A couple of weeks ago, we noticed that our big white Rubicon JK was starting to drip a little ATF and figured, no big deal. More than likely, we figured that we had an output seal going bad which is pretty common over time especially when you have driveline vibration issues. And, while we weren't really having any issues at the time, we have had our fair share of vibration issues over the years due to rock damage or shafts that lost weights and had gotten out of balance.

Anyway, being that our JK was up on a rack over at Off Road Evolution (getting our new Dynatrac Pro Rock 60 on Monday) and knowing that was going to be in today (they are installing their kick ass new long arm system), I asked if it would be okay if we came in and work on our transfer case. If you haven't worked on a transfer case before, trust me, it is so much easier to do while your Jeep is up in the air. Long story short, after we pulled off the t-case skid and cleaned things up, this is what we found.....



You got it, we found a nice big crack running along the bottom of the front half of the transfer case housing and up the side toward the shift lever.

As much as this really sucks, I will have to say that we do consider ourselves fortunate especially being that we had just found and purchased a transfer case that came off of a brand new Rubicon that is getting built up. We had intended to install it on our lil' Sunburst Orange JK X but, I think our big white Moby Dick is gonna need the transplant first. Another reason we feel fortunate is that if we had just left well enough alone, we could have easily blown up our entire transfer case on the road much like Trail Bud did back in December 2008. If that had happend on our way up to the Rubicon, we would have been up a creek and without a paddle.

Needless to say, if you've got driveline vibrations, please keep an eye out for any leaks. And, if you do find one, be sure to give your transfer case a hard look and as quickly as possible. So long as you can catch it quickly enough, you can replace damaged housing covers for cheap. If you wait until it blows up, you can be in for a big costly fix.

 

Holy crap, that sucks. How did that happen?

 

That really sucks, but at least you have the good fortune to have a new t-case in stock and ready for install.

 

don't know for sure but more than likely, the crack was caused by driveline vibration.

well, it wasn't free or cheap but yes, we do have a replacement and i do intend to rebuild this one for our lil' nemo

 

LOL!! that would have been nice but it's all good. the crack was definitely caused by us playing hard and we accept the responsibility for any carnage we incur - reluctantly of course but, none the less.

 

I'm sorry to here about the cracked case. I know that your rebuilding your case, but is there an Atlas 4-sp in your future?

 

dang eddie,sorry to hear that.
get well soon moby

 

Can't belive that that crack only leaked "a little". Saves you big bucks having the knowledge and tools to do it yourself.

 

That sucks, but as you said the timing could have been worse. At lest you have a donor on hand for it though.

 

Wow, that sucks, but you guys really use your Jeep for what it's for so I guess thats inevitable. Did you guys consider an Atlas transfer case? Just curious.