Divorced 205: Thinking out loud.

[schuttothrill]

I may have a line on a divorced 205 out of a dodge, so I have a few questions.

I currently have a married 208 and TH400. I have all the necesarry 2wd tranny tailshaft parts.

Aside from realizing that I'm going to need to make a couple crossmembers and three new driveshafts, what else should I consider to make this swap as painless as possible? I'm not yet aware of the spline count or slip yoke yes/no.... I don't know much about these and info seems to be pretty scattered.

I'm not in a huge hurry to tear the guts out of my truck, as the 6.2 probably isnt going to kill the 208 anytime soon, but i'd like to possibly gather some parts. Someday, I'll have an earth-moving big block/TH400.

To throw another wrench in the process, I'm thinking of putting all my gear on an M1009 tub/frame if I can find one. Does anyone run divorced TCs on a K5? would I be better off trading this 205 for a married one? It would save me lots of headaches as far as crossmembers and driveshafts go, but I know the numerous reasons why lots of people love the divorced TCs.....

I tried searching, but couldn't really come up with the right terms, so the results weren't very useful..

Thoughts?

 

[rdn2blazer]

A divorced TC on a K5 is not a good thing cause of the already short drive train length. Married is the best option. There is a reason why you never see a divorced case in a K5. Now a long bed 4x4 is different or a crew cab as well. A long bed of course has a longer rear drive shaft and one basically the same as a K5 up front on a married case. With a divorced case you can lenthen the front by shortening up the rear, which will probably still end up longer then a K5 would be. And you can setup a divorced case with equal lentgh drive shafts meaning less extra parts to carry on the trail. Your going to add more weight in extra crossmembers then you would with married case as well. There are probably other reasons not to run a divorced as well but this is what I thought of quickly.

 

[schuttothrill]

Yea I was aware of the advantages for a long wheel base truck- just didn't know if there was room on a k5 or not since I don't have one to look at.

I do appreciate your help and am not trying to be disrespectful.

I suppose (for me) it really comes down to:

Divorced-
Pros:
Equal length shafts for better clearance
Cons:
Lots of work
Three new driveshafts
Two new crossmembers
More weight
Not compatible with K5(if it ever happens)

Married-
Pros:
Less work
Swap with K5 (still need new rear shaft)
Cons:
Long rear shaft on k30 is a liability

This is all I can think of at the moment. What am I missing? I'm lazy, so I'm definitely leaning towards the married since it's less work.

Also, I'm not sure if my front 208 shaft will bolt right up to a 205.

 

[Chaddy]

Dont even mess around with the divorced. Get it out of your head right now because its not gonna be economical in any way for any reason.

Now thats out of the way, what are you intending on using this rig for?

 

[Fordum]

Plus, its just so sad when a good marriage ends in divorce..........

 

[rdn2blazer]

Dont even mess around with the divorced. Get it out of your head right now because its not gonna be economical in any way for any reason.

Now thats out of the way, what are you intending on using this rig for?

This ^^^, is basically what I was saying, my reply was just a bit more detailed.......long winded response lol!!!

 

[schuttothrill]

LOL thanks for the response guys! I hadn't really taken the time to weigh the pros and cons... I usually get ideas like this and it just escalates from there.

With that being said, I just went to look at this "divorced" 205 over lunch, (It's belongs to my buddy) and this is what I found:

 

[schuttothrill]

He wasn't sure if it was divorced or not, he just knew it came with the truck he just bought and that he didn't need it.

I got all excited that it was a 205 but hadn't seen it yet.

Pretty sure it's a married version?

I counted the Output splines and they are 32.

I counted the input splines and they are 23, but I don't understand the male splines and how I could possibly make it work with my TH400 even if I bought the "figure 8 to TH400" adapter.

Not sure it will work at all since its a 23 spline.

What say ye?

 

[DEMON44]

It is not divorced. It is married from a early 90s dodge that went behind the Cummins and getrag. There is a sleeve adapter that marries the getrag output with the tc input. That is not a good case for you. That adapter mount is very specific to that application.

BONUS information about that one though. Is that you can bolt it directly to the back of dodge nv4500 and nv5600 trannies and have passenger side drop married 205 with a big bad gearbox.

