Transfer Case is the 205 the best ?

[72MARIO]

I have been told before I think that the 203 was but I need to know.

Help Please.

[CUSTOM/10]

The 205 is the best stock transfer case you can get. It's all gear driven, cast iron, and heavy. Its also a part time unit meaning you can have unlocking hubs and not have to spin the front drive shaft all the time. The 203 is a chain driven unit, that tends to stretch and cause problems once they start to wear, and is a full time 4x4 case unless you put a kit into it to make it part time.
I would consider the 203 to be the second choice.

[72MARIO]

Oky thanks.
I am new to this 4 Wheel stuff. The truck I am going to look at has a 355 4 Speed with Granny gear. I dont know much else. I hope to have a look at it today.

[CUSTOM/10]

If the truck is a 69-87 with a SM465 manual trany it most likely has a NP205 transfer case behind it. The earlier trucks I believe had a rockwell 221 transfer case, I don't have any expirience with these.

[1969 GMC]

the 205 is probably best because it is so common, and parts availability is good. the only downfall is the relatively anemic low range (1.96:1) which doesn't really matter THAT much. there are a lot of other good transfer cases out there, but not well known. I would venture to say the Rockwell T-221 and the NP205 equal each other in strength, the Rockwell only lacking because of limited parts availability. It is also an all gear drive t-case, has a similar weak low range (1.94:1), but offers one advantage. the front and rear outputs are on the same level, and lower than the input, therefore easing the driveshaft angles a bit.
It depends what year truck it is for the transfer case. The Rockwell was used from 67-69, and also earlier in the 60-66 body style, but I don't know when they started using it. It could be either divorced or married, I am not sure what years it differentiated. My '69 has a Rockwell married to an SM465, most Rockwells came with the older SM420. All 205's came with the SM465. Here is a pic of my Rockwell, the easiest way to ID it is the quatrefoil (funny shaped) cover on the back, driver side of it.

[72MARIO]

The truck is a 73 1/2 ton. I know that the Cab is really Rought but the front clip is new and the box is pretty good. The guy only want's $ 2000 CDN for it. The dash pad id perfect and the entire interior. If I have to swap Cabs down the road no biggie.

Do you know how hard it is to swap from a 4 speed to a auto ?
I am not really big on the granny gear.

[1969 GMC]

why? it's great for traffic jams...

[70 CST 4X4]

Originally posted by 72MARIO
Do you know how hard it is to swap from a 4 speed to a auto ?
I am not really big on the granny gear.

The easiest way is to find an auto already married to a transfer case and install the whole set up.
If you want to change just trannies then you have several routes,

Change input shaft on transfer case to correct one and find the correct ( and not cracked ) adapter

or

Change the out put shaft on trans with a modified one from advanced adapters and get the correct adapter.

You also will be looking for a tranny that will mate to the adapter.

You will also have to work out how you want to run shifting linkage.

Others may have some more suggestions.

[Jason71k10]

Hey Mario. I know this is kind of an old post, but did you end up buying that truck?? I was thinking about putting a 4 speed in the truck, if you wanna go auto, maybe we can swap, eh? Mine's got a TH350 with a np205. Let me know, buddy.

Jason