Do any of you know if there is an aftermarket Transfer case support for a 96 F350 with the BW 4407 T-case? Thats a lot of weight to just be sticking out past the crossmember with no other support.

 

I dont think theres a need for one.

 

why not fab one? im willing to bet it would be cheaper then buying something like that?

 

I think the engine should balance it out pretty well. There's no support for the bellhousing, which is also a very highly stressed area, and that does A-OK even with some of the screws missing.

 

I have the same Tcase, and I've not had any problems-even towing with a 460 & 5 speed. I have never heard of anyone else having an issue either. Did you break the case on your truck?

 

There is reason for such a bracket and it's a good one. I have thought about making one myself but being short on time I was just wondering if any company makes one. I can't imagine such a thing would be too expensive so it would be worth my time to just buy one. Anyway, I'm not sure if all of you who are replying actually have the same T-case that I mentioned or you are just basing your opinion on the 1356. The more common BW1356 is shorter and lighter than the BW4407. This T-case sticks way out past the crossmember and there is just a few bolts around the aluminum T-case adapter mounting it to the T-case itself. With driveline vibration, the transmission, t-case adapter, and t-case are vulnerable to cracking seeing as how nothing is holding up that weight, trust me I know. I was coming back from the auto parts store a while back with a new u-joint in hand when my rear pinion yoke u-joint let loose and the vibration put a 10" crack across my C6. That was the only way I could kill that tranny but thats beside the point.
I put a ZF5 in place of the C6 but if anything like this happens again I would still be at risk since the ZF is also aluminum. However the ZF has good size webbing built into the housing so I doubt it's as likely to crack as the C6. When removing my t-case during the tranny swap, two of the top bolts on the t-case end of the t-case adapter had a lot of aluminum shavings on them from the t-case itself. I tapped the holes and put larger bolts in there but I noticed that it doesn't take much to strip the aluminum out so it just doesn't seem like letting all that t-case and driveshaft weight hang by these bolts alone is such a good design. All it takes is a driveshaft dent or a bad u-joint to cause severe vibration that can be terminal.
As for the guy who mentioned the engine to tranny bolts holding those two parts together just fine, that is a completely different situation. Both those units are large in diameter, have a large bolt pattern, and there is not that much distance from motor mounts to tranny crossmember in ratio to the overall length and thickness of the whole setup. In other words, it's stout and is connected just fine. The bolts holding the tranny to the engine do not have a heavy spinning drive shaft hanging off of them. Their rotoating mass is housed inside. That design is time tested but this design is something used for only a two years and I hope there is someone out there who has a t-case mount available for these trucks.

 

The easiest thing, if you are worried about it, is to use a factory skid plate and just build a mount off of that.

 

My 2 cents-
As I mentioned, my truck has a ZF & a 4407. I've owned it & towed with it since 2001 with nary a problem with the Tcase. Also, I have a LOT of experience dealing with Fords-I've worked on the shop parts counter at a large Ford dealership for many years, and I've never heard of this being an issue. That's not to say it can't happen, or it's never happened, but it's not a common problem.
Lastly, if you decide to make a mount for it, make sure you use some type of rubber mount to allow for movement of the engine/trans/tcase assembly-otherwise you run the risk of causing more problems than you fix.

 

Yeah, I heard what you mentioned. Not trying to be rude but what I'm saying is that it happened to me so it IS possible and it DOES happen. Like I said, all it takes is a loose u-joint strap, dented driveshaft, or bad u-joint to cause this to happen. Not every common problem with a truck will happen to every user so most don't prepare for them. What I'm saying is this would most likely be only an issue with BW4407 equipped trucks that have some other issue that sets of the chain reaction. Stuff happens and I want to rule out that issue whether it is common or not. My house doesn't get broken into often(ever actually) but that's not to say I shouldn't have a gun for just such an occasion. Anyway, I'm going to add a support for it regardless if others think I need it or if nobody makes one for this year truck. And yes, I plan on adding a rubber mount to prevent vibration.
For the other guy who posted, is there a factory T-case skid plate for this model t-case? I've seen them on 1356 equipped trucks and many other year trucks but not on 96/97 F350 4x4's w/4407 t-cases. My truck came from the factory with a gas tank skid plate but it has none for the t-case. I have looked at this as an option before but have not been able to find any skid plates for the F350 of this year in scrap yards. I don't know if the BW1356 skid plate will clear the 4407 since it hangs kind of low.

 

Pretty airtight thinking right there, Sir.

+1 on the suggestion to use rubber if you're gonna go the extra mile for your truck. All the best of luck

 

Anyone ever seen a factory Transfer case skid plate for a Borg-Warner 4407 on a '96/'97 F2/350?

 

There is NO NEED for an additional support for the t-case. I have never seen one brake off from the trans EVER. And I worked at a 4wd shop for a good many years. I also have been truck pulling for over 15 years and it has yet to be an issue not having the t-case having its own mount

Also the 4407 is almost IDENTICAL to the 1356.

 

Yes I have.
It's the same one as came on the 13-56. The donor truck that I got my 44-07 out of was a '96 F-250 Off Road. It had the skid plate and it's the same one that came on my '96 150 with the 13-56.
I agree that the 44-07 is much heavier than the 13-56, that's the whole reason I swapped it in. It isn't much longer and doesn't really hang but maybe 1/2" lower and that's only due to the thicker case.

 

I suggest you read post #6 where I give several good reasons why there are MANY NEEDS for such a support. If there was NO NEED for it Ford would have never started adding T-case support brackets to NV271/273 units that replaced the BW4407. Both the BW4407 and NV271 are similar in size and weight and Ford thought it was a good idea to do so on the NV units and they also use to do it back in the day for many good reasons. All it takes is a driveshaft misalignment, bad u-joint, bad tranny crossmember mount, etc. to cause stress fractures on the aluminum T-case. Like I tell people all the time, "Just because you haven't seen it happen that doesn't mean it never does". Yes, I just quoted myself. I have seen first hand catastrophic failure of aluminum bodied T-cases caused by driveline vibration. Your alleged pulling background would not apply to what I'm talking about. The scenarios in which I've seen aluminum T-cases and transmissions crack is at highway speed where all it takes is a slight misalignment to cause devastating vibrations. All it takes is a dented driveshaft on the trail and then on the ride home all hell can brake loose causing hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars in damage. I speak from experience.
Also, aside from the gear ratio and both cases being made of aluminum, the 1356 and 4407 are NOWHERE NEAR IDENTICAL. Weight, dimensions, internals, etc., not the same. You have seen a 4407..right?

 

i have never seen one, got any pics?