 

[schuttothrill]

Now thats out of the way, what are you intending on using this rig for?

I'd like to say its a crawler, but basically I just want to be able to beat the piss out of it and not have things break. That's not to say that I'm intentionally rough.. I just like to overbuild things if it works out to do it that way.

Also, I'm just trading some junk for this 205 if it ends up being something I can use, so the initial cost is zero. That's my biggest motivation to suddenly want a 205

 

[Chaddy]

Well, a 205 and a 400 is a good start. Crawler you say? Now you have to think about gears and where to put them.... t-case is the best place for gear reduction to keep your diffs stronger. Now onto the axles.... what size tire you gonna run?

 

[schuttothrill]

It is not divorced. It is married from a early 90s dodge that went behind the Cummins and getrag. There is a sleeve adapter that marries the getrag output with the tc input. That is not a good case for you. That adapter mount is very specific to that application.

BONUS information about that one though. Is that you can bolt it directly to the back of dodge nv4500 and nv5600 trannies and have passenger side drop married 205 with a big bad gearbox.

So I did some digging and basically I would have to get similar to this,

http://www.advanceadapters.com/products/pn-50-3202/

And even after machining the bearing retainer I'm not even sure it would bolt up. So i gather that you're aware of all this and while it might be "possible", it's basically wildly cost restrictive to blow 565 bones on an otherwise stock 205?

That's pretty much what I'm arriving at. Not a good deal....

 

[schuttothrill]

Well, a 205 and a 400 is a good start. Crawler you say? Now you have to think about gears and where to put them.... t-case is the best place for gear reduction to keep your diffs stronger. Now onto the axles.... what size tire you gonna run?

I have 4.56 gears and 37s. Someday I might go back to 39s.

 

[boz42]

T-400/205 combos go for about $600-800 here so $565 might not be as bad as you think.

 

[schuttothrill]

OFF TOPIC COMMENT

I see the '75 in your sig has a 540. Is that an offset-ground-crank stroked caddy?

I've got a '72 500 that I'm hoping to stroke someday, and a trans am short tailshaft BOP TH400 that will someday be hooked up to a transfer case....

 

[DEMON44]

No what I'm saying is, that you couldn't even use that kit on that 205.

If you pulled that stock adapter off the case. I am fairly sure that it is not a Chevy "figure 8" pattern. That case mount pattern is specific to that external adapter and male input for dodge 1st gen Cummins trucks behind a getrag 5 speed.

 

[schuttothrill]

No what I'm saying is, that you couldn't even use that kit on that 205.

If you pulled that stock adapter off the case. I am fairly sure that it is not a Chevy "figure 8" pattern. That case mount pattern is specific to that external adapter and male input for dodge 1st gen Cummins trucks behind a getrag 5 speed.

Right i see what you're saying. Well that sucks.

In any case.. maybe I'll post it for sale for my buddy. Maybe some NV4500 guys might be interested?

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

It is not divorced. It is married from a early 90s dodge that went behind the Cummins and getrag. There is a sleeve adapter that marries the getrag output with the tc input. That is not a good case for you. That adapter mount is very specific to that application.

BONUS information about that one though. Is that you can bolt it directly to the back of dodge nv4500 and nv5600 trannies and have passenger side drop married 205 with a big bad gearbox.

That one is 23 spline so not from a Getrag, the Getrag and NV4500 use a much bigger 29 spline.

 

[DEMON44]

The tranny outputs are, out the tcase input is not. The spline adapter sleeve is not reverseable. At least the one I had was not. I'm pretty sure The tcase input was not the same as the tranny output.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

The tranny outputs are, out the tcase input is not. The spline adapter sleeve is not reverseable. At least the one I had was not. I'm pretty sure The tcase input was not the same as the tranny output.

The vast majority of Dodge 205's were 23 spline, he posted earlier that he counted 23 splines on the input gear.

All married Dodge NP205's had a 23 spline male input (including automatic Cummins trucks) EXCEPT for the 205's behind the Getrag G360 5 speed, which is the larger 29 spline.

The Dodge drive sleeves are reversible and the same spline count on both sides. I have seen a guy selling 23x29 spline drive sleeves, he was cutting apart two factory sleeves and welding them together.