np205 with ORD magnum box in my 1009

[richingalveston]

I finally received my Magnum box from ORD. It took a little longer than the 4 to 6 weeks they quoted when I ordered it. Hopefylly the 5 month wait will be worth it.
The Box is nice, very solid built and machine work looks clean. I have many other ORD parts on my truck and I have no complaints about the quality. I chose the ORD box over others because of the Fat shaft input gear, it really makes the two boxes into on unit since there is not a spacer or intermediate shaft.
I received the Fat shaft about 6 weeks ago so that I could get my 205 rebuilt. I printed the TM's and rebuilding the 205 was easy. My 205 was a little different than the TM because I have a rear fixed yoke CV style flange so the tail peice installation was different than the TM.

Installing the box on the 205 is easy with the instructions that ORD supplied. No gaskets, just RTV on the box to the 205 and the box halves.
I have already installed a 4l80e trans and the box bolts right up to it with not problems, it will bolt to the th400 also with ease and you can pick the mounting holes and clock the t-case to fit your needs. I have it clocked up fairly high, the top corner of the 205 front output is touching the exhaust but with a little bending that can be fixed.
I am now working to fabricate the cross members. I am still waiting on the shifters so I wont be able to give any info yet on that part.

Measurements of 205 magnum vs. 208 tcase:
205 magnum from mounting face at tranny to flange face of rear output is 17 1/4. 208 is 18 1/2 to end of slip yoke.
The 205 is 19 inches from front face to pivot point of cv joint. The 208 is 23 1/2 from face to pivot point of ujoint with slip yoke. Thus you gain 4 1/2 inches in rear drive shaft to the pivot of the U joint at the rear of transfer case.
The front driveshaft is 3 7/8 from the mounting face to the face of the cv flange. The 208 is 2 3/8 so the front drive shaft is 1 1/2 inches longer with the 205 magnum.

Since I have a 4l80e and the tranny is two inches longer than stock my overall driveshaft changes from stock in the front is 3 1/2 inches longer and my rear is 2 1/2 inches longer. My front drive shaft will be approx. 37 1/4 inches long and my rear will be 35 inches. I will be able to make a third driveshaft with extra slip that will work on front or rear.
I will post more when I get the cross members done, here are some pics.

 

[richingalveston]

more pics

 

[richingalveston]

A couple of more pics for the Safety enthusiest. The t-case is heavy, probably around 100 lbs. I do not have a tranny jack so we had to build our own.

 

[NDT]

Does the crossmember attach to the stop sign looking plate on the back of the 205?

 

[richingalveston]

That plate is the rear support bracket from 'trail tech fab'. It came with the 205 when I bought it. There is another piece to that plate that you weld to it and them to a rear crossmember when you get it fitted to your application. The other piece has a rubber bushing in it for vibration and allows a little movement.

I installed the plate when I rebuilt the 205 but may remove it or just not use it. Per ORD, the rear support limits the tranny and transfer case from flexing enough and they have experienced breakage in the drive train when using it along with the two front cross members. Ord includes a metal plate with their Magnum box (the first pic shows it bolted to the bottom of the box). This plate is what you use to fab a foot with rubber isolators to allow movement. The 4l80e base to mount to the cross member is only about 6 inches from the Magnum box mounting plate so it is possible to build one crossmember for both mounts but I am not sure that is best for the needed flex.

I hope to get the cross members built this week. I am going to build the front and get everything up and running then see if I need to add the back.

 

[Cucvnut]

Sick ness, you need to come to California and run the rubicon with us.

 

[richingalveston]

Running the Rubicon is on the bucket list for me and this truck. I still have a lot to do to it before it will make the rubicon but it will be there one of these days.
I would also like to attend the king of the hammers (as a spectator) before the race get shut down, hope that does not happen but the way things have been going lately you never know when it will be the last one.

spent a couple of hours just measuring and looking at all of the options for the cross member and it looks like the stock cross member will work I just have to make a bridge plate between the Magnum box mounting and the trans mounting feet then make a foot for the bridge plate to connect to the crossmember. I will have to lengthen the cross member some because the frame widens where it needs to mount.

 

[Cucvnut]

You could run the con now with no issues!

 

[richingalveston]

Finally driving, still have work to do.

Work got in the way but finally got the truck driving.

Built a mount for the magnum and 205, built the cross member, currently using modified stock rubber mounts to connect the two but will be changing these out soon. The magnum shifter is on top of the box and thus it has its own floor mount shifter. The 205 has the twin stick shifters that mount to the Magnum box.

Got the drive shafts rebuilt with 1350 u joints, I changed the front d60 flange to a 1350 rear was already the larger flange. the front drive shaft is 37 3/4 inches and the rear is 34 3/4 inches. They could not build my drive shafts to be swappable without ordering some parts but I plan to have a spare made that works front or back.

I also installed a relay panel next to the rear battery, I used the threaded holes in the bottom of the tray and the existing hold down bolt holes to mount the panel. The relays work the front 24V spotlights, the IR lights and an interior 12v fuse panel that is connected to the ignition so that it is on when the ignition is on. And there are spare relays with room to add more.

The truck drives a little rough at this time, the tires sat to long and have a little flat spot to them. I also need to adjust my Dakota digital module to get the correct rpm signal to the transmission it shifts early because the rpm signal is reading high. I have only driven the truck to about 50 mph. I have driven it off road and was able to check all of the gearing and axle lockers, everything works and there are no leaks anywhere in the drivetrain.
I did experience a slight bit of death wobble at about 25 mph on when decelerating. It only happened once and hopefully that will go away. I still have work to do. Currently the wheels have not been aligned, I used two 6 foot levels on the front disc's and eyeballed it. I do not have the front steering stabilizer installed and the front sway bar was removed.
The tires are 37 inch hummers and I have not had any balancing done. I am running centramatic wheel balancers and I believe they are working well but not enough to overcome the current flat spots in the tires.

I do not have any performance data to share at this time, the truck has not been on the road long enough. I have to fix the windshield wipers so it can pass inspection and get the other items done to make it road worthy so it will be at least a month before I can give any real info on the drive train.

I installed the tilt steering column and intermittent wipers from an 87 burb that I parted and the wipers are not working so this is my next task.

I will send more updates when progress is made.
rich

1986 M1009: D60 front with E-locker, 14 bolt rear with Detroit locker, 4:56 gears. 4l80e trans. ORD magnum box on twin stick 205. Ord 4 inch shackle flip rear with one inch zero rate. tuff country 4 inch HD front springs with one inch zero rate. Ord cross over high steer. Stock 6.2 no turbo.

 

[Cucvnut]

Dude your blazer is awesome!

 

[Cleptomaniac]

Looks great! I'm fixin to put a D60/14 in mine and a 4l80 can't wait.

 

[richingalveston]

I got the alignment done today along with the inspection so I was able to get it out on the road and test it. With the torque converter locked up and in over drive, I was turning 2000 rpm at 65 and 2250 at 75 mph. The truck ran really smooth with the small tires. With the alignment the big tires did much better but still needs some improvement.

I did develop a tranny leak between the Magnum box and transmission. I had some issues when installing the gasket and was not sure I got it sealed good and apparently it did not. Everything was fine until I got the speed over 55 mph. I am going to have to pull the t-case and re-install with a thicker gasket and after talking with ORD, I will use RTV instead of a gasket compound.

I also need to do some more adjustments to the tranny computer, it shifts into 3rd and 4th really early. It will switch to 4th at 40 MPH which is to low, also the torque converter seems to have more slippage than it should. Hopefully these are just programming issues with the TCI trans controller.

will get some better updates as I get to drive it more.