep.

 

Yes, the 18-8-58 gear is the WRONG gear. 18-8-37 is the correct gear. I contacted the guy who wrote the article on that and he agreed with me on this but never bothered to change the article. The 18-8-58 is one from a later J-shift V-8 bronco. The 18-8-37 is from the T-shift 6 cylinder bronco and is the one you need. The J-shift has a different gear ratio and will not work for what you want to do. You can use all the gears from the Bronco but the bull gear from the Bronco (18-8-33) does not have the recess cut into it for the nut and washer. What this means is if you want to run a PTO forget about it as it won't clear. We usually use the gears from a 29 tooth 18 then just get the slider from the Bronco. There are two other gears that match from the Bronco, 18-5-9, and I think 18-8-22. I can't remember if it uses the 18-8-24 or not or if it is the other way around. Seems like there was one gear in in the Bronco we could not use but it's been a long time since I tore one down and about half the time the doggone Bronco gears aren't marked. Hope this isn't too confusing. Nickmil

 

Since I have the 18-8-58 gear and it has 33 teeth, what is the difference between the two and why won't it work for putting dana 18 gears in a dana 20? A late model dana 18 has a lower slider with 33 teeth, so isn't the gear ration the same? Just trying to find out if I have a useless gear?

 

I know I have mentioned it before but. The local International dealer had up till about 3 years ago 7 count that 7 texas pattern Dana 300s with bullgear sitting on their parts counter shelf. They threw them out My neibor told me not long ago and asked if I could have used one... I responded with yeh I could have used all of them. So has anyone tried their local internation dealership for one of these t-cases?

 

Ok, now you have my interest. I must have used a different case in my conversion, possibly a j-shifter. But it was a 2.46 ratio. I had to change every gear because even though it was (and I checked) a 2.46 ratio, some of the gears had more smaller teeth rather than fewer course teeth. I just thought Ford demanded better quality like they did with the case structure. And as I mentioned before, I did have to mil the rear face of the tranny output gear so I could get the nut on further. I have another complete case that I picked up for $40.00 at a swap meet, and I thought I was picking it up for spare parts, but now I need to look at it more closely.
By the way, I picked up the first case for free because I offered to haul away the entire Bronco to the junkyard.

 

Because the pitch and spacing on the teeth is wrong. Won't mesh with the other gears properly. The J-shift Bronco transfer cases had something like a 2.38 or something like that low range vs. the 2.46-1 of the earlier T-shift. Just because the tooth count is the same doesn't mean it will mesh properly because the spacing and pitch can be different. At the very least, if you do get them to mesh, they will be noisy as all get out. I've had to fix transfer cases that had been done with that gear because of this very reason. I've built and repaired probably between 50 to 100 of this conversion so have a little experience with it. Not trying to be rude, just want to let you know I've done it quite a few times and not someone who "my buddy's buddy did iit and it worked fine". Get the right gear, do it right the first time. Nickmil

 

Unless the guts have been changed an easy way to tell a J-shift from a T-shift is pretty simple. The J-shift will have tabs welded on the shift rails for the shifter to engage. The T-shift will have slots cut in them with a plate that goes from one to the other and hitch pins that go through the rails and through the plate. If you've got the plate that goes between them, you've got the right one. Nickmil

 

"Because the pitch and spacing on the teeth is wrong. Won't mesh with the other gears properly. The J-shift Bronco transfer cases had something like a 2.38 or something like that low range vs. the 2.46-1 of the earlier T-shift. Just because the tooth count is the same doesn't mean it will mesh properly because the spacing and pitch can be different. At the very least, if you do get them to mesh, they will be noisy as all get out. I've had to fix transfer cases that had been done with that gear because of this very reason. I've built and repaired probably between 50 to 100 of this conversion so have a little experience with it. Not trying to be rude, just want to let you know I've done it quite a few times and not someone who "my buddy's buddy did iit and it worked fine". Get the right gear, do it right the first time. Nickmil"

Thanks for the information, and you are not rude, you are just telling it like it is. So, any suggestions on what I can do with the gear I have?

 

If that's the only gear you have you might try and sell it to an Early Bronco guy or maybe you can try and get some credit for it from a vendor for the gear you need?
If you have all the gears including the bull gear then maybe you could put all the gears in your 20. I've never tried it that way but if it works 2.38 or something to 1 is certainly better than 2.03-1 of a stock CJ Dana 20. Nickmil

 

$575.00 shipped from DC4WD

sill may hold out for the D300.... i can live with the 2.62:1 till i can get the 4:1 kit.

edited

 

I'm sure it's a typo but the D300 is 2.62-1, not 3.62-1 stock .
Nickmil

 

Hello Nickmil,

So, that I am understanding you, are you saying that I can use all the gears from a Bronco Dana 20 and put it into my Jeep Dana 20 case and not have to use the gears out of a Jeep Dana 18 plus the Bronco Sliding gear? I only have the Bronco gear, so I am at the cross roads of what direction to take in getting a lower geared Dana 20 TC. My Jeep has 4:27 axle gears and with the Dana 20 it is not low enough in low range. So, what do you suggest for getting lower gears in my Dana 20?

 

I used a combo of 18 gears and the Bronco 20 sliding gear. The gears I used are: from a Dana 18; 18 8 23, 18 8 24, 18 5 9, 18 8 22; the Bronco sliding gear is a 18 8 37. As stated before the 18 8 58 has the wrong pitch. I don't know about using all the Bronco gears though.I'm not sure if it would work where as the Bronco tcase is driver's side drop. I have a couple sets of these gears along with twin shifters from Scout 20s laying around. If you're interested let me know.

 

oops.... i meant 2.62:1 stock. price not typo, i sent/recived PM from them on the Pirate board.

 

Vhunter,
Yes you can use all the gears from a bronco, I did that. But I would not recommend it if you really feel you need lower gearing. Your T-14 has a 3.1 first gear That would put you at 26:1 currently. 2.46 bronco gears would only put you at 32:1. Not a big difference. If you don't want to change the T-14, then you should go the 3.15 aftermarket route. There you are at 42:1 There you will see a more noticeable difference. But what you also have to remember is you need to keep a gear that works well for you for general trail use. Right now your first gear is all you have because second is 13.7, too high for most of the time. 2.46 gears give you 32:1 first, 17:1 second. With that at least you will use second gear some, but still a little high for your 4cyl. If you went with 3.15 gears, you would have 42:1 first, there you can now crawl some, and you would get a a 21.6:1 second gear which would be better for general trail use. Third gear low range would then be at 13:1, the same as your current second gear, good for cruising down a real easy trail.

If I were you I would forget about the 2.46 ratio because then you would still be using first gear for everything. Go with the 3.15 kit and you would have the ability to select the right gear for the right terrain. A lot of people only think about their lowest gear and forget to think about having a gear for general trail use.

 

Does anyone have a picture to compare the right t/c vs the wrong?