T-Case differences

[sirhk100]

2 different vehicles.

1991, 4wd, 4 door, auto trans, push button t-case

vs.

1991, 4wd, 4 door, 5sp manual with manual t-case.


Are the t-cases completely different? Basically if you had the 2nd vehicle and could get the t-case out of the first one as a spare for free is there any point or are they completely different?


I actually own both but the first one is going to be stripped down and raped as a parts vehicle and eventually scrapped. I'm going to be keeping sensors, some driveline stuff, some interior parts and other misc stuff. The t-case is one of the bigger items I'd probably keep as a spare if they were interchangeable but I'm not even sure if they are the same or not.

 

[Anime]

They are pretty much the same thing, just the manual case uses the second shift lever on the floor to engage 4WD and low range, and the push button uses an electric motor, control module, and switch.

They are interchangeable, it's a pretty common thing for those with trail rigs to swap the auto version for a manual. The only thing that prevents swapping the other direction, from manual to automatic, is the lack of wiring for the switch, control module, and motor.

If you go from an automatic to manual transfer case, you may want to swap the auto hubs to manual locking hubs as well.

It's well worth it to pull everything transfer case related from a donor vehicle. Even if you're just going keep the auto case for the case itself, the switch, control module and motor might still be useful to another Explorer owner.

 

[sirhk100]

Awesome! thanks for the info! I actually plan to post up everything that's left of this donor vehicle when I'm done with it to others on the forum. It'll all go for really cheap and I plan to give it about a month or so at that phase before I actually have it hauled away for scrap. I'm just trying to figure out what all will be worth keeping for spares off it before I open it up as a free for all of parts basically. I do plan to keep the manual hubs. Actually both of them have manuals and I plan to keep all 4 so I'll have one spare pair.

 

[4x4junkie]

All the internal parts are the same too, except for the shifter mechanism components obviously, and the front main case half.
So if you ever have a problem with the manual one, chances are quite good you can swap parts from the electric one to 'rebuild' it.