NP 208 transfer Pro's and cons

[J20Hunter]

I have a 83 J20 with a 360 auto trans and a NP 208 just wondering good points and bad points

[will e]

Reliable, not too heavy, parts are available, operation is simple.

The gear (2.62 or so if I remember correctly) is not too bad. I would have liked it if mine was a little more aggressive.

You do have to be moving to change it. Mine was out of an 81 and only shifted when the transmission was in N and I was barely moving (with the hubs locked). So I always waited till I found a hill. Stopped. Put the transmission in N and once I started rolling would move the lever. There were a couple of times I did it on the flat and ended up with the case in N and not moving and it sure didn't like it if I tried to move the lever.

Others said theirs are 'shift on the fly'.

But it's a great case.

[fulsizjeep]

Hmmm... I have put some miles on 3 of them and they all shifted on the fly. I think it is a good unit. Since it is locked while in 4hi, it can be a little demanding to drive on snow covered roads. The 219 and 229 work real nice on snow pack.

[Fleg]

Very poor aftermarket. Aluminum cased. chain drive.

[will e]

Hmmm... I have put some miles on 3 of them and they all shifted on the fly. I think it is a good unit. Since it is locked while in 4hi, it can be a little demanding to drive on snow covered roads. The 219 and 229 work real nice on snow pack.

Yeah, everone said they shifted on the fly. Maybe I was just a wimp. I just couldn't pull the lever at 40mph. So you would just go from 2wd high to 4wd high at speed with the transmission in drive? What happened if you pulled it into 4lo by accident?

I had also read that the early years were not synchronized but the info on the 'all knowing' internet isn't clear on if this included Jeeps. But I still liked mine enough that when I picked up the Cherokee with the 219 I swapped in the 208. (Well that and I had a front locker).

[Fleg]

I've only owned two vehicles now that have had a 208 and they were both easy to shift from 2hi to 4hi. Shifting into 4lo from there is gated in a way to make accidental shifting into 4lo very hard. You have to really be trying to even do it. If you did somehow manage to do it I don't think the results would be pretty.

[Tad]

7 years of abuse, 2 rebuilds and it's not dead yet.
I have owned way worse.

[Cecil14]

Hmmm... I have put some miles on 3 of them and they all shifted on the fly. I think it is a good unit. Since it is locked while in 4hi, it can be a little demanding to drive on snow covered roads. The 219 and 229 work real nice on snow pack.

Yeah, everone said they shifted on the fly. Maybe I was just a wimp. I just couldn't pull the lever at 40mph. So you would just go from 2wd high to 4wd high at speed with the transmission in drive? What happened if you pulled it into 4lo by accident?

I had also read that the early years were not synchronized but the info on the 'all knowing' internet isn't clear on if this included Jeeps. But I still liked mine enough that when I picked up the Cherokee with the 219 I swapped in the 208. (Well that and I had a front locker).

Technically the front and rear should be synchronized simply by the speed of the shafts. If both the front and rear wheels have traction when you try to shift it should shift nice and smooth. Heck even my D300 shifts fine up to 55mph or so.


aa

[carnuck]

Very poor aftermarket. Aluminum cased. chain drive.

Front axle is chain driven. Rear is direct drive and low range is in the front of the case. I used all three of the ones I've had for towing and hauling stuff. With my hubs unlocked I have upshifted from low range to high range while driving and pulling a 5 ton trailer onto the hill by my old place. It takes a few times to get it right then it's like synchro shifting.

[Fleg]

Ok? I'm not sure what you're implying. It's still a chain drive transfercase with very poor aftermarket and an aluminum case.

Very poor aftermarket. Aluminum cased. chain drive.

Front axle is chain driven. Rear is direct drive and low range is in the front of the case. I used all three of the ones I've had for towing and hauling stuff. With my hubs unlocked I have upshifted from low range to high range while driving and pulling a 5 ton trailer onto the hill by my old place. It takes a few times to get it right then it's like synchro shifting.

