It's transfer case time!

Yep, you read that right.  I am finally going to replace the transfer case in the "new" truck and get rid of the noise that it is making while going down the road.  It has been an interesting time trying to get this completed, however.  In between potential snow storms, work being work, and vendors not getting their shit together to get me the parts when promised it has been difficult at best.

Here is the "new" transfer case, waiting to go into its new home.

Transfer cases bolt on to the back end of your transmission and are driven by said transmission to turn a driveshaft that is connected to the front differential.  They are found in trucks (and cars) that are either four wheel drive or all wheel drive.  A four wheel drive vehicle has a part time transfer case, which means that you have to engage the case via a lever or electric motor.  All wheel drive vehicles have a full time transfer case, which means that the wheels all are driven all the time.  A good example of a vehicle with a full time transfer case is the Subaru WRX.   In the case of some all wheel drive vehicles, there is an option to select a low range, high range, etc.

So once I climbed under the truck to discover what was making all the noise I found a huge crack in my case, which means there is likely to be no oil in it.  A new case would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $1200, so I went to Al's auto parts (www.alsautopa.com) to see if they had one.  It turns out they did, and in my case it's out of a 2001 Dodge Dakota that had 61,000 miles on it.  Al's auto is most likely the most organized salvage yard I have ever been to, and for the low price of $265.00, I had a replacement transfer case, removed from the donor vehicle, drained of oil and ready to go.

As a precautionary step I had removed the front driveshaft from the truck to cut down noise and counter rotation.  In the process of doing that I had to cut two of the bolt heads off of the back of the shaft, and use an extractor on the rest.  This action necessitates replacing those bolts, which led me to go to Reedman Toll Dodge (reedmantollchryslerdodgejeepram.com).   Here is some advice for you: get your own part numbers and insist that those part numbers are the ones that you get. In my case, it took half an hour for the parts counter kid to get motivated, go get the wrong bolts, go get the right bolts, ring me out, get the credit card machine to work, get me a receipt...well, let's just say I won't be going back there unless I have the whole day off for getting factory parts.

Now that I have what I need, it's time to get started. To do this job properly, you will need the following tools:

1. Floor jack
2. Jack stands (2 minimum, 4 optimal)
3. Transmission jack (STRONGLY recommended)
4. Impact wrench
5. Sockets
6. About 7 hours of time

Use penetrating oil and soak the front driveshaft bolts at the transfer case liberally.  Allow them to soak for awhile. Soak them overnight if at all possible.

After this is done you will want to get the truck in the air, enough so you can get under it and work.  Raise the truck as high as you can safely do so. Place the transmission in neutral and remove the front and rear drive shafts.  Return the transmission to park.

Use the floor jack and a piece of wood, long enough to cover the width of the transmission pan, to support the transmission under the pan and remove the cross member.  There are four nuts in the center that hold the transmission on to the cross member that should be removed first. Use a 1/4 inch drive 13mm socket as there is not a lot of space to get any tool in there. There are four bolts on each side of the cross member that need to be removed. The cross member is not too heavy (maybe 30 pounds) so you should be able to get it out without the use of a floor jack.

Here are the front (top) and rear (bottom) drive shafts.

Here you see the transmission being supported by the floor jack. I should have used a piece of wood to support it a little better.


Drain the oil out of the existing transfer case, then disconnect the shift motor, actuator motor, and vacuum line from the transfer case.

Remove the transmission mount and set it aside with its bolts.  There is a mounting plate above the transmission mount, which is also removed and set aside with its bolts.

The transmission mount proper...

...and the bracket that it bolts to. Your first two nuts are hidden under this.

This next step is optional and should be avoided if at all possible: I removed the "Y" pipe for the exhaust. If you choose to do this you need to soak the flange bolts at the exhaust manifolds with penetrating oil. Be forewarned that I snapped off all four bolts doing this and in my case they will have to be replaced.

Author's note: it was my intention to take more pictures but at the time I was having a very hard time getting the last nut off of the case, so this is the end of the pictures.

There are six nuts that hold the transfer case to the transmission. Two on the bottom that were hiding above the transmission mount. Two on the driver's side that are fairly easy to remove. The last two are on the top and are a bit harder.

There is one on the passenger's side hidden by a heat shield that is held on by two bolts.  Remove the heat shield to get at this nut.

The nut on the top can be accessed by lowering the transmission a maximum of two inches. Using a "shorty" wrench and, in my case, a ball joint removal tool and hammer to break it loose, it can be accessed and removed.  It's tight, but it can be done.

Position the transmission jack under the transfer case and carefully slide the case backwards off the transmission. WARNING: THIS IS ABOUT A 70 POUND PART AND IF IT HITS YOU CAN CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY.  Carefully lower the jack and transfer case, then remove it from the work area.

To install the new case, place it on the transmission jack and raise the case until you can rotate the tail shaft extender over the welded in cross member. Then carefully line up the shaft on the transfer case with the tail shaft on the transmission and the holes where the studs on the transfer case go through.  This will take a few attempts.  You can spin the shaft on the transfer case to line it up with the tail shaft on the transmission.  When the shafts are engaging each other you will not be able to spin the shaft. Carefully slide the case forward, until it is snug against the transmission. Leave the transmission jack in place to support the transfer case.

