Transfer case issues?
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Cross-Country
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 50
Likes: 12
mine gave a couple of warning signs that I stupidly ignored. Besides the obvious one of all the bolts backing out and the transfercase resting on the cross member (still worked and I was able to drive to home depot to buy more bolts surprisingly). I had been hearing some more clunking around when shifting gears with a not so smooth clutch/ starting from a stop. I assumed this was the classic slip joint clunk that I was going to deal with during the winter when I have time. Then about 150 miles before the incident, I was going about 5/10mph approaching a round about and was in second gear and gave a little gas and it hopped a couple times like somebody that is first learning to drive a stick. made a horrible sound that made me cry on the inside. Then it just seemed to POP its final clunk when hitting that railroad track. I do usually leave the hubs locked when I do drive it in the winter unless its going to be all highway miles (truck is mainly used for truck stuff or the occasional drive to work when I'm working on my other car) so I suppose that could've lead to more abuse. The truck saw 20 years of easy driving by an old man in wisconsin. When I bought the truck it had no trailer hitch remaining (rusted off) so it clearly wasn't used for towing and it never was tuned or setup for plowing.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 25,090
Likes: 1,112
From: Rio Rico, AZ.
Cost me a $500.00 tow bill to get the truck back home so I could work on it.
Tuned
Joined: Oct 2020
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I had a hefty tow bill as well. Luckily I was able to coast out of the mountains that would have been a loooonngggg walk haha.
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Cross-Country
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 50
Likes: 12
I finally got some time to do a little bit of investigative work. I tightened the case back up to the transmission and the grinding changed sounds but still happened. I confirmed that 2wd, 4wd, and 4 low all grind and the grinding sound speed is dependent on the input side as putting the truck in different gears changes the sound but it sounds the same in 4hi and 4 low. (silent in neutral). I dropped the rear drive shaft and with the truck in gear I can still spin the output shaft and all it does is spin (with some mild clunking like a ratchet). In 4wd, the output shaft and forward driveshaft still move together. I will be picking up some tools and materials today and try to drop it to investigate further what the issue is. I'm thinking as of now that it might be the shift fork or the retaining rings on the input shaft. I will update with my findings.
For anyone with a similar issue (very rare as I'm learning), some things that happened prior to this failure that could have lead to it as the 271 is a very robust transfer case
- transfer case completely separated from trans while driving (bolts rattled out)
- front axle u joint failed which then lead to the hub bearing to also fail ( probably drove 1k miles with ALOT of vibrations, stupid I know but it was my only vehicle at the time and I was working 7 days a week)
- I didn't abuse it like my old f150 on the dirt roads but I most likely drove it a bit harder on the dirt roads/two tracks of Michigan than most people would
For anyone with a similar issue (very rare as I'm learning), some things that happened prior to this failure that could have lead to it as the 271 is a very robust transfer case
- transfer case completely separated from trans while driving (bolts rattled out)
- front axle u joint failed which then lead to the hub bearing to also fail ( probably drove 1k miles with ALOT of vibrations, stupid I know but it was my only vehicle at the time and I was working 7 days a week)
- I didn't abuse it like my old f150 on the dirt roads but I most likely drove it a bit harder on the dirt roads/two tracks of Michigan than most people would
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 25,090
Likes: 1,112
From: Rio Rico, AZ.
Mine was similar to your, not as bad because I didn't have loose bolts. Greased up the splines with CV joint grease or something similar and put it back together. Took it apart 10 years later and still looked ok.
Butt-Head
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 9,453
Likes: 2,936
From: Reed Point, MT
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Cross-Country
Joined: Sep 2022
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anybody ever use a product like this before?
https://appliedmaintenance.com/splin...is%20guideline.
it seems like it used more for machining equipment which isn't seeing nearly as much torque, load, and shock, but maybe I can apply this to the transmission output shaft and only replace the input shaft on the transfer case and see how it does? this truck doesn't have much life left in it due to the body rusting to bits( 220k and lived in Wisconsin and Michigan all its life) . I will be posting more photos of the shafts all cleaned up when I get back from work as well.
https://appliedmaintenance.com/splin...is%20guideline.
it seems like it used more for machining equipment which isn't seeing nearly as much torque, load, and shock, but maybe I can apply this to the transmission output shaft and only replace the input shaft on the transfer case and see how it does? this truck doesn't have much life left in it due to the body rusting to bits( 220k and lived in Wisconsin and Michigan all its life) . I will be posting more photos of the shafts all cleaned up when I get back from work as well.
FTE Chapter Leader
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 13,122
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From: Henderson, NV
@Donnyvan
I "liked" your post not because of what you found, but because you posted excellent photos sharing what you found, so that others can see and learn from your (unfortunate) experience.
I "liked" your post not because of what you found, but because you posted excellent photos sharing what you found, so that others can see and learn from your (unfortunate) experience.
Thread Starter
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Cross-Country
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 50
Likes: 12
You joke, but it seems like what this is essentially just with a release compound so the shaft can be removed in the future.
https://appliedmaintenance.com/splin...is%20guideline.
If I go that route, I will replace the input shaft on the transfer case so there's at least SOME good splines.
If my calculations are correct, the 3000 psi adhesion strength SHOULD be strong enough assuming I'm not dropping the clutch to do burnouts or anything too crazy. A static load in 3rd gear at max torque with tune (assumed 650 ftlbs @ the shaft, probably over estimated) there is about 1040 PSI per spline. In THEORY that would be fine, however, this is the real world where there's going to be shock and vibrations and imperfect adhesion amongst many other factors.
Butt-Head
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 9,453
Likes: 2,936
From: Reed Point, MT
Getting a load up and moving is one thing. Having the splines fail on an incline where the only thing you might have holding the vehicle stationary while broken-down is the sub-par parking brake these things came with.