Finally- a decent Transfercase option for RBV! The Behemoth Strongbox Doubler

[Kirby N.]

My little ranger is just not quite low enough in the rocks. I did the 4 cylinder transmission gear swap and that helped, but 5.13s and 35s still just isn't enough.

On my last build, I did the D and D doubler kit that is no longer available. The gearing was awesome, but there were a few things I didn't love. Duffy, the creator of the kit, told me never to put the front case in low when the rear case was in high. He said that would break the shaft in a heartbeat. That was a bit of a bummer because I wanted to use 2 low at times- and shifting the front without shifting rear would allow 2 low even when the hubs were locked. It also just made me feel a bit uneasy about the strength and reliability of the thing.

I had to cut the front case and weld in a block off plate to cover the hole where the chain went. This wasn't a huge deal, but I suck at tig welding so I had to get a guy to do it. Mine didn't leak after the second try at sealing it- and luckily the guy I had weld it did a wonderful job. But they were a little prone to leaking.

After all the driveshaft and belly pan work in my last build, I had decided I was going to run an Atlas on the ranger instead of a doubler. However, Advance Adapters no longer supports our platform. Thats not handy.

Here is a picture of my last rig:

Then I ran across Behemoth Drivetrain a few months ago: Behemoth Drivetrain

I know they used to have a terrible reputation but they have been purchased by a new owner, Jim. I called and spent some time talking to Jim and to his lead guy, Dillon, and I was really pleased to learn about where they have taken the company. Their shorty case for the 1354 Ranger and Explorer transfer case is a really innovative idea. It incorporates the whole front housing of the case into the doubler for a super short setup. The doubler basically houses the planetaries from both cases. It comes in at just over 4" over all!! I have 7" until I would interfere with the gas tank. Plenty of space.

I am pretty sure this case will fit in a Explorer Sport without getting into the gas tank.

This design also includes a support bearing on the shaft between the cases and a unique design for the intermediary shaft that allows it to be shorter because the transmission shaft goes inside the intermediary shaft.

Behemoth said I can do whatever I want and the shaft won't break. front case in low, rear in whatever.

Ill have to lengthen the front driveshaft- but that will help with the amount of available travel before my driveshaft bottoms, and I will have to shorten the rear driveshaft- which will help with the vibes it makes at 85 MPH.

I will post pictures when it gets here. Everything I am seeing and learning about it- I think it will exceed my expectations.

https://behemothdrivetrain.com/products/ranger-shorty-strongbox-diy-case

I have never seen a doubler quite like this. I am really stoked to put it together and have low gears again. Once you have had low gears, nothing really compares.

They also have this beautiful billet tcable shifter- I got the twin stick setup. The doubler allows a ton of clocking options. My case hangs down maybe an inch now- should be able to fix it.

They also make a more typical 1354 doubler- little bit longer in size but similar design to the D and D and others I have seen- but without the strength concerns.

Checkout their website!

I had to buy one and a billet twin stick. I will add pictures when I receive mine and of course along the way as I install it. Pretty stoked to have some good support for our platform since Advance Adapters ditched us. And hey, this one is cheaper than an atlas!

 

[bobbywalter]

looking forward to the results.


little bob kind of tossed a grenade into the 4cyl ecoboost /m5odr2/nwf/205 line up intended for the bronco 2..... with his uhhhh..... tire eating drift/drag project....thing.....

i maintain it identifies as a ranger. even though it looks an awful lot like a hacked up stripped down 350 Z..... i just tell myself it is a ranger....it helps with the pain


soooooo... likely put in a ffresh 4.0 and one of these boxes for the win. i dont like building 4.0s.... but there are too many projects.

it is doing this or an ls swap. finding a cheap manual trans to fit an ls makes this doubler look like a steal.


hurry up and get it in testing....we need to know.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

On my last build, I did the D and D doubler kit that is no longer available. The gearing was awesome, but there were a few things I didn't love. Duffy, the creator of the kit, told me never to put the front case in low when the rear case was in high. He said that would break the shaft in a heartbeat. That was a bit of a bummer because I wanted to use 2 low at times- and shifting the front without shifting rear would allow 2 low even when the hubs were locked. It also just made me feel a bit uneasy about the strength and reliability of the thing.

I don't have a doubler but 2lo is a glorious thing. So handy to have especially with the less than optimum transmission gearing Ford graced their light duty transmissions with.

Right now my truck is sitting backed into the garage in 2lo 1st.

 

[Shran]

So you can't get an Atlas that will bolt up to an RBV trans?!?!? That is a bummer, I was planning on that for my Explorer crawler build!

 

[Kirby N.]

looking forward to the results.


little bob kind of tossed a grenade into the 4cyl ecoboost /m5odr2/nwf/205 line up intended for the bronco 2..... with his uhhhh..... tire eating drift/drag project....thing.....

i maintain it identifies as a ranger. even though it looks an awful lot like a hacked up stripped down 350 Z..... i just tell myself it is a ranger....it helps with the pain


soooooo... likely put in a ffresh 4.0 and one of these boxes for the win. i dont like building 4.0s.... but there are too many projects.

it is doing this or an ls swap. finding a cheap manual trans to fit an ls makes this doubler look like a steal.


hurry up and get it in testing....we need to know.

Ill get to is when it gets here. just a few projects ahead of it.

Little bob's ride sounds sweet! post some pics.

