Divorced 203/205 in '68 4BT Highboy Crewcab

eggman918

Adventurer
When i did the Cummins swap in my Highboy I did my best to optimize my gearing for highway mileage 33" tires 3.55 gears it worked well and I average 20mpg double what i got with the 390,but it left me with trail gearing that was far from ideal. Initially I was running the M5odr2 with a ~4-1 first gear and a reverse that's worse so a low range lower than 1.96-1 was needed,the '68's frame is too narrow for the chain drive T cases that have lower ratios and I wanted to keep the 205 in the factory configuration so my choices were limmited.
The tech folks at ORD were the only ones that were willing to spend the time with me to decide what was needed to do a divorced doubler,and the final solution was quite simple.
My 205 case was from a '76 F-250 and the face of the case where the input goes had been machined at the factory so all I needed to do was bore the case for the big bearing and drill and tap case for the big bearing's retainer any good machine shop should be able to do it in 2 hours labor if they want more they don't want your work.
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the internal core for the T case is the same for both the married and divorced castings,you can see the boss's cast in for the taped holes for the larger bearing retainer as well as the extra thickness for the big bearing.

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I picked up a married input shaft/retainer for ~$50.00
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Here it is set up on my little mill for the boring opp.

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Here the big bearing is in and case is drilled and taped for the retainer
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Next is the 203 range box and ORD adapter.
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203 and adapter bolted up.
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203 205 bolted up.
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My shifter solution.
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in truck with intermediate shaft in.
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Shift linkages
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I went with 1350 U joints for the intermediate shaft and rear shaft,the front was new just before the swap so its still factory but I plan D60 front upgrade as soon as i can find one that isn't $1500.00 + and will go to 1350's for the front then.
I have 25,000 miles on swap so far but I killed the M5odr2 towing too much in OD and have since installed a ZF s5 42 it was ~ 6" shorter than the M5 but the M5 had a slip yoke and the ZF has a fixed yoke so I ended up with the intermediate shaft being 11.375" from the center line of the caps in the running position.
the 203 shifts very smoothly and is used all the time even with the ZF's lower 1st and reverse when backing and in parking lots and on trails double under is great on rougher trails when we have our camp trailer hooked up my clutch should last for ever.
My only complaint is that I wish at the time I was looking for a doubler there was a planetary unit for the divorced configuration but all in all I am happy,but I have since found a planetary box and an tinkering with it and may eventually build one..........

Link to all pics of this project http://s1042.photobucket.com/user/eggman918/library/Divorced np 203 205 doubler?sort=2&page=1
 
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Rot Box

Explorer
So cool!! Out of curiosity do you get rollover/gear noise with the ZF/Cummins combo? Is your flywheel dual mass or single? My ZF has been noisy ever since I converted to the single mass flywheel.
 

eggman918

Adventurer
Thanks<
Flywheel is single mass the ZF is a SBF ZF. It's a bit noisy between 1300/1500 rpm and I have noticed that in direct I can "feel" the 4 cylinders power pulse.......but all in all I am happy with the ZF.
 

underdrive

jackwagon
the 203 shifts very smoothly and is used all the time even with the ZF's lower 1st and reverse when backing and in parking lots and on trails double under is great on rougher trails when we have our camp trailer hooked up my clutch should last for ever.
My only complaint is that I wish at the time I was looking for a doubler there was a planetary unit for the divorced configuration but all in all I am happy,but I have since found a planetary box and an tinkering with it and may eventually build one..........
Very nicely done! Yes even the wide-ratio ZF's reverse leaves something to be desired, it's an improvement over what the Mazda and the close-ratio diesel ZFs have, but still... IMHO the 8.25:1 reverse of the NP435 is perfect with 3.55 gears and 32"-33" tires, it is low enough to get the job done well but not too low to where you and everyone around are collectively running out of patience while the truck is creeping at 1mph. We're currently running a 7.3-460 hybrid ZF (diesel case with BB gears, has the same ratios as your SBF ZF) in front of a chain-drive BW1356 t-case, and we often find that its reverse is still a bit too high, however the ~2.7 low range makes it way too slow for normal day to day backing up needs. A t-case with 2:1 ratio like yours would be better in that regard, and we do have a NP205 stashed under a work bench, however we also like the ~2.7 ratio for trail crawling... The ideal solution would be a planetary box in front of the 205, and I see you mentioned you found one that could work in such a setup - what is it, if you don't mind me asking?
 

mtnbiker4evr13

New member
This is some awesome tech, you always hear people wanting to do a divorced doubler but no one posts pictures. Saved for future needs but I am curious about the planetary range box you are playing with.
 

eggman918

Adventurer
The planetary box I've got is from a BW1356,making a case for it to mount to the 205 is straight forward enough the hard/expensive part will be a shaft to mate the two.
I'm sure I can find something that can be machined and re-splined to do the job,the divorced input shouldn't be too difficult.
This is my winter project after i finish the Wife's TDI '67 Wagoneer.......so actual work on it will be next winter,that should give me plenty of tine to fill in the blanks on the details.
 

underdrive

jackwagon
I just looked at our pile of 1356 parts cause I remember someone on Pirate figured out he could use the front output shaft as a floating mid shaft between the two cases, and for the life of me I can't figure out how he was planning on doing so.

By the way NWF now carries planetary boxes for just what you're planning on doing, for a price of course:
http://www.northwestfab.com/NWF-Eco-Box-Billet-Planetary-Doubler-Case_p_2403.html

And of course they do not appear to be Ford-compatible unless you order one with the extra machining on the input shaft side... And the 1356 planetary gearsets we and you have won't work for it, need NP stuff.
 

eggman918

Adventurer
I just looked at our pile of 1356 parts cause I remember someone on Pirate figured out he could use the front output shaft as a floating mid shaft between the two cases, and for the life of me I can't figure out how he was planning on doing so.

By the way NWF now carries planetary boxes for just what you're planning on doing, for a price of course:
http://www.northwestfab.com/NWF-Eco-Box-Billet-Planetary-Doubler-Case_p_2403.html

And of course they do not appear to be Ford-compatible unless you order one with the extra machining on the input shaft side... And the 1356 planetary gearsets we and you have won't work for it, need NP stuff.

Nothing worthwhile is ever easy or cheap.................wheres the fun in that.
 

mtnbiker4evr13

New member
When the Strong Box was released Behemoth Drivetrain said a divorced version would "be available soon" last year but they probably said that to all the customers that have yet to get parts too... I wonder if the ORD Magnum box could be setup divorced since they know and are willing to help people with these? Also i have seen some of the NV273 setup divorced with off the shelf parts for the 4x4 kodiak so maybe a 273/205 setup would be another option.
 
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eggman918

Adventurer
Behemoth was where i got the idea......figured if that "hillbilly" could do it this 'hillbilly" could do it as well.
The people at ORD were great when I was dealing with them as there is not a huge demand for divorced setups so they just might be willing to help.
thanks for the heads up on the nv273, this is a back burner project but it will be a fun project I am sure there is a way to do this........anything is possible.
It's like Howard Hughes said "all it takes to fly is money and airspeed"...........the rest is easy.
 

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