New LT-230 in 87 Rangie, BINDING... HELP!!!

[h2eater]

Hey guys/gals,

Per my last post I was able to retrofit the newer LT-230 to work in the 87 Rangie.

- I removed the solenoid plunger thing and refit the assembly
- Pulled the speed sensor and filled it with a bolt and silicon
- Pulled the neutral sensor and filled it with a bolt and silicon
- I also had to remove one complete side of the housing, not sure if it was the front or rear output and swap it with that of the older LT-230 because it didn't have the holes for one of the mounting brackets.

Any how, the truck has been put back together and now it seems to be BINDING even with the LT and ZF both in neutral. [If I drop the drive shafts the truck will roll just fine.] I am wondering if pulling the entire output side from the older one and installing it in the new one created the problem??? They both looked the same and there seemed to be no damage to the older one. I am at a loss here...

We are trying to leave for a 6,000 mile expedition to Belize next Friday. Any help or input would be greatly apreciated!

Thanks for the space!

Jason Michaels - jason@get-rhino.com

[Roadsiderob]

Jason,
When you bolted the transmission and t-box together, did you put all the bolts back in the proper holes? There are 3 different length bolts, and if you put too long a bolt in the holes by the front output housing, the bolt will screw into the gear teeth on the intermediate gear and bind the whole thing up. On an older box this will result in tearing the bolt up when the gear turns, on the new box with the fine cut teeth, it will usually result in breaking the gear teeth. I'd pull the two forward mounting bolts out and pull the bottom cover and inspect the gear teeth for damage.
Cheers, Rob Dassler

[h2eater]

Rob do you happen to know what the lenghts would be?

[evilfij]

Yes you have the mounting bolts wrong. If it is still bound it is probably ok. I assume that you used short enough bolts to replace the sensors? (I use GEMS RR 4.0 drain plugs with the correct copper washer)

[h2eater]

Which mounting bolts are we talking about here? The ones that hold the front output asembly on the LT or the mounting bolts that hold the LT to the ZF?

[pendy]

LT to the ZF.

[h2eater]

Well, I figured out the problem... The front diff was bound and it busted the front short shaft...

Anyone have a front pass. side axel?