I fail to see your logic, why would one Super Duty with a NV271 have a support, but not his? I just looked at a bunch of pictures of Super Duty trucks with the NV271/NV273, and I haven't been able to find one with a support bracket. The 2011 SD's with the Magna MP1128 case don't have a bracket either.

Put a support bracket on the T-Case and bend your drive-shaft; You'll destroy the T-case output shaft, bearings, or both instead. Either that or it will just tear the rear of the transfercase right off, and will probably wreck your axle pinion bearings as well when the driveshaft tries to pole vault your truck into the air.

Don't even pretend that strengthening the transfer case will allow you to drive on shelled out u-joints or a bent driveshaft. You will just be shifting the damage from the transmission to something else instead. If you bend a driveshaft, do what every other off-roader does: Fix the shaft on the spot, remove the shaft and front-wheel-drive limp it back home, or call a tow-truck.

 

My comment was aimed at Brad...

 

Yes I know. Your comparison was not a good one.

Different engines are different check boxes on the order sheet - I don't see a "Transfercase bracket so your bent driveshaft doesn't rip your transmission in half" option on any Ford order sheet.

 

Perhaps what happened was that the same rock that damaged the driveshaft, also hit the transfercase and that is what caused the crack to start.

I just cannot see how a driveshaft that was not bent so little that you could not feel the extra vibrations until hiway speeds were reached, caused immediate damage when reaching such speeds.

I am not saying it did not happen, it just does not meet the normal failure and progression of a crack???

I know this is not helping the extra case support you feel you need, but there may be something else going on here that needs a second set of eyes to check it out. Just further thoughts,

David

 

My thoughts are: If the OP had spent as much time and effort building the TC support he thinks he needs as he has trying to convince every one he is right and Ford didn't know nothing about building trucks, he would already have it done and forgotten!!!!

And as Lead Head said, why drive with a drive shaft in bad enough shape to cause so much vibration to crack a TC or transmission case?? That sounds like inexperience to me!!!

 

I thought his comparison was pretty spot on. The Ford dealership in town here had 2 Regular Cab Short Box F350 Dually Powerstroke trucks this past winter. I can tell you for a FACT that a combination like that wasn't on an order sheet either. It's purely ignorant to just claim something doesn't exist because you've never seen it. That's the point that Encho was trying to make.

But in relation to the OP's statements here, a support bracket would be beneficial to your truck to keep stress minimal. It would also be wise to use polyurethane mounts so keep vibration down and such. But that bracket won't benefit you if your driveshaft is out of whack.

 

Those trucks were not from Ford, and were converted after they were purchased. Ford does not and will not make an HD chassis that short.

Ford dropped manual transmissions because the take rate was too low to justify development costs - do you really think they are going to design, test, and manufacture an extra short dually chassis for 1/1000th of 1% of the truck market? Never mind the fact that a RCSB Dually would probably be downright dangerous to tow anything significant with.

 

Maybe they came from Ford, maybe they didn't. I don't know, I wasn't in charge of the trucks. However, to say that such a truck doesn't exist, or was never made, would be wrong. But you're still ignoring the point. The point was just because you haven't seen it, doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.

 

I'll trade you my 1356 for your 4407. Then you won't have all that excessive weight hanging off your tranny. Problem solved

 

Search Merchant Automotive and look at their t-case cradle. It'll give you an idea on how to build one. It's not necessarily a mount or similar like I think you're askking for. But it will help distribute the load better than just a few bolts thru the case.

I do, however, feel that you don't need anything besides what the truck came from the factory with. Trucks have been using aluminum cases for decades, without additional support. They are engineered to take it.

 

Your statement makes perfect sense yet look at all those who think it doesn't. Brad said that his truck with NV271 transfer case doesn't have a support so he wants to send me a picture proving they don't make one just because his truck doesn't have one. As I told him, I've seen trucks that do have said support but he thinks they don't exist just because his truck doesn't have one. I just got done repairing an '02 F350 4x4 yesterday with an NV273(same as NV271) that didn't have a transfer case support but seeing as how I've worked under numerous Super Duty trucks in my life I HAVE seen NV271 T-case supports. I base my statements on things I've seen on numerous trucks throughout the years, not just based on what my truck does or does not have like Diesel_Brad. What you said IS a flawless analogy and the fact that so many have said it is NOT only further proves half of these guys can't even comprehend what they are reading so what they are writing can't be taken seriously.

 

Just because your truck doesn't have one that doesn't mean no NV271 equipped trucks have them because I've seen them. Do you live in a bubble or something?

 

Fine, show a pic of JUST ONE TRUCK that has a Factory t-case support since YOU have seen so many

 

Just because I have seen more in my life than you, why should I have to show you pictures of everything you haven't seen just to prove they exist beyond the bubble you live in? I'll tell you what, the next time I see one I'll take a picture or you could get off your lazy rearend, go down to a Ford dealership and take a look under a new F450 4x4 and see for yourself. I'm still waiting to hear you say you were wrong about the 4407 and 1356 being "Nearly Identical" as you said. How can you say you own both and know what they look like yet the picture posted clearly showed they are nothing alike. Are you a liar or just plain thick-headed? Thats not namecalling, it's a serious question.

