rebuilding the transfer case

[Seth Fernandez]

found that my transfer case was locked, has anyone out there rebuilt their own t case? is it worth rebuilding yourself? any tips?
I'm about to pull it apart

 

[donniekak]

If it's locked up you're better off starting with another core to rebuild.

 

[iceguru1114]

If it's locked up you're better off starting with another core to rebuild.

Agreed. That's a strong sign of bearing damage which implies that the case could have yielded.

 

[pauleyman]

Agreed. That's a strong sign of bearing damage which implies that the case could have yielded.

Bearing damage means the case yielded? Elaborate please. I've seen bad bearings from lack of lube. A locked case the gears may have damage.

 

[iceguru1114]

Bearing damage means the case yielded? Elaborate please. I've seen bad bearings from lack of lube. A locked case the gears may have damage.

It's not a forgone conclusion that bad bearings = yielded case, but I'd worry about it because when bearings fail they get really hot drop the yield strength of the material surrounding them. That combined with localized Hertzian stresses bearings create usually means you'll have some points of stress to strength that exceed what the base material can handle and yielding occurs. In the region of a bearing this is most easily observed as a bore that will measure out of round. The more insidious failure, though, is subsurface yielding as a result of the Hertzian stresses that bearings create because, while you may measure a bore that appears ok, under the surface, yielding has occurred and there are residual stresses left over that can pop up later as surface cracks or pitting.

You're right, though, it's not necessarily something that happens every time. Me being the worrier that I am when something fails, it's a concern I'd have.