its the same price as the now no longer made marks case..... But having someone for technical support that is actually in the US makes it that much nicer
I just read through it a bit and there will be quite a bit of changes under the truck required to make it all work, fuel tank being one of the bigger issues.
How about this route Al 5.3L or diesel/ NV4500/ split case with marlin 4.0 low gearss. I can tell you from my pickup that 1st gear in the NV4500 is pretty low and that is at 1.0 output on a 2WD truck. Add that to 4.0 low range and you'll have some serious crawl power. You do not have to worry about the fuel tank or even the speedo cable as you can just run an electric speedo off the VSS circuit (one wire) on the harness. They are saying $2,300.00 just for the adapter set up, add the cost of cases and fuel tank mods iit has got to be north of $5K. That will get you knee deep in the set up I mentioned assuming you are doing the work yourself.
I've not looked but I think you can put an NV4500 behind your stock motor as well with an adapter.
yeah its always been a given that any doubler will have to have the gas tank modified just due to the length of a stock drivetrain and the lack of space behing the stock t-case. Wrench is the only one I know of on this board that did hte marks crawler case. At $2300 i'm not in the market anytime soon and it won't work with my trans anyway only the 95-97 80s seem to be special
I believe (but i'd have to re-read it) the $2300 is the double that bolts behind the trans and then to the stock t-case so no adapter is needed as it is the adapter.
Wrench's thread pretty much highlights what would need to be done to make it work
Yeah I think the same adapter that works for the sm420 will work with the chevy nv4500... not sure about the dodge. It's always in the back of my head the ideal route is a nv4500 to a np203 to adapter to toyota split case..... not sure if anyone has done it in an 80 yet but with all the nv4500 swaps that have popped up in the last few years i'm sure someone has. I have seen a few do a 700r4 to np203 to adapter to split case though
I believe that is correct al. The doubler bolts to the back of the tcase and it bolts straight to the tcase without an adapter. The cool part is it sounds to be drilled for multiple tcase options opening up drivetrain and axle options even further. Cause Johnny's 80 is gonna have a Dana 300 and one tons ya know
OK, i did some more reading , this is from NWF's site
"This is where our Dual Transfer Case kit comes into play. Our Adapter kit allows you to mate the reduction box portion of a NP203 transfer case to the stout NP205. The addition of the NP203 range box gives the option to run either transfer case independently in high or low (1:1, 2:1) or to run both in low (2:1 x 2:1) and DOUBLE your reduction for an astounding 4:1 low! Our kit mates factory NP203 and NP205 transfer cases, giving a wide array of vehicle application compatibility, not to mention the all-gear combination is capable of handling big block power!"
I can do that by just bolting up a split case with a 4.1 marlin setup in it and skip the doubles all together. I can get the split case stock with a twin stick set for less than $1,500.00 totally rebuilt. I also end up with a shorter total drive train similar to stock. I do not know what it takes to bolt a split case up to an 80 tans but I do know how to do it with a NV4500 or a 4L65E.
Granted, I am not familiar with either the NP203 or 05 but unless they can be fitted with a deeper lower gear than 2.1 it seems like a whole lot of money for nothing more than a split case with 4.1 gear set.
Please tell me what I am missing because I don't get it. Johnny, where are you?
you're looking at an existing product for ford and gms on their website. They don't have this 80 series box on their website yet but this would be the closest thing to it on their website
A double comes in quite handy. In the past (my Heep days), I have had rigs with 4:1 transfer case gears and they are nice for technical really slow speed stuff (read hard rock crawling where these is enough traction to not need wheel spin), but are too low for slower / general trail use. A doubler would help that situation by giving you the option of high range, a "normal" low range that becomes an intermediate reduction, and a super low range reduction. If the doubler has a different reduction than the main case, you could end up with forum different gearing ranges.
I can't tell you how many times I wished for something between high range and the 4:1 low in my former Heeps ....
I agree Sam. For most of the stuff we do the 4:1 in my Rubi is too low in Lo but I found out last time how bad it sucks coming up Dickey Bell in 4 Hi when my linkage popped off. There were a couple of spots where I had the puny 3.8 matted and was making no forward progress at all...not even wheel spin!
An in between gear that could be shifted down to quickly would be nice.
The AA gears for the split case are not cheap, but I'm looking forward to paying them off in the rocks. I'd love a doubler for the extra gearing options, but I studied long and hard at my 465/3spd case ratios vs H55F/SplitCase 4:1 ratios before I took the plunge. I thought I'd easily find what I needed for east coast wheeling with at nice deep low when required. For the 40, it's a tough spot b/c a doubler results in a rear driveshaft almost as long as Meatball's pecker Not as big an issue for the wagons, obviously.
@NCFJ - does Marlin offer a 4:1 set for the split case? I'm going to have to look that up. I shelled out for the AA kit, but got it from Georg.
Anyway, I've had a few drinks, so I'll shut up now.
Thanks for the explanation guys, I was taken off line a bit by looking at the original link thinking that was the new product. I understand the desire for deep gears as well as a mid rang gear below that of the 1.1 of 4WD high. I guess that I am just trying to figure out the rout I wish to go on the 80 I have going for thee shop.
I see the use of the deeper gears for the rocks but I am not sure it is worth all the extra work with tank etc to have the mid range gear selection. The other thing on my mind is how low is too low for an 80 that in the real world will only be in the rocks less than 5% of its life, probably less than that in real world figures but we all like to think at least 5% will be off road and in the rocks.
I put dual cases in my truggy for a lot of the reasons you guys mentioned above, but that is a dedicated off road rig (some day).
Ramon I think I am miss quoting the Marlin 4.1 gears for the split case, they probably are just made by AA. I plan on having George do the same for me. I can not say enough good things about George, when it comes to gear boxes he is the guy to have do your work.
Stan, IMHO for you shop truck my combo would be a LSX (LS2 would be my personal preference) , nv4500, NP 203, AA adapter, split case. That's what my dream of a vortec 80 would be. Or if I decided to stay auto id say a beefed up 700R4 instead. Those combos wouldn't require any gas tank mods .
that's just my 2cents though and I'm sure your shop truck will end up amazing as usual.
Al, the combo for this particular build as slated now is a 5.3 Vortec/built 4L65E/split case. My interest in this doubler is possibly adding it to that combo. Heather's 80 is next in line as far as shop trucks go and that will see the NV4500. This will more than likely be a better test bed for the use of a doubler as this truck is not being totally gone over like the one in the shop now. The truck in the shop now is being gone over from top to bottom, full frame off etc. The frame is done already, all new bushings in the suspension, new body mounts ready to go. This truck is being built for re-sale so I know I will not be taking this rig up any trails that will even scratch the new paint. The new owner is more than welcome to beat it up.
If you are looking at an LS2 I would look toward the truck variant of that model, there are so many more out there on the market. I lean harder to the iron blocks as they put up higher numbers as it relates to overall mileage.
The doubler the original thread was about wouldn't work behind the 4L65E, it is being designed to work behind the cruiser A343 trans in the 95-97 cruisers. You could most likely put a NP203 behind the 4L65E and then use the adapter to put the split case behind that for a doubler in that combo.
Wrench's truck works great. I've peered under it a few times, but don't remember what the underside looks like. Every time he wheels he seems to break something, just like me
Want me to have him get some undercarrige pictures?
If you aren't going to stick with the toyota motor / transmission, then why go with the Toyota transfer case? Build a hybrid centered rear axle or swap in either a 9" or 14b and run an Atlas 4sp. That's gear selection right there.
