OT Ford Transfer Case

Son has a Excursion that the transfer case fell off pulling their camper. Guess where

it was towed to. He had shoulder surgery,so guess who gets to fix it. Looks

to me like the bolts worked loose and let it fall down. Hopefully just have to bolt it back up and add fluid. What am I missing? Chris

Who worked on it last? That doesn't just "happen". If it fell out while driving, the cas is likely cracked. Hopefully the driveshafts aren't bent.

At your house? That had to be leaking for a while.

Gives new meaning to "Found On Road Dead" or maybe, "Fell On Road Dead". (;>))

If it happened at any speed everything is bent or broke to ****.

As mentioned this doesn't "just happen" plus I would think there are plenty of indications that an issue has developed - vibrations, leaks, clunking sounds, etc....

I wouldn't TOUCH that thing! If you have a local repair shop with a hoist or lift I'd see if they want a challenge. The kid had to be getting signs of impending failure for hundreds, maybe even thousands of miles. Would have been much easier to fix before it fell off onto the ground too. Is the rest of the vehicle worth spending the money on this repair?

(quoted from post at 11:01:20 09/25/19) I wouldn't TOUCH that thing! If you have a local repair shop with a hoist or lift I'd see if they want a challenge. The kid had to be getting signs of impending failure for hundreds, maybe even thousands of miles. Would have been much easier to fix before it fell off onto the ground too. Is the rest of the vehicle worth spending the money on this repair?

Click to expand...

"see if they want a challenge"

I fail to see what the "challenge" is here?

Verify that the transmission output shaft isn't bent/doesn't wobble, clean things up, replace the transfer case input seal while it's easy to do, put a little silicone sealant on the gasket surface and shove it back up in place (those cases are magnesium, and not REAL heavy).

Only issue of any real $$$ would be if it bent a driveshaft.

(BTW, this isn't the first xfer case that's fallen off!)

ive seen it happen several times. usually the skid plate catches the transfer case so the driver doesnt know why it stopped pulling. the 3 ive seen i just bolted it back up nothing was damaged.

I towed a Ford in that did that hooked it back up all was good...

The last Excursion ever, was built Sept. 30, 2005. So at best this vehicle is 14 years old, and very
possibly older. That's about the time Ford stops supplying repair parts except the common stuff. It MAY
have common parts with the Super-Duty pickups, but maybe not. T-case maybe, drive shaft not a chance!
I have NEVER heard of a T-case falling out of a truck, unless extreme abuse was involved, or a bad
wreck.
If You think it's SO Easy, We have a volunteer to fix the thing, lay on his back in the grass where it
takes 5 minutes to find every piece of hardware you drop. I did that 50 years ago, not doing it today.
The driveshaft should be the easy part if it's damaged. Our local BIG truck repair shop closed up 6-8
years ago, they built driveshafts from scratch. Another place advertises Industrial and construction/ag
equipment. I get the feeling they don't want to mess with cars & trucks.
Looks to me like the hardware holding the T-case to the connector to the trans tailshaft is all bent
and tore up. What do you suppose happened to the shift linkage of the t-case? Sounds to me like another
shop worked on the vehicle, think I'd be paying them a visit. Had a transmission shop I had recommended
to several friends replace the clutch and a synchronizer in my NP-435 transmission in my '78 F-150. The
outer diameter of the Bellville spring of the diaphragm clutch broke while I was sitting at a stop sign,
truck almost crawled across the street in front of lots of traffic, then when I went to go it didn't
begin to engage. Told the shop I wanted either Long style pressure plate or a Borg & Beck. They refused,
I checked several other shops, one could build 900 hp 355 did small block Chevy's but couldn't drill my
trucks flywheel to fit a 1965 vintage Ford clutch. So I had the shop install a diaphragm clutch. Took me
FOUR HOURS to tighten every bolt they touched, 8 bolts to mount the trans/T-case mount, 6 were not even
finger tight. I went down one night week after I got the truck back, raised Kane with the owner. But he
didn't give a dang. Oh, and the $160 they charged for the 3-4 synchro was a scam, doesn't include labor
to install, instead of scratching 3rd it scratched 4th, they just shimmed it or something. Bunch of
crooks!

That's a first for me.

The rest of the story, as told to me. They haven't had it that long, bought it from a Craigslist add over 100 miles away.
Son had driven it a little bit and this was their first time out pulling the camper. They said it started leaking and smoking and had to stop. Tow truck pulled them to the campground and unhooked camper and then hauled it to my place. Transfer case fell off when the wrecker unloaded it here.The shaft in the transmission looks good. The splined end of the drive shaft looks like it's good, but I haven't had time to clean all the dirt off to check it out. I wired up the driveshaft so it wouldn't drag and used ratchet straps to lift transfer case enough to move it. I have a push pole to move dead tractors with, so I hooked the 1850 to the receiver hitch and pushed it into the shed so I can work on it when I get time. I just wondered if anything was missing from the back of the transmission.

There might not be any mechanical shifting ljnkages to get bent up.
Might be all solenoids.

The trans is not missing anything other than some fluid. Normally there are studs/nuts but I suppose you can use bolts ( and loctite) Wiring to the shift motor might be messed up so look at that real well. I suspect someone forgot to tighten the bolts, but a driveline vibration could have rattled things loose.

It had 2 bolts riding in the holes, so I thought it bolted on.
Have to check into studs. Thanks for the help, Chris