NP 208 transfer case brace

[POOR WHITE BOY]

I have a 1989 v3500 4x4 crewcab dualley 454 auto loaded
a 1988 v3500 4x4 crew cab ex air force truck was 6.2 now 454
a 1981 k3500 gmc 4x4 regular cab sled puller in photo
a 1986 k30 4x4 regular cab silverado 454
a 1973 k20 4x4 super cheyenne 502 fuel injected
a 1984 m1028
a 1985 m1008
a 1995 f350 regular cab 4x4 gas
a 1996 f350 regular cab 4x4 diesel
a 1997 f350 regular cab 4x4 diesel
a 1990 f350 regular cab 4x4 gas
a 1991 f350 regualr cab 4x4 - chevy powered sled pulling truck
a 1973 f700 4x4 cab chassis
a 1957 4x4 coleman airplane tug also has 4 wheel steer
a 2004 gmc 2500hd 4x4 gas
a 2005 3500 4x4 ext cab gas
a 2006 2500hd 4x4 gas
and a couple of parts trucks

 

[84cucv1ton]

wow thought i had a lot.. im picking up a 89 crew cab 4x4 dually in a few days

 

[OLDCHEV4X4]

I have a 1989 v3500 4x4 crewcab dualley 454 auto loaded
a 1988 v3500 4x4 crew cab ex air force truck was 6.2 now 454
a 1981 k3500 gmc 4x4 regular cab sled puller in photo
a 1986 k30 4x4 regular cab silverado 454
a 1973 k20 4x4 super cheyenne 502 fuel injected
a 1984 m1028
a 1985 m1008
a 1995 f350 regular cab 4x4 gas
a 1996 f350 regular cab 4x4 diesel
a 1997 f350 regular cab 4x4 diesel
a 1990 f350 regular cab 4x4 gas
a 1991 f350 regualr cab 4x4 - chevy powered sled pulling truck
a 1973 f700 4x4 cab chassis
a 1957 4x4 coleman airplane tug also has 4 wheel steer
a 2004 gmc 2500hd 4x4 gas
a 2005 3500 4x4 ext cab gas
a 2006 2500hd 4x4 gas
and a couple of parts trucks

All those trucks and not 1 67-72 Chevy in the bunch.

 

[Cucvnut]

PWB i did not say you said that. i said a k30 i know k20's and k10's had TH350's in them

 

[cucvrus]

I resurrected this thread because a few people more then 2 have sent me messages about these braces. Does anyone have any pro's and con's on these bracket? And if they are so HD and helpful. How have all the CUCV's been built with out them? Just a question for myself and to help others. I have a few sets but they are from gasoline engine vehicles. Thinking of adding the transfer case brace onto Terminus M1009. I think that is a 3/8" stud bolt. The bolt only will tweak the brace to hard. Anyone know the thread size in the right side of the transfer case? This is an open discussion. Nothing to debate and argue about. Please?

 

[cucvrus]

I was out and looked in my field at lunch time. I have a 1990 K5 with a 350 700R complete. It has the torque rod from engine to transfer case. I have the bolts and will know the bolt size. It has a 350 engine with the braces on the flywheel cover. I will check it out and report back on my findings. Pictures will be posted. Thank you for the challenge. I enjoy it. GM is calling it a toque rod. It seems to be a bolt only. I remember some having a stud bolt. Book shows bolt only as field unit is. More later. Not a TM but a 1984 GM service manual.

 

[Hasdrubal]

I recall the story told to me was that the military didn't install the braces so they could save $14.58 per unit. I sourced mine from a wrecker on day one because I was told without it I could snap the back of the transfer case/transmission off. Took a bolt out of a guys CUCV and went to Fastenal to buy a set, they are huge. Initially they didn't want to thread in by hand, so I borrowed a tap from a heavy duty mechanic and chased the threads. Installed with neverseize. All good until I was getting my transfer case resealed as it was leaking all over, found out later that they let a young newb button it up and he stripped one of the bolts. I noticed it was sticking out 1/8 " when I got home and did an inspection. Also broke off the 90 degree end of the torque bar that attaches to engine. This is only the second time that the rod had been removed, in 2008 they rebuilt the transmission. Took it back and got a senior mechanic to install a heli-coil, as well as weld the rod end back on.

Disclaimer ; the only torque rod I could find back in 2004 had already had the 90 end broken and welded. This stayed intact until the above mentioned inexperienced mechanic issue in 2012. They argued that it had already been welded and thats why it broke. I replied if you want to charge me for it, I'll pay for it, I just want it fixed. My thinking on why it broke was the engine end of rod must be tightened first before you tighten the 2 transfer case bolts. Otherwise its under an extreme amount of bending stress. You certainly start the 2 bolts in first (by hand...I might add and not with an impact gun. You are threading a steel bolt into an aluminum thread.) so that the bar is positioned and you can put the engine end bolt in.