Yeah, I agree- just rebuilt my 4.0. It would be nice to have a v8, but this is my daily driver and I want reliable and I want to drive it. I did have to fiddle with the 4.0, but it is right now and I think it will work for a long time.

 

[Kirby N.]

So you can't get an Atlas that will bolt up to an RBV trans?!?!? That is a bummer, I was planning on that for my Explorer crawler build!

Yep those days are passed. They don't sell them anymore and I have been pretty bummed. I have been looking for a used one for a while, but they are pretty hard to come by. I am pretty stoked to have this option now.

 

[Kirby N.]

A couple of days ago I came home to a surprise! I got the shifters from behemoth.

I quickly got it into the kitchen and un boxed them. I didn't think they would come with cables but they did. I am impressed with the quality and size of these things.

You can see how they mount in this picture. I think I am going to make a new plate for my floor out of thicker steel than the current aluminum and have it rhino coated with a hole for these shifters. I need to find a good manual trans boot without the tcase boot attached. That could be a chore.

It came with an independent boot for the twin sticks:

 

[bobbywalter]

wow. that is awesome.

 

[Will]

i dont like building 4.0s....

Such a good engine. Way less power and torque in the paperwork than my Toyota 4.0, but did the same job without any frantic revving. I tow the same ASV RC30 loader on the same Load Trail trailer that I did with the Ranger before it was destroyed. Maybe it's my personality is better suited to the pushrod 4.0 Ford. I also ride a 1000cc sport bike, so I'm not limited in how I feel about things.

 

[bobbywalter]

Such a good engine. Way less power and torque in the paperwork than my Toyota 4.0, but did the same job without any frantic revving. I tow the same ASV RC30 loader on the same Load Trail trailer that I did with the Ranger before it was destroyed. Maybe it's my personality is better suited to the pushrod 4.0 Ford. I also ride a 1000cc sport bike, so I'm not limited in how I feel about things.

aye..... i absolutely adore the 4.0.... just when actually building them in the rust belt i have seen so many external leak issues from deck rot at this vintage .... when you deck them out and try to compensate for the valve train it gets expensive quickly....cleaned up heads and deck and total cost overall with custom pushrods ect....and tuning .. not too mention the time it takes and actual work just puts me to swapping in a solid running 4.0 if you can find one....which i can. a running 4.0 is sometimes cheaper then just head gaskets and bolts....to do lifters and rocker replacement.


add to that. i can swap in a 5.3 or 4.8 gm unit cheaper then building a 4.0......... its a cake swap and you get nearly twice the power and better fuel economy...

but swapping in a 300 dollar 4.0 and this behemoth doubler....seems a better way to go at this time....my current wounded engine was a roll of the dice....and was worth 300 bux. with the doubler...it would have walked hells gate in moab....where....even know it was not running perfectly.... it still had enough power to blow through the clutch with the abysmal combination of 4.1 gears and 36 inch tires.... and i still climbed out the back door with a fried clutch....and no winch assistance.

the 4.0 is a worthy beast for sure if a guy does not want to do a powertrain swap....this doubler availability i think makes spending 4-5 k on a well built 4.0 and manual trans combination a worthy investment for overall packaging of a clean explorer or rbv....


this will extend the range and value of these rigs out where they have not rotted to dust.

and i can still swap the mazda L later and whatever i have to do to fit the doubler from a drive shaft perspective will not be a waste of money. and it stays all ford.

winnie win win. very excited to see these results.

 

[Dantheman1540]

Anyone ever get one of these installed? I’m secretly eyeing the manual shifter swap to start and a strong box later down the road.

 

[broncc]

This seems really cool and I totally want it. I don't quite know if its for me though. They don't have the 1350 setup yet which I think I have. I also would be sad to lose the perfect front radius arm pivot the duff kit provides. Re-welding the rear axle at an even more ridiculous pinion angle (I'm running 17.5* how about you?) would be annoying, too. Its a shame Atlas stopped supporting us.

Maybe I should make another offroader that doesn't have to complete my 100 mile daily commute...

 

[Kirby N.]

Sorry I haven't updated this in a while. I have made some progress, but I didn't get it installed.

It did arrive, boxed up perfect from behemoth and with a hand written thank you note. It was larger than I expected- I should have known it would be this size, but in the pictures it looked smaller.

\

 

[Kirby N.]

Next I went to the junk yard and bought some parts out of later model 1354s so that I could assemble the box.

These parts were all out of 2 2002 ish sport tracks. Probably died from timing chain issues. Both auto cases.

I got the planetary ring out of this one.

It required hacking the front low range section of the case in two.

Next I grabbed the planetary gears and clips and stuff.

And got another set. My plan is to full assemble the doubler then pull the truck in and the doubler will be ready to swap without having to take mine apart and assemble during the swap.

 

[Kirby N.]

Here are the junk yard parts and the strong box on the bench. Notice I got 2 planetary gear sets- mostly because I expect my 1991 to have a 4 gear planetary set. I also got the shift collar gear and the planetary gear.

Next I took the strong box and applied tape to keep the annodizing nice.

Then I Pressed in the ring gear.

Here is the ring gear installed. I think it went just a little further but not much.

Next I pressed out one of the input shafts from the planetary set.

Saving the bearings. They all looked really nice and in good shape. I priced new ones but they are astronomical.

Then I installed the clip and the shaft in the front case.

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Next up is the shift collar gear.

Shifter shifts way nice and has some clocking options.

Next for the behemoth intermediate shaft on the other of the planetaries.

Ready for install. I won't glue until I have final orientation.