1354E manual conversion build

I finally got tired of going under my truck to lock in the 4wd. Had 2 shift motors go bad on me, and now the module is bad. I can get a 1354M, but I don't have the money right now. I have an extra t-case, some parts, and work is slow as hell. That's when I got to thinkin...

The Plan: Build a setup that utilizes bicycle brake cabes to turn "shift rod"
-I've read too many times the problem with making a linkage is that you can't get a linkage to produce 270* of rotation. A cable wrapped around a pulley will rotate until there is no more cable to pull. Utilizing 2 cables one to engage(green) and one to disengage(red), Also having a pull in both directions will make up for having no detent in 4Hi.

First, I found an Idler pulley (?4.3GM?), I pressed the bearing out of it, then welded it to the gear i pulled out of a bad shift motor.

Notice how the pulley is centered with the dampener bracket. this will allow me to run one cable on each side so that they don't interfere with each other(I had previously removed the dampener from this bracket)

Since the gear just slides onto the shaft, some kind of retainer had to be made. I made this really quickly out of a piece of spring steel I found under my work bench. I then put a little grease in the pulley so it didn't bind. It will most likely get replaced with a better idea.

Need to make the some kind of pulley for the cable. This will do, an air fitting. the cable will rest in the groove

i cut the end off the fitting so that only a little shoulder was left

I then drilled holes in the bracket. put the cut down fittings through, and welded them in.

The grooves on the fittings are actually in line with the outter grooves of the pulley.


Tomarrow, I'm going to the store to buy some cables. Then I'll fab up some adjustable mounts and go from there. It's a start.

You sir are quite creative. I'm highly interested to see how well this works. Good luck on the build, and keep us updated as you go!

+1

I had made mention of a similar idea in the past but using a return spring behind the pulley to spin it back to 2WD (only one cable would be needed), but this idea looks like it can work just as well on it too.

This is interesting. Wanting to see how this turns out.

Manual BW 1354's are getting harder to find. More and More people are swapping them in, making them almost impossible to get at a junkyard.....I've tried. I've checked 7 different junkyards with not a single manual transfer case.

So Keep it up!

if it you mite could sale the idea and make a little money.people sale pdfs of ideas on ebay all the time.

Progress has slowed, Money issues. Will update as soon as I get goin again.

Might I reccommend a small pulley for the cables to pivot on? I think you are going to see quite a bind on those posts you have. Little pulleys with bronze bushings should be fairly east to come by.

I actually thought about building something like this in the past. I was going to use some parts from one of the junk M5OD's that I had laying around to make a shifting mechanism for up top. Also one thing I did put thought into was a dust cover, you may want to fab something up in the end to go over the end of the transfer case because if you go through mud or anything you're going to have it all over your cables which may not be good in the long run. I love the idea though and the fact that you're actually following through with it.

wow...someone finally tackled it

this has been talked about millions of times but no one has stepped up to the plate; until now...

Not to be all negative but I don't see what's wrong with a manual 1350...

me neither...thats the route i went.

its just that this has been discussed to death, glad to see someone finally try it.

Hahnsb2 said:

Not to be all negative but I don't see what's wrong with a manual 1350...

Click to expand...

Maybe the fact that it was bolted behind the ball-less 2.9L, no offense to you 2.9 guys (I used to be one of you too, X3).

I actually have a complete 1350 w/linkage lying in the backyard. But how many of us Later RBV guys have probs with the electronics... It's time for someone to step up an create an cheap, easily repeated, way to get around spending so much money fixing the electronics.

BTW, I got a set of cables and some other things. I will continue my build on monday when I go back to work. Yeah... monday (Labor day) my boss is one cheap SOB. Enjoy your 3-day weekend guys, down a few for me.

Many still run the 1350s behind V8s, the 1354 really is only bit stronger than the 1350 but it's nothing to write home about. I applaud you for taking on the challenge but I'd like to clear up some misconceptions.

and the 1350 was used behind almost every engine at some point right from the factory. in the early 90's, ford was really good about plopping in whichever box happened to be laying around until the 1350 stock was used up.

the only difference in strength is in the planitaries, of which failures in either unit are nearly unheard of. the bigger problem with the 1350 is the integral slip joint which warrants a new box if it wears out. this is easily overcome with proper routine maintainence.

I like the 1354 better than the 1350 because the number is bigger and it sounds better.

J/k, But anyways do you guys have anyideas for controls? I have a few ideas, one even involves using a F250 SD hub/lock-out. Throw me some of your ideas.