Transfer Case, Twin Stick, NP435, & Gear Banger Questions

[El Kabong]

I have a 73 Bronco with a 3 speed trans & a J shift D-20 t-case. I bought an NP435 that came with a T shift D-20 t-case attached. I have the stock J shifter, but plan on twin sticking it. The NP435 came from a parted out Bronco. Its shifter has been cut for a gear banger shifter, but also came with the cut off section of the shifter. The gear banger had already been sold. I have been reading up on the different pieces, but still have some questions.

1- Is there an advantage using to either style t-case? Are they the same internally except for the shift mechanism?

2- It sounds like the J shift is easier to twin stick for completely separate control. Is this correct?

3- If the T shift has the "Pills" removed, it sounds like it can it be shifted into high & low at the same time. Is this correct? Does removing the pills make it prone to jump out of gear?

4- If the twin sticks are shifted into high & low at the same time it is bad for the drivetrain when driving. How does this work for parking? It seems like it could be used to keep the truck from moving when the engine is off.

5- When removing a t-case, what is the internal connection like between the trans & t-case?

6- I have seen the JB Custom Fab twin sticks on ebay. Any experience with them? Are they any good? Is there another brand that works better? Any clearance problems between the twin sticks & a gear banger shifter?

7- For the NP435, it looks like either the old stick gets welded back on & bent to work, or buy a gear banger shifter. I'm leaning towards the gear banger. Any pros or cons with that setup?

Thanks for the help with any portion of this stuff.

 

[Revelation]

1- Is there an advantage using to either style t-case? Are they the same internally except for the shift mechanism? The T-shift has slightly lower low range, I have a J-shift case with T-shift internals, works great.

2- It sounds like the J shift is easier to twin stick for completely separate control. Is this correct? Yes

3- If the T shift has the "Pills" removed, it sounds like it can it be shifted into high & low at the same time. Is this correct? Does removing the pills make it prone to jump out of gear?so can the J-Shift, The pills are not what holds them in gear, that is taken care of by the balls and springs.

4- If the twin sticks are shifted into high & low at the same time it is bad for the drivetrain when driving. How does this work for parking? It seems like it could be used to keep the truck from moving when the engine is off. If one is in hi and the other is in low you could grenade the t-case if the front is locked in, For a parking brake, it would not roll at all as long as the hubs were locked, forget to drop the front into neutral, or the same as the rear and put to much to the skinny pedal, Yep, grenade the t-case.

5- When removing a t-case, what is the internal connection like between the trans & t-case? Internally it is a slip fit into the spud shaft

6- I have seen the JB Custom Fab twin sticks on ebay. Any experience with them? Are they any good? Is there another brand that works better? Any clearance problems between the twin sticks & a gear banger shifter?I have seen the JB twins and they look to be a good product, as for clearance, you may need to do a little bending

7- For the NP435, it looks like either the old stick gets welded back on & bent to work, or buy a gear banger shifter. I'm leaning towards the gear banger. Any pros or cons with that setup?Personal preference

Thanks for the help with any portion of this stuff.

Hope this helps

 

[Explorer]

With the NP435, the lower gear set of the 'T" shift isn't that big a deal. First gear pretty much takes care of that. The Gear Banger, I can't really find a con about it, other than initial price. It does shorten your throw by a good bit.

 

[El Kabong]

1- Is there an advantage using to either style t-case? Are they the same internally except for the shift mechanism? The T-shift has slightly lower low range, I have a J-shift case with T-shift internals, works great.

I didn't know that. After more digging it looks like the J shift is 2.34:1, & the T shift is 2.46:1. It sounds like you have the best of both. Do you notice much of a difference in the gearing?

3- If the T shift has the "Pills" removed, it sounds like it can it be shifted into high & low at the same time. Is this correct? Does removing the pills make it prone to jump out of gear?so can the J-Shift, The pills are not what holds them in gear, that is taken care of by the balls and springs.

Reading more about the T shift mods, it looks like they add material to the rod at one of the detents to help keep them in gear. Is this also required with a J shift? Or is that part of why the J shift is easier to twin stick?

4- If the twin sticks are shifted into high & low at the same time it is bad for the drivetrain when driving. How does this work for parking? It seems like it could be used to keep the truck from moving when the engine is off. If one is in hi and the other is in low you could grenade the t-case if the front is locked in, For a parking brake, it would not roll at all as long as the hubs were locked, forget to drop the front into neutral, or the same as the rear and put to much to the skinny pedal, Yep, grenade the t-case.

Yeah, I wouldn't be trying to move it with a hi/low combination selected, it would only be for an additional parking brake type aid. I actually test drove an FSB that had been geared differently front & rear. The seller didn't mention it, & trying out 4wd was a wild ride for a few feet. He explained that "leaving the hubs unlocked was a better way to use 4wd". %) I did not buy that truck.

Hope this helps

It has. Thanks much.

With the NP435, the lower gear set of the 'T" shift isn't that big a deal. First gear pretty much takes care of that. The Gear Banger, I can't really find a con about it, other than initial price. It does shorten your throw by a good bit.

A shorter throw sounds good. How hard is it to shift with the short throw? Thanks.

 

[JB Fab]

Hope this helps

No bending with the gearbanger.....

Cheers,
Jon

 

[Nightstick]

I have an NP435, twin sticked t-shift, and gear banger. I did the twin stick by removing the pills instead of grinding the rails. All I've done to this point is test out the 4WD and it worked fine, it will get truely tested at OCBR. If I screwed something up I'll surely find out then. I hadn't heard of combining the two cases, but I have both, so I can always do it over again.

The gear banger puts the shifter right where you want it. It's a little harder to shift because you don't get the leverage on it you would with the long shifter, but it's a nice trade off especially if you have short arms like me. If you've never driven with the 435 though it ain't a speedy shifting tranny. no big deal as long as you're not planning on hitting the drag strip.

 

[Explorer]

I was actually surprised how much difference a small amount of adjustment in the collars and strap where it attaches to existing shifter makes. It's still a truck tranny as Nightstick posted, but can be quite pleasant to shift.