O R I O N (4 Viewers)

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I talked to Mudrak and He told me he sets them up tight and to go ahead with the install. I was finally able to get back out there last night and decided to put the gas tank back in loose and try and use the engine to help. It worked! She's going in and out of gear now but it's very stiff. Time to button it back up and go for a test drive.
 
That was a disaster. The truck seized up at about twenty and started grinding. I'm not at all sure what just happened but it wasn't good. There is a difference between 'setting them up tight' and not functioning. Mine seems to be the latter. Won't go into gear without a ton of effort and then it binds up. Not sure what to do but I'm going to have to start by talking to Mudrak tomorrow.
 
more info on what it is behind and who installed it.
Bummer for sure. Hate it when that stuff happens. Good news is that Mudrak is the most stand up guy you'll meet and even if it was not the transfer case he'll see you thru. Please post the results. Good luck and hopefully it is something easy like an input gear that backed off......
 
more info on what it is behind and who installed it.
Bummer for sure. Hate it when that stuff happens. Good news is that Mudrak is the most stand up guy you'll meet and even if it was not the transfer case he'll see you thru. Please post the results. Good luck and hopefully it is something easy like an input gear that backed off......

I agree. Mudrak will stand behind his work 100%. Super bummer about the issues here.
 
Talked to Mudrak again today and he thinks I'm not getting it all the way into two wheel drive. He suggested that I put it in 4th and feather the clutch while trying to shift. I tried it and he was right. I wasn't totally in gear. Went for another test drive in two wheel drive and all went perfect. I started putting things back together and am looking forward to having it back on the road. I'm a little nervous to shift it back into low right now but he assures me that the more I drive it the easier shifting will become. And your right, Gary is a great guy and I trust him completely.
 
Random Update:

Case #429
4:1
Installed June 2008
Current Mileage on T-Case: ~20,000 miles
73 FJ40 w/ 2F and 4 speed.

It does have a stepped washer but i don't remember on which side.
AA supplied shift rail and fork.

NO problems to date, it shifts a bit stiff but we extended the shift lever a bit so it isn't bad. No Popping out of anything ever.
DSC04850-600.jpg
On the road 2 152.jpg
 
Turns out it was all my fault. When I put the shift fork on the collar I missed the groove. Thought I had it but .... So after pulling it back off and reinstalling the fork IN the groove in the collar all is fixed. If your doing the install I suggest checking the function by pulling the actuator in and out to make sure you're going in and out of gear. Mudrak was patient throughout and a real comfort to have as a resource. Time to go wheelin!
 
I have #53. It is an Orion HD with 3:1 gearing. It will be going in my 73' behind a 4bt/nv4500. Hope it does not have the popping out of gear issue but I am not holding my breath since it is such an early one. I am also looking for the oil fill and drain plugs for it. When I bought the project they disappeared. Do I need to go through AA for those or would a local parts store have some. Thanks
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Pop out of gear thoughts

Those of you who know me know that i have been fighting this popping out of gear problem for years now.
I am on my second Orion with all the AA changes.
I have come to believe that in my case the weight of my truck (7000+)and the large motor (383) in my truck are the cause of this failure. It tends to happen in both high and low gear on high rpm (2400-3500)decel.
Something to think about.
For me it just means that I riding the brakes in a higher gear to avoid it.
Dave
 
I did the "fix" as well, removed factory mainshaft bearing slop down to the prescribed .009, used AA's shift shaft/ball/adjuster, and it did alleviate the popping out of hi on the road, as in a long steep downhill, but still will pop out in low range on steep downhills. My solution to this was to make a strap out of 1/2" webbing, using a plastic quick disconnect that also allows for adjustment, as in a strap on a piece of camping equipment. I got the webbing and disconnect at REI. The strap only limits movement, it doesn't pull constantly as in a bungee cord that would only wear the AA fork. Want low range, just snap the strap together; need hi range, pop the strap apart. Similar to this.

parts.jpg


I had tried velcro straps, but they only took more time to attach/detach and ultimately failed.
 
Well, I finally have an update on mine. Finally.

Ran great for 3 solid years, getting me to and from TX, to and from Rubicon twice, a couple of SNT's and plenty of desert wheeling in between. Then all of a sudden on the way to last year's SNT, wham, it shifted out of hi on a freeway transition. One time.

Got to SNT and things rapidly deteriorated. Limped out of the dunes Sat and had to put a motorcycle tie down on the hi-lo arm of the t-case to get home. I drove it ONCE since then, in July, just to work and back. Popped twice, even with the strap.

So now, A YEAR LATER, I finally took the time to drop the case to find out what the heck happened. Drained the oil, which looked just as silvery as everybody elses, so no particular worry there. Looked inside the top cover and everything LOOKED normal, so I figured I was gonna have to disassemble the whole thing to get a better look.

Started with the hi-lo fork, and when I got it out..........WOW! it was ground over half way thru the fork!:eek::eek: Calico Kid took some pics with his camera phone, and should be forwarding them soon enough.

AA was kind enough to ship down a replacement fork last year when I told them of the problem. I guess they had a hunch.:hhmm:

What gets me here is that I've spent the last year thinking that I might have to massage the detent points on the shift rail, thinking that a slightly outboarded detent on the hi-range side would have caused some kind of shock loading on the shift collar. But now that I've seen the fork, I'm thinking that the progressive grinding down of the fork would have relieved that particular shock loading long before it got to this point. :confused:

Got to do some more ciphering.:hhmm:
 
the shift forks and rails are one of the variables when it comes to these cases. whenever i build one, i try the fork on the rail without any o-rings on the rail but the case set-screw tightened down to see where the detents and fork end up as far as the high,neutral and low is concerned. i've seen a few where the casting of the fork actually hit the case on the shift rail end. actually i've seen a few of them, some hit in low, some in high gear. i've also seen a few forks where the ends were warped during the heat treating process. if the high-low collar cannot wiggel a little from side to side, then there's excessive fork warpage.
to avoid these issues, i have a few forks and rails on hand. i've even welded up the hole in the shiftrail ( where the set screw locates it in the case ) and then ground a new hole in the rail to get the fork to end up in the proper location.

lotsa trial and error at first but not anymore. knock on wood........
 
the pads on the original fork do not look like they were heat treadted. i believe that process was added as one of the updates to the orions.
also, notice the uneven pad wear; much more wear on the left than the right. what's the shift collar look like?
 
So what would cause the Orions to pop out when they are at operating temperature but not when they are cold?

Operation Temperature = Drive for a few miles in 4x4 in a mild climate.



maybe the case warps slightly.
 

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