Starting with the top nut, install the nuts to the transfer case studs. Tighten them to 26 ft/lbs. Install the heat shield on the passenger side of the transmission once that particular nut is back in place.

Raise the transmission back up to stock height and install the transmission mount bracket, then the transmission mount.

If you removed the "Y" pipe, reinstall it at this time.

Starting with the center nuts, reinstall the cross member.  Use the floor jack to raise or lower the transmission to center the bolt holes on either side of the cross member.  Use an impact wrench to get these bolts in.

At this time, you need to add ATF to the transfer case. Using a 3/8" allen key, remove the fill plug  and add ATF until it starts coming out of the fill plug hole.  You will also want to make sure the drain plug (which looks just like the fill plug but it is lower on the case) is tightened up.

Reinstall the rear driveshaft.  The front slides into the tail shaft extender and the rear is bolted into place.  The front shaft can be collapsed slightly.  Bolt the front drive shaft to the transfer case flange first, then bolt the front of the drive shaft to the front differential.

Lastly, lower the truck to the ground, start the truck and check for leaks.  Test drive the vehicle and check for leaks again.  Lastly, engage the four wheel drive mechanism.  Listen for the motor to engage the transfer case.

The replacement truck

Like many people that are into cars and trucks or other forms of mechanized, motorized transportation, I had these dreams of making the duck a much better vehicle with some improvements and repairs down the line.  Also, like many people that I just mentioned, I have found that the improvements have had to make way for the repairs.  Then the emergency repairs.  I decided after the bracket for the alternator/A/C compressor snapped that it was time to let it go.

What I could see happening is that I would be going to work five days a week, hoping that I would get there and then get home.  I would be spending the weekends searching for the right replacement parts for a vehicle that frankly, not a lot of them were made with the four cylinder, five speed combination.  I did this before with a mid 90's BMW, and after all of that it was towed to the scrapyard at the end of it all.  The worst part about that? With all the hours and money being spent on something like the car in question, no time or money was left for anything else.

So for about a year on and off, mostly off, to be honest, I have been looking for a replacement for the truck.  The requirements were more or less that it is not a ford, that it is a truck, and that it runs right.  I didn't really care one way or the other about what kind of transmission it had, what color it was (except those gawd awful funky colors) or who manufactured it, as long as it wasn't made by Ford.  This is what I finally found...

This is my "new" 2001 Dodge Durango SLT.  This particular model is equipped with a 4.7 liter (287 CID) V-8 engine and a four speed automatic transmission.  The functionality of a truck with the comforts of a sedan, and more power.  About 235 horsepower at 4200 rpm, not that I am going to rev my engine up that high...ever.  It's got a tick over 135K on it, but drives and rides wonderfully.

Here is the rear view of the Durango. Fun fact: Those tail lights are the exact same ones that are on the Dodge Caravan of the same era.

This truck also features a four wheel drive system that is referred to commonly as "shift on the fly", which means that I don't have to stop the truck, get out of my seat, lock the hubs in, ad infitum.  Instead I turn a knob on the dash and there I am in four wheel drive.  Not that I spend a lot of time off roading (and frankly I would have bought a beater truck if that was my thing) but considering what I am paid for snow removal services it makes sense to be able to get there safely.

No used vehicle is without its surprises, both good and bad.  One of the surprises I have already dealt with is a leaking power steering hose.  It just so happens that it was the pressure line, which is a little bit of a pain in the ass to change out.  At least until I realized I am replacing the entire hose assembly.  Out comes the whizzer wheel (cut off tool) and out comes the old leaky hose, in with the new.  No more power steering whine and no more dripping fluids all over creation.

I have third row seating, which means I can take six of my friends along for the ride to wherever.  The vehicle, not having an instruction manual, left me to figure out how to get that third row to lay flat, making more cargo space.  I finally got the seat bottom to pull forward, and I was greeted with this:

Here we can see that there are leaves, paper, some kids stickers, and a 7/16ths craftsman combination wrench.  You don't see it in the picture, but there is some broken window glass in there as well...like the last truck. Ok so not that a through cleaning was in store for the dodge as it is but here, the "elderly parents story" is starting to not hold water.  I also found five "pachislo" coins.  Someone likes their slot machines, it seems.

Continuing on I opened up the jack compartment, at the back of the truck, and found no jack. I did find part of a jack stand, a file, wire cutters and a craftsman 1/2 wrench! The bars are the handle for the jack and also how you lower the spare tire.  Looks like I should get a jack for this thing...soon.

So at the end of my in depth inspection, I do have a few items that need to be addressed on the Durango, and some of them sooner than others. As mentioned earlier I have already taken care of the power steering leak.  One of the front hubs requires replacement, and one of the front marker lights has a hole in it.  If nothing else I can see some how to articles coming out of this.