[carnuck]

Unlike other chain drive cases like the QT, only power to the front wheels is transferred through the chain. Some people have been using the low range from them for doublers. Not much aftermarket because there aren't enough of them around and who wants to put 1000 or so HP through an aluminum case? No viscous coupler to go kablooey either. The 2wd low range is a nice "feature". Not implying anything other than Chev, Ford, Dodge and AMC used them with their biggest motors stock. (401 was gone by then)

[Cecil14]

It's an extremely stout case for a stock case. Aluminum is not a problem unless you plan to beat it directly up against rocks or, like carnuck said, run ungodly amounts of power through it. All the new stock cases are aluminum and I can't think of any issues that has ever caused under even reasonably moderate conditions, abuse not withstanding. Not sure what the obsession is that everyone has with iron but it's simply overrated. Iron has it's place, but it's just not necessary in many cases.

The 208 is the direct predecessor of the later 1 ton cases. If you're looking at anything short of an extreme rig you will be very happy with it. I wish I had never gotten rid of mine, I have honestly never found an advantage to the D300 I'm running now. It's louder, harder to shift, provides more driveline drag, and it weighs a ton. It's a good case, but just not necessary for me.

As to aftermarket support...what do you want? As long as standard replacement parts are available what else is necessary? If you want super low range either doubler it or run something else. It's already got a fixed rear yoke so nothing needed there...I'm almost positive different size yokes are available, don't think there's anything special about those in this case. Again I guess I'm missing the purpose?


aa

[Fleg]

I'd love a better planetary gear set without having to double it, twin stick (impossible with a chain drive), a real 2lo for starters.

[Fleg]

Btw, I'm going to guess you guys that don't have a problem with aluminum case don't do much wheeling in the rocks? I've seen a few aluminum cased tcases crack and it had nothing to do with horsepower. They get bound up and something has to give, almost always the case. A iron case won't do that.

[Cecil14]

I'd love a better planetary gear set without having to double it, twin stick (impossible with a chain drive), a real 2lo for starters.

So nothing pertinent to the average-everyday-90%-of-the-market vehicle. lol Exactly what I pointed out. None of those things matter on a regular rig, plenty of other options for that. 2 low, while nice, is unnecessary. Anything lower than 2.72:1 would be useless probably 99% of the time in a standard daily vehicle, as is a twin stick.

I've twin sticked my D300, accomplished nothing but complicating things.

I'm not criticizing any of that stuff, simply pointing out that the market is pretty small as a whole. The people that want those things have pretty specific wants/needs as it is. No way any stock case is going to cover them.

As to the chain vs. gear argument...that's been done. TONS of benefits to chains, if there weren't the OEMs and the rest of the planet would never have made the switch. Cost is only a small one. Gears have their place, it's just not in every rig out there.

And no, I don't wheel in rocks. In fact I don't wheel much at all. And I don't give advice assuming people will, it's utterly stupid to assume someone's going to do anything without them saying otherwise. I give advice based on a stock, daily driven rig as they were originally intended unless otherwise noted. As the OP made no mention of dragging the case through a rock pit I see no purpose to give advice based on it.

Rock crawling is a SUPER small fraction of overall use of automobile, even trucks specifically, uses. No sense giving advice solely based on that.


aa

[Fleg]

The O.P. want good and bad points of the tcase in general. Not if I only do this or that or the other.

Here are MY bad points of the 208, horrible aftermarket, aluminum cased, chain drive.

happy?

[Cecil14]

I suppose the aftermarket could POSSIBLY be construed as a bad point, though *I* don't see it as such. The other two are completely conjecture and opinion. Nothing based on fact; being aluminum or chain drive does not in any way make the case bad. It makes it bad in YOUR world, not in general. So no, I would certainly not be happy with those *opinions*.


aa

[J20Hunter]

Thanks guys for all the input Good and bad

[fulsizjeep]

Naw, I never got on the rocks with the ones I drove... Never broke one either.

I broke a 229 but they do that. So I mean NEVER ON THE ROCKS and I can't say anymore good things about the Jeep 208 tcase.

[fulsizjeep]

I almost got on some rock once though.