Transfer case puller tool - what am i missing here?

[Vae Victus]

I am separating my transfer case from my transmission, and it is being stubborn. I built a puller from what bits I have about, and got it all welded up finally (don't laugh, I'm no machinist. Ran out of Argon mix too, so welds are really splattery and not penetrating well).








That's a crescent wrench hanging off the bolt btw.

Turning the carriage bolt is not pushing the shaft out of the case. The nut was actually separating from the square tube where it holds the bolt in - had to re weld it.

Is there something wrong with my design (besides the obvious lack of skill)? Are the bearings supposed to stay in the transfer case, or do the need to be able to come out too? I.e is my puller blocking them in?

 

[FishTacos]

It looks like you have the two separated from here. You may want to relocate that nut to the inside of the square tube. That way the spot welds just hold it but the force goes into the tube. Or you could put it on the opposite side of the tube for the same effect

And you need a skateboard to strap the tranny to. Good luck.

 

[Vae Victus]

It looks like you have the two separated from here. You may want to relocate that nut to the inside of the square tube. That way the spot welds just hold it but the force goes into the tube. Or you could put it on the opposite side of the tube for the same effect

And you need a skateboard to strap the tranny to. Good luck.

Yes, the two cases are separated, but they won't move any further, hence the puller tool.

I see what you mean - the nut is getting all the force, the square tube is not being used to carry much of the load.

So you think there just needs to be enough force and it will come?

 

[spotcruiser]

If all of the parts are in good shape, the tranny and transfer should come apart pretty easily. One problem I have come across in the past, is excessive wear of the input gear and tranny output shaft. Instead of the splines lining up between the gear and the shaft as they should, the gear is worn into the splines of the shaft. It's a long pull, trying to drag that gear through the length of those splines. Try to see if you have this issue and align the gear to the shaft splines, if you can.

 

[FishTacos]

If all of the parts are in good shape, the tranny and transfer should come apart pretty easily. One problem I have come across in the past, is excessive wear of the input gear and tranny output shaft. Instead of the splines lining up between the gear and the shaft as they should, the gear is worn into the splines of the shaft. It's a long pull, trying to drag that gear through the length of those splines. Try to see if you have this issue and align the gear to the shaft splines, if you can.

I would second this as well. They should come apart without a ton of torque.

 

[Vae Victus]

Good and bad news. Good news it - it came apart. Bad news, I had to create another puller tool to do it.





Fabbing the new tool






If you get a 10ga x 2" square x 7" long piece of tube - it will work perfectly. Cut 2, 5/8" holes exactly 5" apart (1" from each end), a 1.5" square hole on the bottom, and on the top, another 5/8" hole centered exactly between the two bottom holes, it will line up perfectly. I used a 1/2" carriage bolt and welded the nut to the top of the tube. I also welded a larger 7/8" nut to the top of the bolt for gripping.

When welding the smaller nut to the tube, put the bolt through the hole, and use another nut from the bottom to snug the welded nut to the tube for easy positioning and welding. As the other person said in the design of this tool (from whom I got the design on this site), grind the end of the bolt to a dull point to fit into the depression in the shaft when you press it out.

Then, cut a 45 degree or so angle in the tube as shown to provide access to the nuts to the black transfer case cover to which you bolt this contraption, er ah, SST.

---

Worst news - it was very hard to remove. There is an obvious 1/32" groove in the spline. Bob at TPI said if there is a groove, you should consider a new transmission.

Anyone got opinions?

 

[spotcruiser]

Yeah, that's a common problem and new replacement shafts are very expensive, since there is little call for them. You can try to find a used tranny with a better shaft or advertise for a good shaft out of a trashed tranny. If you're willing to dump $800+ into it, SOR has the shaft and rebuild kit.

I considered doing a weld repair on one once, but found another tranny and went that way instead. I honestly don't think it would be that difficult, but it would take some effort and I don't know how well it would hold up.

By the way, I would expect similar wear on the inner splines of the input gear, so look at that carefully.

Worst news - it was very hard to remove. There is an obvious 1/32" groove in the spline. Bob at TPI said if there is a groove, you should consider a new transmission.

Anyone got opinions?

 

[Vae Victus]

Here's the groove

 

[spotcruiser]

Not the worst I've ever seen (by a longshot). I think I'd run it and take a look at it now and then..

 

[Vae Victus]

What causes the groove?

 

[Poser]

What causes the groove?

Transfer case input gear being loose on the transmission output shaft.

 

[Vae Victus]

Transfer case input gear being loose on the transmission output shaft.

Caused by wear? Replace input gear?

 

[Poser]

Caused by wear? Replace input gear?

The loose gear on the shaft causes the wear you are seeing.

A new gear on that shaft will make the new gear garbage in short order.

 

[Vae Victus]

Is there any repair that can be done? What should I do? Find a nice 5 speed?

 

[Poser]

If you like spending money, sure. Call up Orange45 and have him build you an H55/split case combo and get it in your 40.

You will like driving it. I have installed four of them in 40 series now and one in a 60.

That transmission should have floated over here in all the later 40's and the 60 series.

 

[pardion]

Earl Warden taught me a trick on seperating the t/c from tranny when the splines are worn such as in this case, this was well over 20 years ago. We seperated the units as much as possible, then each one of us had 6' chisel pointed pry bars, we both pried at he same time and they popped apart. Good job on your puller. Check with Orange45, Valley Hybrids, Stockton, Calif. He has a jig to weld on another core of a t/c input gear to the existion bad one and then you use splines that have never been used. That way you save an otherwise good tranny. On another note, since there was so much slop from that t/c input bearing, check your idler gear teeth on your t/c look for wear dents. HTH John

 

[Vae Victus]

If you like spending money, sure. Call up Orange45 and have him build you an H55/split case combo and get it in your 40.

You will like driving it. I have installed four of them in 40 series now and one in a 60.

That transmission should have floated over here in all the later 40's and the 60 series.

I don't like spending money. I spend it when necessary to make the rig safe and functional.

I'm trying to determine my options. I'd appreciate hearing what those other options are.

Thus far I have nothing but a high dollar custom build.

This is my first build, first transmission....

 

[Vae Victus]

Check with Orangefj45, Valley Hybrids, Stockton, Calif. He has a jig to weld on another core of a t/c input gear to the existion bad one and then you use splines that have never been used. That way you save an otherwise good tranny. On another note, since there was so much slop from that t/c input bearing, check your idler gear teeth on your t/c look for wear dents. HTH John

Hmm interesting info. Thanks John. I'll contact Orangefj45.

Is slop in the t/c bearing the culprit here?

 

[orangefj45]

Thanks for the props guys !

If you're on a tight budget, then put some new seals and gaskets in there and run what you have.

The wear on the splines on the transmission main shaft is caused by repetition and nothing else. Every time you take off from a start, every time you shift gears, every time you back up, ....... You put stress on those splines. Over time, that can and will cause spline wear.

And to be completely realistic ........... How much wear is there and how long did it take to get to that point?!
You're dealing with a 40 year old transmission and t-case. So it's taken 40 years to get that "bad".
How much do you drive the cruiser?

I'd say run it. Sure, it might make a clunking noise at times but that's about it.

Hth

Georg @ valley hybrids

 

[Vae Victus]

Orangefj45 ignore the PM. Thanks for that, I'll continue with the rebuild and see how long it lasts.