Rebuilding the Dana 20 Transfer Case

[Hedgehog]

Hack & Tarry99 - Thanks for the push in the direction of the Die Grinder. H-F had a long nose version. It made short work of the grinding. I was surprised at how hot the thing got. Yes, I expected some heat. But this thing got hot enough to require a rest break to cool down.

I am so disgusted in myself. Why? Well, I seem to be bound and determined to put this thing together backwards. If it can be done I've done it. Even after knowing that I ground the case on the wrong side, last night I jumped right in and did it again. After getting everything reset the job went along nicely. The gear moves smoothly. Even taking into account doing it on the wrong side the gears needed a lot of case grinding to finally it right. Approximately a 1.5"x2.5" area was impacted.

None of this is hard, especially with the right tools. The problem was the instructions are from a case sitting up properly with the case actually upside down and backwards.
- I tried to install the rear gear backwards. easy fix and everything sort of fell into place.
- While very carefully reading the directions, as a flight engineer will do, the front drive gears went in the case, the drive went in perfectly along with the bearings and the races. Beautiful ........ EEEErrrrr ...... beautifully backwards with the front drive gear sticking out the back of the case. Since the races are only partially tight, they came out easily. Only one roller bearing needed to come off, easy, no problem. When It came time to reinstall the font output shaft and gears ..... I put them in wrong AGAIN. No harm, no bearings were set so it was just a matter of pulling the shaft and turning it around. Thank god both bearings and races are the same. It was late, after all the redoing work, the from output shaft, going to the front, bearing retainer will go on the shift rails .... don't forget the poppets ...... the pills are removed ...... I don't believe they can go on backwards, but I'm sure to try.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Good on you for stick'n with it!
It will feel that much better when done...........
LG

 

[Hedgehog]

Lumpy - The thing is, it's all easy enough. As CJ, Busa and others said it would be. The smaller gear clusters are far easier to manage than the BIG T-18 units were. Honestly I'm beginning to worry about failing mental capability and I'm not kidding at all.

Without doubt finishing this big project up and having everything work correctly will carry with it a level of pride in myself. ....and those that helped along the way.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Let's think about this-You WORKED all day and you're tired. It's HOTTER than HL in the desert now. Neither of us are 'kids' anymore. You're do'n this t'case after work. You have never done one of these either......
It's called a 'learning curve' for a reason.
Do be sure to drink LOTS of H2O and try some Propell.
LG

P.S. Just paint an arrow on the case to point it forward.

 

[Hedgehog]

I did think about magic marker white and red paint. The tricky part work one way and the front is toward you, flip it or turn it and the front is away, while always being upside down. I don' mean to be such a whiner it's just frustrating to very carefully assemble most of a gear cluster and whille looking at in with a little "FINALLY" pride just to have it dashed against the rocks when you realize that it's backwards.

We are finally at a point where parts of the case will go on that make it almost impossible to make such a mistake again. Well here we go on the way home....

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Hedge-I mark'd my case fully know'n some of the 'dum-arse' things 'I' have done in the past put'n gear boxes together.
You ain't the first, and sure as heck won't be the last to get the case turned around.
LG

 

[Hedgehog]

Golly what a night! Didn't get to the 20 until about 5:00pm. This thing actually is easy. There simply aren't that many parts. Putting the shift rod support on slowed me down some trying to put in one of the poppet balls. In the end I cheated and will cheat the same way as often as I can. After doing the usual, push the ball down with a punch start the shaft on the ball using a screw driver to punch the ball down a little more while sliding the shaft on. Usually this works like a charm. NOT! in the end I found my bigger punch had a loose fit in the bore with a nice taper. After inserting the punch, which depressed the ball, then using the shift shaft simply push the punch out with the shift shaft and BINGO the poppet is in place.

The intermediate gears use 25 pin bearings on a side or 50 total bearings with a spacer between each set of 25. You put them in place with thick grease holding them in place. with grease in place the bearings went in place . ..... WHAT!!!!!! ...... the rebuilding kit had only 42 or so bearings where 50 are required. Lucky enough I had two rebuilding kits on hand. There is NO excuse for those missing bearings. With the bearings in place I put the big intermediate gear bearings and grease in the freezer.

The freezer really wasn't needed in the end. Surprisingly enough the intermediate gears, bearings and trust washers dropped nicely in place and the shaft tapped into place ...... WHOW I was darned near DONE.

The case was flipped over and I ran it through it's gears. Everything went well until WHAT! The front low gear would not fully engage the gear. WHY! Darn it all! The very first part you put in is the front gear shift fork. It's on backwards. So the case comes apart again. The operation has almost become easy by now. So the shift fork is exposed, turned, the gear is positioned, and the gear hits the shift fork. ... After a few breaks for food, drink and a Bigfoot show and then finding the fork needs grinding it's 4:00am and it's time for bed. 2.5 house later it's daylight and I'm grinding on the fork. Another now routine rebuild of the Transfer Case and by the powers that be I now have 1 Dana 20 , with Terra Low gears in it ready to be painted, but it's 12:00, I'm tired and it will wait until tonight.

By-The-Way, the die grinder I got at HF Friday night worked wonderfully, until the darn thing quite. But it did wait until all the real work was done.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

You did it, and that's ALL that counts!
On that die grinder issue . Did you ever oil it? Get some MMO and put about a dozen drops in the hose connector with the trigger pulled, and holding the nose downward. Spin it by hand a few times and then see if it comes back to life. I have found MMO to be the very best air-tool oil out there.
Stay hydrated..........
LG

 

[BusaDave9]

So you got the low gears in. Good job.
Is the TCase back on the Jeep?

