A tale of two cases, or boys watch out for your boxes

[Dr Deuce]

I have had the xfer and pillow block almost fall out due to bolts backing out. They are now held in place with aircraft bolts with wires. I do this on all my cckws and chevs now. When the tires are relatively new, you are driving basically on 10 spur gears that vibrate the hell out of the truck.

[gearhead]

I know at my old machine shop the owner built a transfer case housing out of welded plate steel and machined for the shafts and gears.
You do what you need to do when the parts can be "unobtainium".

Ed S

[motto]

Seems the NOS G506 transfer case I purchased from the late Sid Beck many years ago was a good investment.

David

[Joe Gopan]

You are lucky. Sarafans was the last wholesaler to have any quantity of NOS or Depot Rebuild G-506 crated transfers. and that was around 40 years ago.

[D Foster]

Someone mentioned thread inserts will not work, is there another method to restore threaded holes on the case? Also are new bolts available for some where???

[Joe Gopan]

The case is very weak near the threaded bosses and usually crack at those threads when driven too long with loose bolts.

[motto]

So long as the case is not cracked and it is simply the bolt holes slogged out there is a product on the market known as a Keensert that can be used as a permanent fix. These are a special insert that are threaded inside and out and have drive pins to secure them in place. These are NOT a heli-coil. They use a standard thread on the outside, so you don't need a special tap. The hardest part would be centering the tapping drill.
I have seen Keenserts used in a G506 transfer case that had all eight mounting holes altered to take larger bolts, (5/8" NC IIRC). The choice was whether to enlarge the holes in the cross member or reduce the ones in the t'fer case housing. Up until this time I had never heard of Keenserts but somebody advised us and eight inserts were purchased and installed and that was over twenty years ago. The installation is still sound to this day.

David

[cooler king]

Useing the correct modern, welding rod the holes could probabley be welded full ,re drilled then tap.

[kelley]

Welding up the cracks and blown out holes is do-able. Make sure you use welding rod that is machinable. Some cast iron weld deposits are tough to work with. It's also important to preheat the casting and keep it warmed up, and don't go crazy, weld a little at a time.
I Think Gear head has the best solution, the Chevy transfer case looks pretty simple to build. As a bonus you will get one heck of a forearm work out tapping all those holes.

[Joe Gopan]

A little reminder, inspect your Transfer Mounting Bolts.

[forestry4evr]

A little reminder, inspect your Transfer Mounting Bolts.

In retrospect, it would appear that I may have had too much coffee when I wrote this original post... Still very relevant information though, thanks Joel for bringing this back up to the top.

Paul

[Joe Gopan]

There's a new G-506/G-508 owner every day. The Parts supply is ever shrinking. All MV's have warts, and old G-506/G-508's can grow them. in an expensive way.

[M35a2duece]

Good read guys! I just started digging into mine after wrapping up my brakes, I had my back wheel on a Jack and gave er a spin, the drive shaft spinning the output on the t case cause the rear yolk to flop up and down..... So im very glad to be made aware of this bolt hole issue before I dump a bunch of money into this case. Will definitely check my mounting bolts!

[M35a2duece]

Finally got around to checking mine. Every bolt is there, every safety wire in place.... but I can lift the transfer case up and down 1/4 inch or so. You were right! Thanks for the warning!

[M35a2duece]

So I got 7 out of 8 bolts out, one snapped off..... still haven't fought that drill and tap battle just yet... My question for you guys is when I replace the old bolts that are severely worn, should I use grade 8? Try and drill my own safety wire holes? Looks like the existing bolts were original and they appear to be very soft low grade bolts. Any suggestions?