 

It's the same thing over and over and over again with guys on this site. For whatever reason someone has to do a modification, being that everyone encounters different scenarios and has different needs, almost all of you will always try to tell the original poster what different you would do in their shoes. I understand some are just giving advice but if someone wants to do something, tells you nothing is going to change their mind, and there is no way you can stop them, why constantly push your opinion to the point of arguing? Regardless if that is what you would do, that is not always what others want nor need to do yet nobody seems to get this. Sure, if someone wanted to remove their broken D60 front from their 79 F350 4x4 and was going to replace it with a weaker axle just because he had that particular axle laying around and was going to save money doing so, 80% of people will try arguing why not to do the swap when the thread poster already made up his mind and his decision has no affect on the person telling him to do otherwise. Yes, some may say it's to keep someone from making a mistake, in my experiences with many FTE members, it's just an attempt from the other members to show why they know what is better for you than you know for yourself. A lot of egocentric people roam this site but a lot of nice people as well.
Then we have people like Diesel_Brad. He totally disregarded the question that I originally posted and went on to make false claim after false claim and even after being shown a picture proving him wrong, instead of admitting he is wrong, he thinks up some other wrong statement to make further showing he is clueless. First he says there is no difference between the BW4407 and the BW1356 but he was proven wrong with the photo but remains silent about it. He said he has trucks with both and there is no difference but if he did he would know there clearly is, so is he lying about having both trucks or blind? Second, he says NV271's don't have supports just because his truck doesn't have one and/or he has never seen one even though I have. Then he says he's pulled with his truck thousands of times and not having a T-case support is not an issue. Well, I clearly stated my scenario and it occured at highway speed which is completly different than pulling so his comparison holds no water. His final ignorant comment comes when he says the NV271 is WAY bigger than the BW4407 when this is far from the truth. I just parked my BW4407 equipped truck next to my NV271 equipped truck a couple hours ago and got under both to compare. If anything the BW4407 is larger!
I know many of you guys think adding a support is unnecessary but if so, WHY DID FORD HAVE T-CASE SUPPORTS ON ALL THEIR 78/79 TRUCKS whether they were F150's or F350's? I know the NP205 weighs a lot but so does the 4407. I have both cases and I've had to benchpress both numerous times and if the 205 needs support even when hooked to a cast iron NP435, cast iron tranny to T-case adapter, and the 205 itself is cast iron, I'd say a truck with an aluminum tranny, aluminum tranny to t-case adapther, and aluminum T-case itself should require some support. If any truck should have the support it shouldn't be the trucks with the solid cast iron drivetrains it should be the newer, lighter duty aluminum ones. There is some 100 pounds of T-case hanging unsupported 21in.'s past the nearest support and the T-case also supports the weight of the driveshaft. If the driveshaft gets out of balance there can be problems that can result in serious repairs. Just because you guys haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It's just like the time 10 guys tried arguing with me on this site that 15" rims can't fit on a 3/4 ton truck when I've seen it done from the Ford factory and I've done it too. There are lots of things people have yet to see but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Some of you have said that a T-case support would not have stopped the tranny from cracking but that's most likely incorrect. I don't think a T-case support would be necessary on say an NP208, I'm not even saying one is necessary on a heavier NV271 or BW4407, you all are missing the point. Yes, many off-road with them, truck pull, and drive at high speeds with no problems, I haven't questioned that. That would be absurd! What I'm saying is U-joints can fail, driveshaft weights can be thrown, driveshafts can get dented and not noticed until at high speeds. That combined with not knowing your rubber transmission mount is worn will create one heavy rotating mass vibrating behind the transmission. As they say, S*** happens(I used asterisks so relax moderators). It may never happen again to me but the one time it did resulted in over $1500 damage that I'm never going to have to worry about again by making a T-case support. So to all you who oppose the idea, you are not going to change my mind so unless you are contributing to me building a support bracket you can find another person to annoy.


P.S. I need to clear something up even though I doubt anyone noticed due to everyone responding before actually comprehending what I wrote. My driveshaft let loose up at the T-case due to a worn u-joint. I said so in one of my earlier posts but then I said it was due to a dented driveshaft. I was confusing two of the four times in my life I had a driveshaft end up laying on the road. The time where my C6 was cracked almost in half was due to a u-joint causing the driveshaft to suddenly vibrate violently past 55mph and taking out the T-case just as the u-joint exploded. It didn't shake the truck going slower than 55mph but once I went over that speed it was like the whole truck turned into a giant vibrator and all hell broke loose. End result: two broken D-shaft u-joints, broken pinion yoke, bent gas tank skid plate, 20 gallons of fuel gushing out through a softball size hole in the tank, and a cracked(nearly in half) transmission. Nawww, there can be no reason for a t-case support. Anyone who has a BW4407, go lay under your truck and push up on the case like you were benchpressing it. Even with good tranny mount brackets the T-case and D-shaft both wiggle and you can't possibly tell me you don't think adding a T-case support bracket would help reduce all that mass from vibrating if things became unbalanced? Many trucks have had T-case supports throughout the years but you guys make it sound like the idea is completely alien to you. Anyway, I'll be making my mounts soon, I hope those who oppose are not too heartbroken about it?