With Bill Johnston

Heavy Duty Transfer Case Mounts

We have an area just to the east of El Paso that is popular with the sand rails and quads called Red Sands. Wonderful dunes of super fine sand. But as you climb the hills surrounding the dunes, the sand is speckled with rocks that reach out and eat your lunch (if your not careful). It was after a fun climb over a sand hill that had enough rocks in the wrong places that put me out of action for a little while. As I applied the go pedal I heard a thump-thump under the drivers seat... not good. I thought I had lost a drive shaft, but when I grabbed the rear shaft and pushed on it - the whole t/case lifted on the drivers side! Upon closer inspection I saw that the t/case mount had ripped in half. 

 

This is a common occurrence when you push the drive train to it's limits. The mount is designed to be like a fuse... it breaks before an expensive part in the t/case explodes. And the most common mount to break is the drivers side (short arm). When power goes to the t/case it tries to lift the short arm side of the case, stretching the mount. If you catch it quick enough all you have to replace is a mount. But you will see marks on the body about an inch above the mount. You can see the marks in a picture later in the article. But what if you could use a mount that allows the full 'stretch' of a stock mount without the 'snap' that comes at the end? Spidertrax has come up with a mount that cushions during compression and extension, but won't snap in half.
Parts included with this kit: 12   polyurethane bushings 3     3/8"x3" hex bolts 3     3/8" nylocks 6     3/8" flat washers
There are three mounts that have to be changed. You can see the stress cracks that occur after hard wear by taking a look at the mount on the right. Click through the picture to see a better detail shot. The hardest mount to get at is the short arm mount on the left. So that is where we will start.