Transfer chain

So whos stretched/broken them?

I know Kickars2 and jimmyo have off 4wda but i dont think there on here. Ive done my second one. Both of them have rear lockers and 32's i think, i have a front locker n 35s.
Im struggling to work out how/why they are going. It should take alot of big shock loads to stretch it but it doesnt make sense when as far as i know its only guys with lockers that have done them..

thats the first i've heard of them breaking. i would be looking at the chain and see what type of damage there is. see if there is acommon weak point.

as far as lockers go, that simply because the lockers allow you to put more power through the driveline than you normall would be able to. ditto goes to CV's etc.

you might have to go to gear type box, on the good side crawler gears are more common for geared transfer cases.

I don't reckon it's the lockers that do it Joshy, they may contribute in your case but Kickars didn't have a front locker when he did his chain, only the rear locker which should have no effect on the chain as the rear shaft is directly driven, it can only be can only be from the transfer case forwards that can damage the chain, be it spinning a wheel while in the air and it biting the ground hard or putting big loads on the chain with a locker.

I haven't seen the internals of one to see why it stretches, I'm guessing it just isn't large enough, or one of the shafts carrying the chain sprockets is flexing allowing the chain to jump teeth. The chain design shouldn't be a problem unless it isn't a large enough one which it sounds like it isn't, the TX12 transfer as used in the Patrol is a chain drive as well and you never hear of them stretching.

My transfer case is fine. I reakon I will have put 2 clutches in the car before the transfer needs touching.

I have always gone easy on the driveline of all the cars I have had. I dont like spending my weekends fixing cars these days.

Dave.

Im just trying to find why there stretching and the 3 cases so far we all had lockers so i thought that might had something to do with it. With my reduction gears and front locker i never hit anything other then mud with oomph, and Cvs should break with shock load before a transfer chain stretches. I know 2003ish nissan put a narrower chain in, that might have something to do with it. Slow steady power with both front wheels equaly turning should prolong the life of the chain. I havent seen the case apart yet so im not sure what i can upgrade on it...im leaning more towards heavily modifing a gu case to fit

Where did you find the info about the narrower chain 2003 onwards Josh? If that is the case you might be better off looking to a D21 transfer than a Patrol case, I had a quick gander at the TX12 exploded view last night and I don't reckon it will be too easy to modify the box to drive from the opposite side, not saying it is impossible but the case as far as I can tell will need cutting and shutting to do it which means big dollars.

I dont know whats killing the chains but I just had a quick look at the transfer diagram. The TX10A looks more then strong enough to me, the chain look's to be the same thickness as a GQ and GU transfer case chain.

Dave.

Shonky said:

Where did you find the info about the narrower chain 2003 onwards Josh? If that is the case you might be better off looking to a D21 transfer than a Patrol case, I had a quick gander at the TX12 exploded view last night and I don't reckon it will be too easy to modify the box to drive from the opposite side, not saying it is impossible but the case as far as I can tell will need cutting and shutting to do it which means big dollars.

Click to expand...

Read it on one of the US websites when my chain went the 1st time. Alot of them have had the same problem but most fixed it with reduction gears...or an sas. Yeah i havent looked at the case yet but im assuming cutting new hole for gear leaver and shutting old hole, all the breather/filler plugs and probably need an adapter plate pending on the bolt configuration..Biggest problem would be if i cant just put the gears in the other way and then have to make new shafts etc....or i just wait and put a trol gearbox and transfer in when i SAS it...but thats going to be a while.

Dave_str said:

I dont know whats killing the chains but I just had a quick look at the transfer diagram. The TX10A looks more then strong enough to me, the chain look's to be the same thickness as a GQ and GU transfer case chain.

Dave.

Click to expand...

What year is the diagram for? If the chain is the same...then im stumped. Ill see if i can find an exploded pic of the transfer....maybe i could convert it to geardriven...

reconfirmed on pirate4x4. it is the width of the chain that causes the problems 2003 on. they get the older model tx10s and put them in. guys running 40's with no dramas.