 

[Hedgehog]

Lumpy - I got the electric one. Guaranteed full power all the time it works. It was handi for as long as it lasted.

Dave - No, while the amount of time it took the thing should be done and installed.

So, what do I have ready

Clutch Ready - Last week the hot rod shop finally got my RAM 11" Pressure plate and 11" Ford Disk. Rob at Willys Works had the Pilot bushing and Throw out bearing

T18a Ready - Finally completed that a couple weeks ago. Rebuilt with the all new bearings, syncro's, springs and poppets, along with assorted used gears from Willys Works, new paint job and new shift lever.

Dana 20 Transsfer Case, Ready - After trying to run everything backwards in about every way possible it's got nice new Terra Low gears, remover pills. The case needed grinding in every documented way (rear drive gear Top & Bottom, the front wheel drive shift fork)

Twin stick, ready - Well why wouldn't it be ready, it's new and comes complete. JB also had a new product, vinyl shift boots for not only the twin stick, but the main stick as well.

Un knowns - Willys Works had a T18a floor cover, who knows how that will go and drive shafts are still up in the air. THe cross member will need to be modified.

Every day this project sees some movement. But I'm alone and this heavy SOB will go in as a unit. I've got to gather some help. ...... I don't know, I rebuilt the T-15 and that was no big deal to install alone.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Wish I was closer(and it was much cooler). I'd come over and drink your beer, then just maybe help some.
LG

 

[Hedgehog]

This project has dragged on to long. I more or less decided to hold off on finishing until after the Colorado trip and drive the CJ just the way it is. Unfortunately around the first of July an electrical problem raised it's ugly head. The wiring has always been iffy, but with work arounds in place it worked. But now the headlights are flashing on and off and I simply can't find the issue. Last week I bit the bullet and ordered a new wiring harness from Painless. With this wiring problem I'm likely out of the trip with the forum guys.

But, I WILL make it to Colorado this year and do it myself. By God I will do it. Who knows, there might not be a next year for me.

Edit: Lumpy thanks, I know you mean it .... at least the part about drinking my beer.

 

[oldjeeplady]

...... Last week I bit the bullet and ordered a new wiring harness from Painless. With this wiring problem I'm likely out of the trip with the forum guys.

But, I WILL make it to Colorado this year and do it myself. By God I will do it. Who knows, there might not be a next year for me.

Edit: Lumpy thanks, I know you mean it .... at least the part about drinking my beer.

Oh Hedgehog please don't give up on trying to make the Colorado trip. You have worked so hard and put so much effort into your CJ which you will enjoy for the future, but we were really, really hoping you could make it!! We want to meet you in person! Others do too! For what it's worth, we are also having some electrical problems. The E brake releases with such force, it's causing the fuse box to lose connections internally. Last week we lost the dash lights and I made a work around with an external fuse. I had hoped that was a fluke, but no, no it's not. Today when releasing the E brake one of the flasher relays fell out , plugged that back in and now the connection where I tapped ignition power for the relays for the on board air, and the new electric pusher fan have no power. There is voltage on both sides of the fuse (with the ignition on), but no voltage at the adjacent connector just like the the fuse for the dash lights. I fear our fuse box is failing. What could be next?? The relay power for the elockers during some up hill climb. l I think we will also be replacing at least the fuse box. We will pull it apart tomorrow. Seems I spend a lot of time upside down in our jeep parked in the shop.

So don't give up yet...we will not.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

LG

 

[Hedgehog]

Lady Jeeper - My fuse box is a large part of my problem as well. Part of it was melted when I got the jeep. Like you are experiencing, some of my connections come and go for no real reason. Power here, power there, no power some where else. You know my frustration by the fact that there is ~$500 in wiring sitting on the bench right now. Had to dig deep for that. I'm going to continue to slog along. Then see where we get.

 

[mriplaybass]

Hedge, don't give up. Last year we only had the Jeep ready about a week before we left for Colorado. We were still making tweaks as it sat on the trailer ready to leave the next day.
I'm not saying to use the "dam the torpedoes, full speed ahead" approach to this. We all know the mountains are not the place to be doing the initial testing of a new build, but you still have lots of time, and have made remarkable progress. Hang in there!

 

[Hedgehog]

Thank you to all of you. I suppose the last couple of posts sounded a bit whiny. From my prospective , not really. I'm pleased that I caught all my mistakes myself and took care of them. I'm trying to be honest about my chances of making it in a month is all. I was right on track until the electrical problem raised it's formidable head. This would be the time to say, Transmission you will wait and go all out on the electrical issue which would include finishing the dash and installing new gauges all around.

 

[ksouthw80]

did you have to grind the rear shift rail at all? Also what was the problem with the shift fork you had to grind? Been researching every where getting ready to do my for the 2nd time.

 

[Hedgehog]

No the rear rail/ shiftfork cleared the gear. When you assemble he gears for the front wheel drive it will be obvious if you need to grind. I guess not all need to be ground but mine most certainly did. When you have the front fork in your hand you will notice that one side of the shift rail boss is smooth and the other sticks out a bit more and there is a radius in the forging. The radius needs to be ground to clear the big gear. This is difficult to write clearly, but I hope you understand it when the fork is in your hand. Remember, if the allen set screw is easy to get to it is likely the fork is in backwards. This is actually touched on in the disassembly instructions.