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Transfer case broke? Something snapped, need help!

chad

Well-Known Member
Messages
545
Location
florida
Hey guys, been a while since Ive been on here from working to much and haven't taken the truck out in a while, so today I took it on some trails. Well one trail had a downed tree, not to big at all, and I have been over way worse, but today the sand dug out to quick and no good traction, the tires where spinning and then there was a snap, not sure what broke, I was in 4 lo, but when I took it out of 4 lo and into the regular all wheel drive the truck wouldn't stay in park nor would it engage into gear, just a bad sound of something spinning. Went to a flat level ground and was looking at it, when in 4 high, and 4 lo everything seem perfectly fine, but in all wheel drive, the front drive shaft will spin, but behind the transfer case nothing is spinning. Any body dealt with this before? Any idea what kind of mess am I in?
 

Kyle

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,707
Location
Santa Clarita, CA
My best guess would be the output shaft for the rear driveshaft on the transfer case. Someone with more knowledge than me will chime in soon


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chad

Well-Known Member
Messages
545
Location
florida
Is this something that can be fixed at home with a repair kit? does anyone have a thread on here about it?
 

Bigunit

Hammer Down!
Staff member
Messages
6,561
Location
Arizona
Not sure, but forum member Reloader in Phoenix can repair either the H3 front diff, drivelines and/or the transfer case. He is an H3 wizard/mechanic and does some incredible work!
 

4speedfunk

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,250
Location
Tardville
No question. You popped the front differential. That's not a t-case problem.

Most likely there are broken teeth on the ring & pinion, or a snapped stub shaft on the drivers side. You can limp it home in 4Hi-lock but, a front axle rebuild is inevitable. I have a couple spares assemblies sitting around, if interested. Also due to the small size, the AAM-7.6 is fairly easy to pull, drain, and ship (I can rebuild yours and send it back). I also have some spare stub shafts and other small parts if needed.
 
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Reloader

Well-Known Member
Messages
413
Location
Montana a free state
Yea I'd say front diff or cv axle too. Look at inner and outer boots on front cv axles. If one is all twisted out of shape or ripped open you probably broke a joint. Usually shaft will be flopping around a bit if it broke. Jack up each front wheel one at a time while in park and try to spin wheel. If wheel turns and cv axle doesn't then outer joint is gone. If shaft turns but inner joint don't then inner joint bad. Also possible intermediate shaft in front housing can snap in two. Next and most $$$ is front diff. And when those go it can tweak the housing on the aluminum cased ones depending on what gets run through the gears.
Easy fix if cv bad but diff is a bit more to it. You can still drive it but pull front prop shaft and cv axles out. The front wheel bearing assemblies on these 3s are rolled over on the inside so they won't fall apart with out stub shafts installed to hold them together but I would still put long bolts through with nuts to be safe. Then run in hi loc.
Hope it's just a cv axle.
just received sets of gears and install kits for my Alpha to regear. Got Yukon gears for like $250 a set and US Alloy kits with Koyo barrens for around $90 ish off Amazon.
 

08H3

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,370
Location
United States
If it is the front diff and you plan to rebuild it, get the cast iron case. Personally, I would never trust a rebuilt aluminum after catastrophic failure.
 

4speedfunk

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,250
Location
Tardville
It doesn't matter if you pull the front driveshaft. The diff will spin regardless, so it doesn't really help you much in terms of trying reduce the carnage. Fingers crossed...hoping for a cheap fix.


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