Primary vehicle down need help with Dakota

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my5thmopar

my5thmopar

Life Long MOPAR Owner
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:prayer: I really need some help. I broke down Monday and had to be towed. I've searched the Dakota forums and can't find the answers. I'm sure there is someone here that knows the answers. Transfer case is cracked/exploded but the trans is ok.

My 2002 Dak has AT and 4.7. I have Thursday/Friday off to get this fixed. This is my primary transportation and I really need to get it back on the road.

Can I swap my AWD T/C for a regular T/C and what parts do I need?

Does the T/C have to be from a donor with a 4.7?

Will the swap stop the front drive shaft spinning? This is the 3rd drive shaft I've broken. Rancho suspension lift and 35 tires with 4.56 gears.

Anything else I need to know or I'll call you and discuss if better for you. Just PM me with a number and when. Thanks Craig
 
my5thmopar said:
:prayer: I really need some help. I broke down Monday and had to be towed. I've searched the Dakota forums and can't find the answers. I'm sure there is someone here that knows the answers. Transfer case is cracked/exploded but the trans is ok.

My 2002 Dak has AT and 4.7. I have Thursday/Friday off to get this fixed. This is my primary transportation and I really need to get it back on the road.

Can I swap my AWD T/C for a regular T/C and what parts do I need?

Does the T/C have to be from a donor with a 4.7?

Will the swap stop the front drive shaft spinning? This is the 3rd drive shaft I've broken. Rancho suspension lift and 35 tires with 4.56 gears.

Anything else I need to know or I'll call you and discuss if better for you. Just PM me with a number and when. Thanks Craig
Click to expand...

Craig it sounds to me like the big problem is the lift kit and huge tires. Any time a truck is lifted you have to be sure and adjust the pinion angle or it'll reek havoc on the driveline. Huge tires that weigh 3 times what a normal tire and rim weigh put a big strain on the driveline also.

So your saying your Dakota is a all wheel drive? I have an 02 and never knew that was an option. If that's what your saying my guess is trying to use a std. case will cause problems with the computer. Wouldn't even have a guess on how to address it. If it were mine I'd stick with a AWD case and fix what's causing the problem because most likely even a std. transfer case won't live since there's probably something else causing the failures
 
What exactly happened, you aren't gonna fix anything until you address the problem causing it.

You said you broke 3, start there, how, what, where, exactly what was happening at the time, exactly what lift, and anything else done.
Is it the front, rear, jointed or rzeppa style shaft ?

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4.7 tranny I know is a beast of its own form. So I'm gonna say yes, it has to be from a 4.7 as for the lift. You need to make sure all your shaft angles are correct before you proceed. You may have the drive shaft at too steep an angle and that's why they keep breaking. It's my understanding that any more than a 2" lift requires a transfer case drop. I would also double check the pinion angle
 
fishy68 said:
Craig it sounds to me like the big problem is the lift kit and huge tires. Any time a truck is lifted you have to be sure and adjust the pinion angle or it'll reek havoc on the driveline. Huge tires that weigh 3 times what a normal tire and rim weigh put a big strain on the driveline also.

So your saying your Dakota is a all wheel drive? I have an 02 and never knew that was an option. If that's what your saying my guess is trying to use a std. case will cause problems with the computer. Wouldn't even have a guess on how to address it. If it were mine I'd stick with a AWD case and fix what's causing the problem because most likely even a std. transfer case won't live since there's probably something else causing the failures
Click to expand...

After a lot of research, hands on measuring and calculating I believe I've resolved the issue. The transfer cases 244 and 233 have different output shaft positions. The Rancho kit stated that it wouldn't work with an AWD case but, I never could get Rancho to tell me why. I actually caused all the issues lifting the truck. I'm not interested in un-doing everything anyway. Now I know why it wouldn't work without modification.

fishy68...The AWD transfer case NP244D was optional and a part time NP/NV 233D was standard. AWD worked wonderfully until I lifted the truck in 2006. The TCCM (trans computer) doesn't care which transfer case it is as they both operate within the same ohm values from the selector.

I hated to give up the AWD but, there isn't anyway to clock the front axle or transfer case unless I make custom brackets etc. A side by side comparison of the 233 and 244 case reveals different companion flange positions. The 233 is clocked a little lower and the companion flange is lower. This makes for a nice angle on the prop shaft. I went to get a new prop shaft, I was offered two and took the one with u-joints. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
my5thmopar said:
After a lot of research, hands on measuring and calculating I believe I've resolved the issue. The transfer cases 244 and 233 have different output shaft positions. The Rancho kit stated that it wouldn't work with an AWD case but, I never could get Rancho to tell me why. I actually caused all the issues lifting the truck. I'm not interested in un-doing everything anyway. Now I know why it wouldn't work without modification.

fishy68...The AWD transfer case NP244D was optional and a part time NP/NV 233D was standard. AWD worked wonderfully until I lifted the truck in 2006. The TCCM (trans computer) doesn't care which transfer case it is as they both operate within the same ohm values from the selector.

I hated to give up the AWD but, there isn't anyway to clock the front axle or transfer case unless I make custom brackets etc. A side by side comparison of the 233 and 244 case reveals different companion flange positions. The 233 is clocked a little lower and the companion flange is lower. This makes for a nice angle on the prop shaft. I went to get a new prop shaft, I was offered two and took the one with u-joints. Thanks for the suggestions.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear you've figured things out, I know I wasn't much help.

Thanks for the lesson on Dakota's. I've had 2, my last 1 being the 02 and I never ran across a AWD.

Good luck
 
MoparDaddy said:
I don't follow? If you don't drop the t case the angle will be steeper than stock
Click to expand...


The angle at the front shaft is already bad to begin with, when you drop the case you are pivoting the motor trans and increasing the already bad angle at the front shaft to make it even worse.

What you should do is leave that alone and have a cv installed or a complete shaft built with a cv.

What is causing the tcase t break, is the shaft bottoming out in it, something is very wrong, t-case don't break like that for no reason.


As for clocking, if you have this angle \ and just move the mounting point of the front shaft lower, you still have this angle \ all you did was move it down, and are still running a increased angle at the front shaft.

.
 
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