NP201 v. NP205

[marklein]

Timken 3780 on the bearing.

[Wildergarten]

Timken 3780 on the bearing.

To quote Curly Howard, that imortal sage and indomitable stooge, "Poifec!!!"

[swptln]

I've never had my 68 201 apart yet, as to see if it has the 2-piece gear. I have heard the same thing as Terry is saying and I'll find out when I tear into mine. I also used 2-wheel low a lot in mine, it is very handy to have that extra creeper gearing. Personally, I wouldn't be concerned with the spline difference, Seeing some of the stuff guys do with those older NP200's in the old Flat Fender PW's, I'd say there pretty bullet-proof and wouldn't be too concerned with the strength of a course spline. JMO

[Wildergarten]

I also used 2-wheel low a lot in mine, it is very handy to have that extra creeper gearing.

Yep, did that a lot with my 205 and the hubs unlocked.

Seeing some of the stuff guys do with those older NP200's in the old Flat Fender PW's, I'd say there pretty bullet-proof and wouldn't be too concerned with the strength of a course spline. JMO

Good to hear, thanks.

[swptln]

I also used 2-wheel low a lot in mine, it is very handy to have that extra creeper gearing.

Yep, did that a lot with my 205 and the hubs unlocked.

Seeing some of the stuff guys do with those older NP200's in the old Flat Fender PW's, I'd say there pretty bullet-proof and wouldn't be too concerned with the strength of a course spline. JMO

Good to hear, thanks.

Those guys are not easy on their trucks and love playing hard with their trucks. It always amazes me seeing some of the stuff they do on trail rides at the rallies and they hold up well without any major failures.

[marklein]

My opinion is this, I doubt if breaking a shaft in the tcase will be an issue, much more likely to have a ujoint go south long before a shaft in the tcase breaks. I said it is very similar to the 205, I think that in some ways may be stronger than a 205, it uses more tapered roller bearings than a 205, and I've always thought a tapered roller was much stronger than a regular roller bearing. Being very close in design to the 205, the last 205's were behind 5.9 Cummins engines, and I've not seen one of those broken, worn out yes, but not broken. Don't worry about it, run it.

[Wildergarten]

Don't worry about it, run it.

That's what I've chosen to do, with a twist: I obtained the 1410 yokes for the t-case and front diff with their indestructable u-joints, but left the old large cast yoke on the rear differential, functionally as a shear pin. That way, I have two spare yokes from the t-case to use in case the u-rear u-joint breaks (it's cast, not forged). The straps for those large cast u-joint yokes are virtually unobtainable by the way.

[marklein]

Good plan, rear joint breakage usually causes little damage.

[Wildergarten]

Good plan, rear joint breakage usually causes little damage.

Unless one is backing up at the time. That was the reason for the choice.

With all the money I have in that 10-spline rear axle, having plans to run it with heavy loads in 2WD-Lo, and with Dodge putting that caution in the Factory Manual explaining why they had locked out 2WD-Lo with the two-stick linkage, I thought it only rational to put a safety in the system. If it breaks, I can get home with front wheel drive and plunk in one of the spare yokes. I can always upgrade the rear driveshaft and replace the cast yoke with a 1410, so I plan to buy a spare 1410 ten-spline yoke in case they're not available ten years from now. The 1410 driveshaft tube yoke will surely be available.

[Wildergarten]

I've always thought a tapered roller was much stronger than a regular roller bearing.

Those bearing numbers were good. I take it if I reweld the shaft and wreck the bearing, when I replace it, I'd prefer to leave the race alone as long as it appears to be in good shape. I'm not crazy about trying to get one out of that housing, might crack it. I take it I can replace the seals without removing the bearings and races in the housing? I was planning on the old block of wood and hammer routine.

[Wildergarten]

Good plan, rear joint breakage usually causes little damage.

Should have kept my questions re the t-case on this thread.

With regard to a reseal, given that I have the Braden PTO on this thing, should I dowel it before taking it off so that it goes back on the same way? I've never run it, so I don't know how good the setup is on that.

[marklein]

PTO's generally are on studs that fit tight. More concern is the backlash that the gears have. I have not dealt with the style on a 201, but have seen lots of the 6 bolt ones. You can get varying thicknesses of gaskets to adjust the backlash. I'm not sure if those gaskets are available in this instance.

[Wildergarten]

PTO's generally are on studs that fit tight. More concern is the backlash that the gears have. I have not dealt with the style on a 201, but have seen lots of the 6 bolt ones. You can get varying thicknesses of gaskets to adjust the backlash. I'm not sure if those gaskets are available in this instance.

I have one set of paper dolls. They are pretty thin. A template would be easy.

How do you measure the backlash? I've seen lots of references to numbers, but I haven't found a photo of the setup.

[marklein]

On standards, it can be measured before the tower is installed. In this case, I think you'll have to guess, bolt it on, then turn the shaft of the pto, see how much play there is. Possibly there is someone who can enlighten us on how to measure this backlash?

[Wildergarten]

On standards, it can be measured before the tower is installed. In this case,

? I have no idea what you mean by this.

[marklein]

They use the same sort of pto drive on the side of standard transmissions, they can be adjusted before the tower is installed on the trans.

[Wildergarten]

They use the same sort of pto drive on the side of standard transmissions, they can be adjusted before the tower is installed on the trans.

I thought it might be that. Can't do that on the t-case. I'm guessing I shoudl try to measure it before I pull it apart so that I can replicate it in reassembly. Thanks.

[Wildergarten]

[The gear] has openings that can be welded. I ground it down just to smooth it off. Once welded there are no areas that can hold contaminants. Here's what it looks like.

What preheat temperature do you recommend for the gear welding?

[marklein]

I talked with a couple of welders, I was just told to weld it. Once the weld is there, I'm not sure that it will ever cause a problem, I guess I'll find out.

[Stubs68]

Wow, great research and information on the NP201 and NP205. My 68 W100 had a NP205 when I bought it. I think Dodge converted all W100's to the NP205 in 1969? This through me for a while until I got under the truck and started digging around. Upon closer inspection I could see one of the the old twin shift NP201 handles that had been snapped off still on the case lever. So the truck originally had a NP201 but was replaced by the NP205. As the braden winch was long gone and I actually like the NP205 for what I will be doing I decided to keep it.

Now the fun part. I really do like the look of the twin stick transfer case that my truck had originally so I decided to get a split rail kit and add the twin sticks back on. So it kinda looks like a NP201 but is really a split stick NP205. Works well and I retained the twin stick look.