Rockwell T221 Transfer Case

[Ed Snyder]

During a recent drive I experienced a transfer case issue with my '62 Suburban. The truck coasted to a stop, and would not go no matter what position the transfer case shifter was in. I had to have it towed home. So I suspect I'm faced with a rebuild. I see a handful of businesses on the internet offering their rebuild services for the T221. I'm not looking forward to the expense of shipping it off to be rebuilt. I haven't checked with any local transmission shops yet.

Advice or recommendations, anyone?

[FetchMeAPepsi]

I looked at rebuilding mine at one point. Back then, it was cheaper to buy the parts off Ebay and replace them. If you drop it and find out what's wrong with it, it looks like all the parts are still available.

[beerman]

I hope to refresh mine soon. Divorced input shafts can be a little pricey but not as bad as the married ones. I have some parts and a few extra rear input bearing caps. LOL Please let me know if I can help.

[BobBray]

If it was a 'married' case I would say the input shaft coupler stripped out, but that's not what you have. Maybe you could take the cover off and see if the shift forks are O.K., maybe it's stuck in neutral. Good news is parts are available on Ebay and places like Torque-King 4X4.

[FetchMeAPepsi]

Hey Ed did you ever figure out what was wrong with your transfer case?

[Ed Snyder]

Originally Posted by FetchMeAPepsi

Hey Ed did you ever figure out what was wrong with your transfer case?

After I crawled under the truck to do some investigating, I discovered that there was nothing wrong with the transfer case, Fetch. The rear driveshaft would turn, but the rear wheels wouldn't move. What happened was the left rear axle had pulled out of the differential a couple of inches. Good thing I had it towed home rather than driving it using the front differential. The wheel with axle attached could have pulled out much farther, causing body damage and who knows what else.

[FetchMeAPepsi]

That's scary. Is there a keeper or clamp inside that's supposed to keep it in place? On the outside there's a snap ring, but that's as far as I've dug into mine.

[James]

I don't know what type of axle you have. But:

If you have a semi-floating rear axle, then you have a clip inside the differential that had somehow came loose. Opening up the rear cover and looking inside the carrier where the spider gears is at, you may find the reason for the failure.

If you have a full floating axle, then the nut came loose inside the hub allowing the axle to decouple.