I just bought a 1999 Ranger and I am dealing with electrical problems. My question is, can you swap a manual transfer case for the electric one, and if so what years,models,etc.?

 

Before you go replacing the t-case, do a search for GEM (General Electric Module).

There have been a couple of threads recently of people having trouble with them, that included 4x4 not functioning.

 

I am going to replace the GEM but I don't want to be in a situation where I am relying on electronics for my 4x4 to work.

 

Its a Borg-Warner 13-54. If you find a manual shift one from an earlier Ranger that has the same transmission as your truck, it should bolt right up. (The input end of the transfer cases are different in different applications, as they bolt up to different transmissions which have different configurations on the output housing.)

 

Yes, it's possible, and I'm thinking about doing the same thing. I need to get a BW13-54 from an 03 level 2. Also I'm going to check into the possobility of changing my t-case over to manaual by changing out the shaft that the eclectric shift motor attaaches to for the manual shaft.

 

If you change out the shaft lat me know how it works out. I've been thinking about the same kind of thing.

 

Yeah I'm going to have to investigate this a liitle further. The only difference I would assume is at the point where the shift motor attaches. If this is so, then it would be cost effective to just swap to the manual shaft and keep my original t-case. I would buy the manual shifter from ford, I allready have the level II tranny shifter, **** and boot and "man", is that thing sharp. The t-case shifter is chrome also with the fancy ****. If you have ever seen a level II with the manual t-case, it's one sharp looking set up, makes the truck look manly and very sporty.

 

I have the manual setup in my 92, and man I would never want a truck without it. A few buddies of mine have the electical setups and IMO they're just garbage. Half the time they aren't working right or not working at all.... so what's the point. I hope you guys find what you need to make the swap. The Level II setup is definately nice it'll really give you're interior a cool look.

Madmike33

 

Wendell, from looking at the service manual it appears that the manual t-case has a few different parts inside as well. It looks like parts to make the detents for the various shift positions. Should be able to make the electric shift t-case into a manual shift, but I think you'll have to disassemble it to accomplish the task.

 

I have been working on the same problem for a while now. I started with a pto engagement cable and **** off of a big rig and am woking out a linkage system that will shift the t-case in the same manner that the electric motor did. I have been having problems getting the shaft to clock properly. it's more like an interior bracket problem. I'm having trouble getting the cable to stay in the correct spot. Also the electric motor twists the input shaft to engage the various modes in the t-case It's been difficult designing a lever that twists the way the motor does while keeping the input shaft on the t-case sealed. I've gotten that figured out, but it took a lot of machining to get it right. No matter how you look at it there is going to be a lot of machining asnd custom work to get a mechanical engagement system attached to your electric t-case. If you make any progress please let me know. I'm just working on it as a side project, so it has been taking me quite some time. I think it will be worth it in the end to not have to rely on electronics while I am offroad. Who would have guessed that mud, water, and abuse wouldn't mix well with electronics. Todays truck designers have to accomidate all the people who will never go off road, so those precious few who still use truck as they were intended are left out in the cold sometimes. Thankfully we are the ones capable of modifying our trucks to suit our needs.

 

I figured I would have to break the t-case down, just have to decide if this is the route to go, or just replace the case with the manual unit.

 

I have shifted the t-case manually just to see if it works. However the 1997 3.0 manual t-case seems the same as the 1998 +. The 1996 and older seem to be designed a little differently. I'm sure if you had one of these t-cases to study you could make it work. The last time I was under my truck I noticed a slight leak between the two halves of my T-case so I might have some more info on the internals abitity to go to a manual setup soon. I think the manual units had considerably differnt linkages than the electric units. If you get a manual unit that attached to the same engine you have it should not be that big of a deal to swap over. You just need to make sure you are ready to hack up your floor to install the linkage. I don't know there might still be knockout plugs in the floor to accomidate the older style linkage. Good luck no matter what avenue you chose. Please take pics and post your thoughts along the way. There are a few of us out there that would be interested in what you find out.

 

It maybe lees trouble just to get a manual case, notching out alittle bit of floorboard is no big deal. I will post more once I figure out what I'm going to do, I have to research it alittle more.