Rockwell t221 rebuild??

[Tito19]

Just dropped the transfer case and wanted to know what I should look at rplacing. With parts being rare I know it might not be much but maybe you guys know of a few parts that are still available. I'm going to do both output and input seals. Thanks.

[j.kirn]

replace the bearings

[Tito19]

Do you know a good source for them?

[j.kirn]

you don't always have to go by application to find a bearing just a guy behind the prts dept to size up what you need. other parts for your t-case can be made such as gears if needed, but will cost. others throw these t-cases away because they say they cannot find parts or they are noisy

[j.kirn]

same thing with the closed knuckle axle people throw them away because they say parts cant be found or they don't have a tight turning radius, lol

[j.kirn]

or better yet they have drum brakes on them and they don't have disc brakes so they cant stop fast enough

[61K10]

any bearing place/napa/rockauto has the bearings/seals. do the shafts spin smooth with no movement up/down /sideways? why did you remove it?

[61K10]

And yes Joe i am keeping my closed knuckle--just won't turn around lol.

[Tito19]

Removed it because she was leaking from what seemed to be the input shaft and a few of the end caps. The gears moved fine with no up and down play. When I opened her it looked like PO had done something to it, there was gasket maker on the access panel. I priced out every thing available on Rock Auto, which were all the seals and bearings and came to 90 some thing dollars. That's out of my budget so I'm going to do the seals and one pair of bearings, thinking ideler bearings.

[60sIron]

Having done this I can verify the hard parts, shafts and gears are very hard to come by. Bearings and seals are easy to get. The shaft that takes the hardest hit is the idler shaft, it's the shaft with the largest dia. gear. If I remember correctly you can reverse the shaft to use the splines on the opposite end that aren't worn. The divorced 221 on my 63 was noisy but worked and didn't leak. The married 221 on my 69 I couldn't get it to stop leaking because of the wear on the input shaft was so get it would eat up the seal at a rapid rate. Ended up installing a 205. Good luck.

[dieseldude4bt]

If you are only going to replace two bearings I would replace the input shaft bearings, they run the hottest and are the ones that most often fail. Also make sure the oil feed and drain to them is clear. They feed from oil that is splashed in to a trough.
The original also used shielded bearings to help keep oil on the bearing.

[Tito19]

Thanks for all the replies. Looks like I have to replace the input shaft and splined coupler. If I can get them at a good price or find them, I'll rebuild it. If I can't I'm gong to do the np205 swap down the road. Any ideas on where to find the parts?

[Tito19]

Completely agree on the seal getting ate up. It happened on the rear output shaft. I installed a repair sleeve and no more leaking. If I reinstall the worn coupler I will use a repair sleeve on it as well. But yea gear oil getting slung all over the exhaust,Trans, driveway etc. sucks, so you temp fix is a better option.

[60sIron]

Good luck! I'm not a fan of replacing stuff just to replace it. I just got tired of pulling my hair out dealing with the 221. I stuck it out until a sweet deal on a 205 came along. I have a lot of parts because I knew they were hard to come by. So when I had a chance to pick one up I'd grab it. Funny thing is with all I have the same parts are shot, must mean something.......

[BLT gmc]

An original t221 couple is tough to find and expensive. To solve the tough to find part you can purchase a 10 spline coupler for a 205 (readily available). It will be to long and too small in diameter. A very good machinist cut this to length make a speedy sleeve and press it together. I know it takes care of the tough to find but does very little for the expensive part. It is amazing what some will do to keep them original and rolling. Good Luck, Bruce

[Tito19]

After looking for almost a month I've deciding to go with the np205 swap. Thanks for all the replies.

[dave666693]

are those Rockwell's worth anything? I ended up with one, but all my trucks have NP205's.

[j.kirn]

why are you selling yours

[wayne4252004]

My 72 had the closed knuckles and sm465 with married 221. It was a tank. We rebuilt the 221 the parts came from a place in Michigan. I found it in the advertisements in the back of Peterson's four wheel drive magazine. That was about 5 years ago, ended up selling the truck to a guy in Indiana, wish I had never let it go.

[Redcap]

205 is a far better case than the T221 anyway.