Several misc. 4x4-related questions

[FORDification]

Thanks Daryl. I've been doing a lot of research on transfer cases last night and today and have actually been kinda disappointed with the lack of good basic 'newbie-tutorial' stuff. However, I believe I've slowly been pieceing the info together. Does the following sound correct?

• - Dana 21 - 1962-1976 F-100 4x4s, married single-speed power divider instead of a two-speed (hi-lo) transfer case. It's a cast-iron gear-driven unit, and all it does is engage and disengage the front driveshaft. There is no neutral, only '2WD' and '4WD'.
  
  - Dana 24 - (up through 1976) - F250-F350s 4x4s up through 1976, 'divorced' 2-speed (hi-lo)
  
  - NP-203 - (1977 thru ?) F100 4x4s - full-time, married
  
  - NP-205 - (1977 thru ?) F250-F350 4x4s, part-time, married

I'm still researching this out and will be trying to put together a good basic tutorial in the near future.

[kentdaryl]

Keith,
I believe the F100 info you have is correct. On the F250 I'm not sure what year the switch was made from the Dana 24 to the new Process, I thought the change was made in '73, maybe someone else can help out with that. The Dana 24 is also a cast iron/all gear unit with hi/lo and neutral. Daryl

[72hiboy4x4]

the Dana 24 is also PTO capable, which seems to be rare if so equipped. I have one on my truck if you want pics.

[averagef250]

The dana 24 was long gone after 72. The 21 was used in f-100 4x4's up to 74 or 75, but in 73 the married NP205 was an option in the F-100 4x4 that many came with. The earliest NP203 ford I've seen was a 1975 F-250 full time 4x4. The NP203 in a highboy is a mess. the rear driveline is a CV unit and everything looks like an afterthought the way it's installed.

Standard operating procedure is to ditch the dana 21 in favor of a mated NP435 and NP205 from a later F-100 or a 78-79 F-250 4x4 or 78-79 bronco.

The dana 23/24 PTO's are very rare and highly prized by early Napco conversion truck owners. There were 2 styles: The early style Dana PTO that was a big cast unit that bolted directly to the case and the later style that used the standard 6 bolt PTO pattern with a thick adapter plate to fit the 23/24 cases. The early style are worth thier weight in gold.

[hutch1973]

I'd guess that the fe block is an earlier version with only two bolt holes on the engine. It won't fit the factory stands without a special offset mount. It looks like you have the standard style motor mount, and he probably moved the stands to the location he needed to match them up. I know 390nut had the issue and had a thread on here about making a plate so the mount would work. I had the same year block as he did but I lucked out and it had a funky offset mount on it to fit the stands in the factory location. Here's a shot of the right mount if you have the older style block.

[72hiboy4x4]

where would you hook the PTO shaft to? the only place i can think of it opposite the front driveshaft on the reverse side. After looking at my dana 24 i can't figure it out.

My PTO hangs off the bottom of the transfer case, and the output shaft runs towards the front of the truck, to power a winch that was on the truck.
Used to work good until I pulled a 35,000 LB loader that was out of fuel off a loading ramp. pulled the winch case in two! and the boss wouldn't even pay for the winch!
I'll try and get more pics of it this weekend.
anyways, averagef250, do you know if I can turn the PTO around so the output faces the rear without rebuilding it or something? It would be easier to continue with my project of I could do that. (more room for accessories to the rear of the truck!)

[averagef250]

I was big into 55-59 Ch*vy Napco trucks when I was a kid and owned a couple 23 cases that had the PTO's on them, but ended up selling them and never really tore into any of them. Many PTO's, especially the earlier ones, are built so that you can run the shaft out either end by disassembling the PTO and putting the guts in backwards. You'll have to open it up and let us know.

I used to have a 1944 20K lb garwood PTO winch mounted in a 3/8 and 1/2 inch plate front bumper on my 70. It was unstoppable, but the bumper and winch weighed 600 pounds and I really didn't use it enough to justify hanging it off my truck.

I don't have a winch on my truck now and I like the stock front bumper I have now so I'm thinking about going with a winch behind the rear bumper as well.

I love the old Warn 8274's and have several of them, but they just won't tuck up under the rear bumper as far as I'd like. I was thinking about welding mounting tabs on the bottom of the winch housing and laying the winch on it's back, but it probably wouldn't oil right and leak all over the place.

A friend is a higher-up at Warn industries and promises me any winch my heart desires if I'll weld all new floor pans in his early Mustang, but I can't seam to get him to bring the car over.

[FORDification]

OK, I worked on researching transfer cases till about 2:30AM this morning, then after I got up I've literally spent the entire day researching online some more, and putting together a basic reference page with transfer case information. I haven't linked to it from anyplace else on the site except this post, since it's still a work-in-progress and I'd like for those of you who know a bit more about this topic to look it over and tell me what you think. Please let me know of any additions and/or corrections that need to be done. However, I am still working on this, and will be posting additional information within the next few days as I get the chance.

Yeah, I was supposed to be in the shop today working on my truck, but decided to spend it putting this page together instead. I can tell you, I did learn quite a bit.

Here you go:

4WD Transfer Case Basics

[averagef250]

Something else I thought might be useful to know-

A big shortcoming of the dana 24 case is it's lack of a strut rod or really any way to easily adapt one to it.

Under heavy loading, such as towing conditions, a divorced transfer case tends to jerk forward and aft and makes for a rough ride and the trucks drivetrain takes a good beating from it.

Many, but not all, 73-77 F-250 4x4's with the NP205 case came with a factory strut rod that consisted of a plate that bolted to the NP205's lowest rear cover, a tube that bolts to one of several adjustment holes in the lower bracket and an angled bracket with rubber shock bushings that's riveted to a frame crossmember.

This strut rod is very easy to adapt to any 67-72 F-250 4x4 after swapping in an NP205 case. The strut rod will have to be shortened several inches due to the difference in wheelbase from 67-72 trucks and 73 and later trucks, but works very well and appears factory.

[spartman]

One other thing for the NP205's

I have one on an 80 Chevy behind a TH350 and the recommended fluid for the 80-87 with an auto and 81-87 with either tranny was ATF.

Most guys will put 80-90 or whatever in it instead but that is the info I have obtained about mine.

[averagef250]

There are a half a dozen different recommended lubricants in different make and era shop manuals for the NP205. The fact is the lighter oil used, the shorter the case lives, but the better the gas mileage. 80-90 is a very safe choice and synthetic gear oil is the best of both worlds with a heftier price tag. The fact is an iron gear drive transfercase is just that- a few gears with ball, and a couple tapered bearings in the 205, that's splash lubed by whatever you put in it. It really isn't too picky.

[Tallboy]

Hey Keith,
On those motor mounts.... are they both the same dimensions?. (length, width height) When I restored my 72 highboy, I noticed that the driver side mount was longer than the passanger side mount. If they used the same mount size on your donner truck they might have lowered the driver side and created the angle on the Z-bar. My Z-bar is level and I guessed right when I put the longer motor mount on the drivers side

[FORDification]

Mine's setup with the longer one on the driver's side...it's how it's supposed to be, to offset the engine more to the passenger side.

Since the frame stands have a lip that sets on top of the frame rail, they can't really be lowered, only forward and back. I was planning on doing some checking, but it's almost like they're just using the wrong block mount for the Z-bar.