Very pissed….broken TH400 rear ear…how screwed am I??? (Pics)

[dawson444]

Basically long story short, after dealing with a broken bolt and other things, the ear on the back of my freshly rebuilt TH400 (less than 50 miles) is broken.

What would ya’ll recommend I do to fix it?
Do you think it can be welded?
If the pieces ya’ll think are too small to be welded, what about welding a sleeve to it as kind of shown in the pictures?
If so, would welding the regular steel to the cast cause problems?
Any other options (aside from getting a new housing)?

Any input at all is appreciated. I am very frustrated with this, first dealing with the broken bolt, now this. I just want to get the thing put back together.

 

[dawson444]

1 more

 

[boz42]

The case is alum, so welding a steel sleeve to it is not going to work. You might could build the case up with weld, than drill & tap a new hole.

I know this is not the answer you want, but the only real fix IMO, is to swap out the case. I know this is a PITA, but it will save you time & money down the road. I would not consider anything else.

 

[kgblazerfive]

Unless you can weld alum. then I think you still have to gut the case anyway. When I had my short shaft put in it cust me $60 might want to see what a tranny shop would chage to swap internals.

You try epoxy of some kind worst it could do is not work

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

Initially I would question why it broke. Anything in particular that you think may have broken that tab off (i.e what are your mounts like, was everything tight, etc.)

I wouldn't try to fix a broken housing.

 

[guz71]

yea I am with 38377k5 there, what caused it to break off. Noticed you had a doubler, thats a lot of weight hanging behind the tranny. What does you crossemember look like. I had a 203 with the stock crossmember basically do the same thing but even worse.

I would try to swap the internals over if it was me. It could happen out on the trail or even lead to worse problems down the road.

 

[wasted wages]

After dealing with broken/stripped cases over the years,,
This is what I do....take it for what it is worth.....


#1 Clean and chase all of the threaded holes in the trans case with a tap.

#2 Red locktite (6) 3/8 Grade 8 studs into the case. Double nut studs and torque to 30 ft lbs. Let setup overnight.

#3 Install T-case adapter using grade 8 flat washers,lock washers and nuts.

#4 Torque to 40-45 ft lbs

#5 Retorque after 3-4 heat cycles.

 

[Ronnie4wd]

I think 465 is the way to go when those old beercans cannot hold up to your abuse

 

[Goose]

Wasted wages has my vote.

I would put studs in the five remaining holes, seal up good, and go with it. If it works, you saved a lot of time. If it doesn't, you didn't waste much time or money.

 

[dawson444]

Well just to basically clarify why the ear broke...

I have been having a problem with the bolts that attach the adapter to the housing loosing up and then the transmission leaking very badly. I put the tranny in and went wheeling with it for two days. At the end of the 2nd day it was leaking really bad. The bolts were to the point where I could tighten them with my hand on the head of the bolt. When I installed them I had put red loctite on them. This was not the first time this problem had happened.

I had been told to drill out the threads and install helicoils in the holes to give it new threads. One of the helicoils I had a problem with and the threads weren't perfect in it. When tightening the bolt down it ended up breaking off in the hole. I then had to drill out the bolt which I believe then caused the ear to start to crack. I then put the bolt in there with a nut on the back side. While I was tightening it down the pieces broke off.

So it did not break while the t case was installed.


I am leaning towards running it with the other 5 bolts, but I really don't want to go through the trouble of taking the doubler out again if it doesn't work.

 

[Stomis]

Find someone who can weld TIG or get an sm465

Cast Iron is yer frend.

 

[dyeager535]

Not going to fix your problem, but were you running the correct length bolts? Only time I've had bolts properly torqued loosen up is when they were shorter than what GM had used.

I think I'd go with the use 5 and call it good too. You'll still be one up on the TH350 lol.

 

[dawson444]

That is one thing I also changed this time around. I had originally been using 1.5" bolts which would go just to the end of the holes, and stick out just a little of any. This time around I went with 2" bolts to make sure I was getting all the thread engagement possible.

 

[Wrench]

what wasted wages said + build an independent additional crossmember for your doubler . . . make those five bolts mostly redundant

 

[dawson444]

I already have an independent doubler crossmember.

 

[sweetk30]

tig weld it and use the peices. it can be done. just need a good person to tig it up.