The "Victim" has arrived

1997 Dodge 12 Valve
128,000 Miles
NV4500 Transmission
Purchased from Copart in Phoenix, AZ













Picked the "Victim" up from Copart in Phoenix and made the 500 mile drive home.



Blew a tire out on the trailer in the middle of Navajo country. I ended up whacking my head on the underside of the door of the truck when changing the tire and started bleeding everywhere. A couple of nice Navajo ladies stopped and gave me a towel for my head.





The spare tire for the trailer was a larger size, so the trailer was imbalanced and I could only drive 35 MPH the rest of the way home to avoid the trailer swinging back and forth wildly. Lets just say that my GPS said my arrival time was supposed to be 8 PM, but I arrived at 4 AM

Here were a few unforeseen issues that the truck had. I was hoping to sell the front axle and transfer case to help recoup the cost of the truck, but I guess that wont be happening now







I was going to have to adapt the tail housing of the transmission to the NP 205 anyway right

I also picked up a smoking deal on a set of front seats for the truck. These are the middle row seats that came out of a 2011 Honda Odyssey Minivan. Brand new, never been used seats. Who can argue with $250 for brand new real leather?







So there you have it. I have about 90% of the parts I need together and now just have to find the time to bang out the fab work.

 

Just checked the dipstick on the cummins... No oil registering 128K miles doesn't matter if you don't keep oil in the thing

 

Ouch... talk about poor planning. So, what is the plan now ?

 

Looks like the front axle impacted the oil pan when the truck wrecked. So that explains the absence of oil on the dipstick. Better to repair an oil pan than to rebuild an engine.



Got some dismantling done today.

 

Wow, you work fast... I'm still driving my '97 Dodge 12V donor truck for the last 2 months!

 

Seems like it is never fast enough. I need to get this truck parted out and out of the yard.

Looks like I am going to try and use the hydroboost off of the Dodge. Anyone done this swap before?

I am also thinking about swapping in the AC system from the Dodge to the Ford, but I will have to investigate further to see how that all works out. I may just ditch the whole thing altogether.

The good news is that the radiator, intercooler, and shroud are in perfect shape and will be reused

 

It's commin together. Now stop reading and go back to work......

 

I decided to bang out some more work just for you Mr. Highntight

 

This is why you don't want to run the stock Dodge transfer case fellas





The big dilemma now how to adapt the NV4500 4WD trans to the NP205 transerfcase. From what I can see, I really have three options:

1) Find a married Ford NP205 Transfer case out of a 78-79 truck ($150) and purchase #50-0207 from Advanced Adapters ($378.75). Plus I would probably end up rebuilding the transfer case ($?)


2) Use the divorced transfer case from a 73-77 Ford truck that I already have. To use this I would have to rebuild the transmission and purchase a 2WD main shaft and tail housing ($500?). Plus rebuild the Ford transfer case ($?). One thing that I am worried about with the divorced setup is that the drive train will get too long and will cause an extreme rear driveshaft angle. I am not too concerned about the front drive shaft angle because I will be running the high pinion Dana 60.

3) Try and trade my 4WD NV4500 for a 2WD NV4500 and do something similar to option #2.

I have seen a couple of guys remove the intermediate shaft on the divorced transfer case and use a u-joint in between the trans and transfer case.

Decisions, Decisions, What to do, What to do

Anyone want to weigh in with suggestions?

 

I think you could leave the transfer case mounted in the original divorced position (at least you can with a NV4500 bolted to a 390).

How much lift are you going to run?

 

Wouldn't the transfer case damage be from the hit? A dodge 271TC is rated at 17,000 pounds IIRC. 241 is around 10,000 towing cap. I saw these ratings on one of the Cummins sites.

I'm going to run the 4x4NV with 271 TC if I can find a deal. If not, I'm staying auto.

Nice score on the seats.

 

Overall lift will be about 10". I know the NV4500 is a couple of inches longer than the stock NP435 (at least it looks that way). I am guessing that the collapsible intermediate shaft has enough play to make up the difference?

My drive line angle in the rear is mostly where I am concerned. I already bought a upgraded 1410 yoke to help improve drive shaft angle capability. I will get that installed when I finish the axle rebuild.

 

You are correct. The transfer case split in half from the force of the hit on the front axle that transfered through the driveline. The only concern I have with the stock transfer case is the possibility of something similar happening to it if it made solid contact with a boulder or similar when doing some serious off road. A solid hit would likely equal a broken case.

I will be using this truck off road in serious terrain regularly out here in Moab, so I want a tough transfer case that can survive solid hits and take a lot of abuse. I know that the NP205 will be up for the challenge.

Best of luck with the build

 

No, you have to get a new drive line. You can buy a 1410 yoke for the input shaft on the t-case and the transmission output shaft. I have seen a mild 460 take out a 1310 center drive line.

Would a CV joint on the rear allow you to run a steeper drive line?

 

In short, yes. But I believe the answer to this question is a bit more complex than that. Once the rear axle and transfer case are set into place, I will have to determine what will be necessary to achieve appropriate drive shaft angles. I am simply trying to keep the drive train as short as possible to avoid extra complications.

Here is a article on the topic that will give a very detailed overview of the factors involved and possible solutions:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billav...ft/index2.html