So if you stretch a chain just look for a d21 or early model d22 transfer.

When i pull mine out i was going to see if i could get the patrol chain to work on it as ive got to gu transfers now but not much point if the older cases will do the trick.

cool,
also joshy my chain went before i got the locker in ah.
and since then it has been fine,

ah, fair enough. i wonder wtf makes em go then..

Dave_str said:

I dont know whats killing the chains but I just had a quick look at the transfer diagram. The TX10A looks more then strong enough to me, the chain look's to be the same thickness as a GQ and GU transfer case chain.

Dave.

Click to expand...

Any chance of posting up the pic/link?

How are the chains breaking?
Shearing gears off, stretching or snapping?

Only thing i can thing of, off the top of my head.

When modding Commodore (buick) V6's you iether ran a single chain driven cam which required a tensioner pulley, but if you went dual chain, you didn't need the tensioner.

well joshy you must have hit the nail on the head.
cause mine is a 2004 model jimmy's is an 06 and your's is an 06 model.
so when the chain stretch's again it will be hard to find a pre 2003 tranfer case chain.
unless nissan can still buy them new.

just grab one from a wreckers...d21 case should be cheap as. ill get pics of the nav chain and patrol chain when i pull em out.

D21 TX10As go for $0.99 on ebay.

I'm digging up an old thread to ask the guys who've stretched their chains before a question.

When I first got my D21, and I took it offroad the first time I had it in 4L on very basic (slow speed) hard dirt tracks where traction was really no issue, because I was clueless. The thing would wind up a bit and then there'd be this BANG and the whole car would shudder, IE the chain is skipping teeth to relieve the stray torque.

Then, recently when I had my brake problem, and I'd be stranded with the front brakes biting hard, I'd put it in 4L on the pavement just to get the thing moving from a standstill. Driving in a straight line, the thing would STILL manage to wind up and of course, BANG, same thing again.

Does this sound like the symptoms of a stretched chain or not? A toyota engineer told me it's a design feature, better to relieve the strain at the chain than anywhere else. I haven't had it on anything soft enough to see if it still does it there. It's a bit disconcerting, is all. Should I get over it for now?

Hey ProNav,

I got my Patrol pretty bogged down in soft sand towing a 2 tonne trailer and everything was well loaded up when there was a massive bang from under the car. I immediately stopped what I was doing and inspected for damage. Saw nothing so continued on.

In hind sight, it would have been the transfer chain jumping a tooth on the sprocket with a hell of a bang which shook the whole car.

I drove the Patrol for years after that in sand and whathaveya towing and it never did it again and there was never any other noise or damage that I could find. Scary as Sh1t though.

I figure if the chain was stretched or damaged in any way there would be a growl or noise coming from the transfer case whether loaded or not, so again, I'm guessing it is a designed in feature and you should be right.

However saying that, I wouldn't be pushing the vehicle hard enough to warrant it happening repetitively.

Cheers,

DJ

Thanks mate.

Yeah now I go as far as I can in 4x2 to avoid the sound, which makes my spine shudder. Years of owning a euro car make me hyper-sensitive to the slightest foul noise which could mean big money.

I thought the patrol had a geared xfer case? Making that slip would be an awful awful experience.

Hey ProNav,

If it was a geared transfer case then the only other thing it may have been was if the front drive locking hubs hadn't engaged properly and may have jumped.

Dunno, but it scared the bejeesus out of me and sounded like a $3-$5000 bang if I ever heard one. Like I said, no further problems. All good! I expected to be pulling down a box full of hardened scrap metal shrapnel.

Cheers,

DJ

patrol is chain driven. 90% of 4wds are. Its all in the width of the chain. Theres no other differences between the tx10s besides the chain width so pronav id say something is F##kd up in your case.

Thanks joshy. I thought you'd gone to a patrol case to escape the chain but I just got myself confused. Yours never jumped till you stretched the chain? Makes me wonder what the previous owners did with the ute since it's the wider chain in mine.

Luckily I have a spare xfer case.