T-18a or any rebuild kit and Terra Flex?

[Lumpy Grits]

Hole-Me thinks with the 3:31 R&P, that it would be a good choice for the reduction gearing in the t'case.
Me-I'd be look'n at a D/300 to install, with the 4:1 setup.
I love spend'n HH's $$$$
LG

 

[CJim7]

I love spend'n HH's $$$$
LG

 

[hole]

Hole-Me thinks with the 3:31 R&P, that it would be a good choice for the reduction gearing in the t'case.
Me-I'd be look'n at a D/300 to install, with the 4:1 setup.
I love spend'n HH's $$$$
LG

I'm in complete agreement It almost feels therapeutic spending HH's $$

 

[Hedgehog]

If it makes sense even HH likes to spend HH's money. The tricky part is that is has to make sense.

I'm wobbling on the low gears, but the Transfer Case should be gone through. The new gears would be almost a complete rebuild.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

HH-Have you looked into a D/300 w/4:1 gears?
Even with out the gear change, stock would be 2.61 in low.
I'll bet you could easily sell that 20, to help off set the costs some.
Just something to think about......
LG

 

[CJim7]

I think it's worth the $500+ to adapt a Dana 300 to the T-18 ....It leaves you with the option of a 4:1 instead of a 3:1 with better quality at a better price if you really think you need it.

And....the adapter will allow you to index it

 

[Lumpy Grits]

LG

 

[Hedgehog]

Alright, that's enough having fun spending HH's money. Just to keep track, for the

Dana 300 - Transfer Case ~$300, adaptor $566, low gears ~$650 = $1,516

Dana 20 - Transfer Case $0, adaptor $0. low gears ~$1,000 = $1,000

 

[Lumpy Grits]

The 300 does have the capability of 25% more reduction in gearing than the 20.
Very handy when in rocks and back'n down a hill.

33% price diff can be a 'game-changer' for sure.
What does a used 20 go for these days?
You did say the 20 need'd rebuild'n anyhow-This may well be the best value for your $$$$.
BTW-We haven't stop'd spend'n your 'bucks' yet-
LG

 

[Hedgehog]

Okay okay I get it.

It's the AMC20 vs the Dana 44 all over again

I'm guilty of over posted in the past couple days.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Okay okay I get it.

It's the AMC20 vs the Dana 44 all over again

I'm guilty of over posted in the past couple days.

No 'over-posting' on your part at all.
Since you already have the D/20 'in-hand' and it needs to be rebuilt. Go for it with the gear reduction package. May very well be the best all around.
What will the T-18 cost to rebuild?
When you do the tranny switch. Will you have to change the friction disc of the clutch or pilot bearing?
Hope you'll post a thread on this tranny swap.
LG

 

[Hedgehog]

No question about it this will be a financial drain. I will rebuild the Transmission and rebuild kits are all over the place as far as price is concerned. The clutch isn't very old, but the darned thing has chattered since the day it was installed. At the very least a resurface of the flywheel and a friction plate will be needed, probably more. Then there are the drive shafts and the floor cover plate.... money...money... money... even doing it myself.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Just Empty Every Pocket
The older they get-The more it costs
It'll be worth it.
Will you have this all done before that Colorado trip?
LG

 

[HackFabrication]

Hack, if you are still following this - You wish you'd gone with the Dana 300 over the low gears for the Dana 20 . Did you have a bad experience? other than more options for the 300 is there a reason?

Several reasons. Mostly dollar for performance related. I dropped a basket full of money into the Dana 20 . I bought all the Bronco gears for that conversion, then scrapped the idea and went with the TeraLow kit. That entailed an entire rebuild of the Dana 20 . I also added the twin stick kit from Don's (he's no longer making them) because it included two new shift rails, which were not available new from anyone. By the time I got it all done (I rebuilt the Dana 20 myself), and remember I had to gut out my original Jeep T-18 (4:1 1st) for the mainshaft, rebuild a Ford T-18 (shop did that), buy the Dana 20 adapter plate, etc. It was a ton of cash that could have been spent on better parts.

Granted, I would have to still adapt the Ford T-18 to a Dana 300 case. But I wouldn't have gutted out the Jeep T-18 , and probably could have sold the Transmission /tcase to offset some of the cost. The crossmember and rear driveshaft were still in the 'to do' stage at that point, so they were going to be a cost no matter what.

All in all, considering the amount of money I tossed into the Dana 20 , I should've just bought a used Dana 300 and added the LoMax gears. Better gears, better parts availability, more options for mounting (clocking), more aftermarket support.

Crunch the numbers, and figure out what the real cost difference is. Then factor in the benefits of the upgrade. If you're doing a total rebuilt/resto-mod, then I would definitely go the Dana 300 conversion.

Just my $.02.

 

[Petescj]

Time to spread around some good Jeep karma. I have a Dana 300 sitting on my workbench for longer than I can remember. It made some crazy rattling noises one day and I replaced it with another I had. The Jeep still ran under its own power but something let loose in there. I kept it in hopes of putting a LoMax 4 to 1 kit in it but that's not happening anytime soon and I have 2 Cjs with Dana 300s now anyway.


So to get to the point your welcome to have this Dana 300 for whatever the cost of shipping is from Slatington Pa to your door.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Very kind of you Peter!
With a 'free' D/300-I would go with that behind the T-18 for sure.
LG

 

[Hedgehog]

Peter - That is a very kind offer. I wonder what shipping would cost, Then there is the weight an item that heavy would be shipped by Freight probably, then drop shipped. I wonder what popped loose enough to rattle? Honestly this spun in a direction I hadn't expected it to go. Now I need to talk to Rob.

I remind folks of this point. My garage will have a complete drive train Bellhousing/T-15 Transmission ./T-20 Transfer Case sitting around and if this is done there will be another T-20 Transfer Case added to the pile.

The 300 makes sense, but then there would be the added expense of adapting the T-18 to the 300. As noted in a post above that ain't cheap folks.

Since I haven't stopped and started in the way Hack described, so the money trail is/will be a little straighter so working on the T-20 is the likely route for me to follow. I'll likely get my gears from Advanced Adaptors, I think they are the same, but you don't see Tera Flex or Tera Low mentioned and the posted price is about $100 lower. The T-20 will also get a set of twin sticks. Reputation has it that the 300 has some difficulty with the twin stick conversion. I'm not sure why the Transfer Case would need to be clocked? The T-20 seems to be good the way it hangs right now.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

HH-FWIW: I never felt the 'need/want' for 'twin sticks' on my D/300.

LG

 

[CJim7]

Reputation has it that the 300 has some difficulty with the twin stick conversion. I'm not sure why the Transfer Case would need to be clocked? The T-20 seems to be good the way it hangs right now.

Not at all. It's straightforward and the Dana 300 actually shifts better twin sticked (it eliminates the horribly designed shift linkage between the shift rods.

I use mine all the time to drop out of 4wd and remain in low during certain rock climbing situations. Also to shift to fwd only for front digs.
It certainly isn't necessary, but it's fun to play around with and can make some situations easier.

The only reason to index the Transfer Case would be to offer better ground clearance using a flat skidplate.

 

[Petescj]

Alright. It isn't going anywhere in case you change direction