 

[cucvrus]

That part of the torque rod seems easy. I was wondering about the rods from the bottom flywheel cover. It would be easy to install the long rod. I figured on tapping the holes. Thank you for the advise. I am working on a skid plate/cross member for terminus m1009 and wanted to add the torque rod. I think I may have 3 of them laying around. I will be in search of them.

 

[scottladdy]

Pics please

 

[cucvrus]

Please remain calm. I am still working.

 

[cucvrus]

A lot of pictures of torque rods. The rod that runs from the engine/bell housing to the transfer case will fit. It is attached to the transfer case with metric bolts. M16 x 2.0 attach the slotted rod to the transfer case. These rods are on a 1990 K5 Blazer. Note the special plates on the motor mount brackets to attach the rods to the flywheel cover.

 

[cucvrus]

ore More pictures of the torque rods. The plates to mount the rods from the flywheel cover appear to be between the engine bracket and the block. A chore to change but can be done. I may be adding them to Terminus M1009. This 1990 K 5 Blazer has a 700 R transmission with a Jasper sticker on it. I will have to post it on Facebook.

 

[Barrman]

I added the long torque rod to the Cowdog truck. None of my CUCV trucks have it, but the 6.2, TH400, NP208 originally Cowdog did. I figured it couldn't hurt. I had to lengthen it 1.5 inches because the 4L80e is that much longer.

 

[The FLU farm]

oreView attachment 684760ore pictures of the torque rods.

I've seen lots of these rods, but after looking at your photos it feels like I must be missing something here. Unless the front drive shaft's slip yoke is not lubed properly, or bottoms out, what good can those side mounted rods do?

 

[rustystud]

Due to the excessive weight of the cast iron NP205 transfer-case GM installed those brace rods. Later when they went to the lighter aluminum 208 transfer-case they felt they didn't need them anymore, though they still had the two bolt holes drilled and tapped out. The two front braces are to keep the transmission housing from breaking when your in a severe bending twisting situation. If you look at the transmission from the side you will see only half is supported by bolts. The whole lower half is unsupported. On all the new transmissions you will see the whole housing (complete circle) is being bolted together.
For anyone who plans on getting crazy in the woods I would install both sets of rods. I've rebuilt plenty of transmissions that where damaged due to the twisting done to them from four wheeling.

 

[scottladdy]

Now, where to find them and the plates that mount under the engine mounts?

 

[cucvrus]

The plates look fairly easy to duplicate. I may attempt to remove these from this 1990 K 5. The fly wheel cover looks smaller on the 350 gas engine. I think that will effect the fit and function of the rods on the 6.2 Diesel. The plates appear to be bolted right next to the engine block(sandwiched) behind the motor mount pocket. I have several transfer case torque rods and they are a direct fit. I was a bit surprised to see the Metric bolts in the transfer case end of the rod. I had assumed they were 5/8" X 11 bolts. being 15/16" /24 mm was the hex head size. No problem. M16 bolts are readily available. The parts themselves would not be expensive to buy. It is the labor to remove them that kills the deal. I sold 2 350 engines in the past several months that had the block plates on them. Well I didn't know or think about it at the time. That task will come later. Unless someone starts waving money at me. I have a full plate at the moment. Have a great day.

 

[The FLU farm]

Due to the excessive weight of the cast iron NP205 transfer-case GM installed those brace rods. Later when they went to the lighter aluminum 208 transfer-case they felt they didn't need them anymore, though they still had the two bolt holes drilled and tapped out.

Sorry, but I still don't get it. That brace is very strong when it comes to keeping the right side of the transfer case from moving rearwards, being a rod under tension.
But the way I see it, the brace has marginal value in compression, and negligable strength if used to help keep the weight of the transfer case up.
I need to take a creeper tour and look at the mounting points again, maybe it will make sense to me then.

 

[cucvrus]

I don't know. I am not an engineer. It does appear that it would add strength to the assembly. I think it will make a great addition to an off road vehicle. I am going to add the steel strut rod to mine along with a few other items to beef up the cross member and rock ability of my M1009.

 

[Skinny]

Neither my M1010 setup with a 208 or M1031 with a 205 have a torque rod. No one on Pirate runs them even with doublers. No other truck I can think of with a circular tcase pattern like Dodge or Jeep use them commonly. They can't be all that they are cracked up to be. See what I did there...