How reliable are the new Orion cases?

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B

Bullsnake

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Sep 23, 2010
Threads
2
Messages
7
Location
Central Iowa
Good evening everyone!

I have a nice '78 40 that I just sent off to Proffitt's, and I am having them do a complete buildup on the truck. The build will include a Turnkey 5.3 FI engine, and I am thinking seriously about adding an Orion transfer case. I see the post on transfer case issues up in the stickies here, and I was just wondering if anyone is having the same issue of them popping out of gear with the new twin-stick models. If anyone can sound out to a newbie here and let me know what your experiences have been that would be greatly appreciated!

I absolutely LOVE the 40, and am so excited to do this build! It is a great truck, and I can't wait to see what Proffitt's comes up with! John has been great to work with, and the goal is to have everything done for Cruise Moab next spring for it's maiden voyage!
 
I do not want to cast any stones. I have Orion case #17. Put it together as per the instructions and by carefully noting how the OEM case came apart. Somehow I got very lucky in reassembly. I do not recall measuring any lash or pre-load. The parts that were recycled from my OEM case had minimal wear as well. I have never had this t-case pop out of gear. The only problem I have its that it seeps from all the cover plates and top plate. This with the new seals, and gaskets from the build-up. I am running an Advanced Adapters crossmember with the integrated tail cone, and it is bushing mounted to the frame side mounts. I feel the leaks coming from this may be due to engine torque and frame flex. I could have caused my own "issues" with this addition. I would definitely put this case behind the engine you are installing vs. the potential of splitting an OEM aluminum case in 1/2. I have not heard of an Orion splitting behind a V8 engine.
 
Thanks green73 for the reply!

John at Proffitt's says he has installed several of the new cases and hasn't had an issue, but it is nice to hear from people that have put some miles on them to hear how they are holding up! John has been FANTASTIC all along this build process, and I have absolutely no reason to doubt him, but with as many issues as I have found them to have doing research it is a little concerning.

Thanks again!

Edit:

Just noticed my original post in the ORION sticky had been moved into a new topic! I apologize for the double post, and will post to the other from here on out!

Sorry!
 
Last edited:
Welcome to MUD,

If you have any questions on the Orion you should contact Posser here on mud. Steve is located in MN and has worked on the Orion since the early days and helped figure out the problems with the first ones. He knows these inside and out. Here is a link to his site. Enjoy
LCR4WD - 612-695-1881
 
Steve put my Orion together for me, and it works great. Without the lower gears from the Orion, my sbc powered cruiser just bounced over the rocks. The lower gears let me crawl over them. It is a great upgrade for your cruiser.
Good luck Al
 
Related question about reliability of the Orion, other than staying in gear:

Has anyone put on some real highway miles and have there been any signs of long term wear issues?

I have been considering an Orion. In my application I drive the truck to the trailhead and I'm wondering how the gear sets have held up for trucks that rack up the miles.
 
BC40 said:
Related question about reliability of the Orion, other than staying in gear:

Has anyone put on some real highway miles and have there been any signs of long term wear issues?

I have been considering an Orion. In my application I drive the truck to the trailhead and I'm wondering how the gear sets have held up for trucks that rack up the miles.
Click to expand...

I drive mine to the trail head also. I've only had my Orion in since last April but I've been on three or four wheeling trips and put at least 4-5,000 highway miles on it since, including some business trips. My H41/Orion combo is slightly more noisy than the stock H42 and transfer case it replaced, but otherwise just like stock on the highway. I'm really pleased with this combo and my 33" tires, gives me a rubber overdrive for a comfortable 65 mph and still have a great crawl ratio when I get to the trail.
 
This is great information guys! Thanks for all of the responses, and I am definitely on board now with the Orion. I will keep you posted on how the build is going, and hope to meet some of you at Cruise Moab this spring!
 
I have an Orion twin Stick in my 1969 FJ40. Also running the 5.3l Vortec and 4L60E Automatic in it. I was having some problems originally with is popping out of low range with off throttle going down hill. Upon some investigating we realized the tub was not clearanced enough so when it was put in low the stick would hit the tub. When the vehicle started to flex it would pop it out of low. After cutting a little more out of the tub I have not had any more problems. I am running 37's and usually drive to the trail and back when wheeling.

Paul
 
Bomb69tech-that was exactly the response I was looking for! I was hoping that someone else had experience with this exact combo, and your combo sounds about as close as I am going to get! It is good to hear you've had good luck with it, as I plan on driving my truck to and from the trails, as well as wheel it hard while I am there. It would definitely be an attention getter to have the truck pop out of gear on a decent like Dragon's tail or something even more extreme, and I just want to make sure that I'm headed the right direction for reliability and ease of use.

Thanks again for the response!
 
OT Paul-How do you like the combo? Plenty enough power to get you there, around, and back? I was seriously looking at the 6.0L, but was talked out of it as the general consensus is I'll need to step up to custom Dana 60's and an Atlas transfer case to handle the 500+ hp that the Turnkey would kick out. I am going with all new guts in the axles as it is, as well as lockers, and I didn't want to wrap up another $10K+ in custom axles and an Atlas to make everything bomb-proof...
 
I have case #31, built with the retrofit parts from the beginning because I waited for AA to come up with a "popping out" fix. It's behind a 2F/H42. I drive it to the trails and back and drove it to Moab last year. I've never had an issue in the three years or more that I've had it. I like it. I'm working on dropping a 5.7l vortec and NV4500 into the truck now, but I don't anticipate any problems with the Orion behind the V8.
 
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