Had to put the Jeep project on the back burner for a while.... to many other projects, work, etc..
Anyway, had everything ready this morning and ripped into the transfer case.
Its actually quite an easy job.
Remove both drive shafts.
Drop the Tcase fluid.
Support Transmission with a jack.
Remove cross member and all associated supports so that you can lower the transmission and Tcase.
Unplug a few cables and breathers.
Disconnect a single gear selector rod.
Lower Tcase down as far as it will go.
Undo the 6 14mm bolts that connect the Tcase to the transmission. For this, i found a stumpy 14mm ratchet spanner almost invaluable.
Your now ready to lower the Tcase onto your stomach and shimmy out from under your truck. The Tcase is a 1 man job. Not to heavy, but not light either.
I pressure washed it and put it on a bench in my shed. Theres a 28mm nut to undo which removes the front yoke. I then followed a few YouTube video's which i have linked to on this post. Its really easy and straight forward. You do need some good snap ring pliers and there is one 12 point bolt you need to remove.
From start to how it is in the pics only took a few hours..
Here is the case showing the shafts removed and just the selectors and planetary gears left....
Before you start the job, make sure you have the correct rebuild kit and chain. Also, make sure you have all the tools ready for the job. 14mm stumpy ratchet spanner, 12 point sockets, snap ring pliers, black rtv etc.
I just wanted to get to this stage before i had to head back off to work. I will finish it off when i get back. I did some inspecting and the front shaft bearing where the yolk goes is really noisy. Like it grinds. I suspected a lot of my noise has been coming from that one.
My chain did not seem too stretched. It probably hangs about 5mm lower.
I have a full rebuild kit anyway, so will replace all seals, bearings and chain before i put it back. Also, the big magnet that's in there was full of metal filings. That's probably normal for a Tcase that's done 325,000 ks.
Cheers,