Suzuki 4WD Club of Victoria

I was reading a post about a set of Trail Tough 6.4 t-case gears that have just grenaded. Someone else had had the same problem.

"Called Trail Tough and was told they had a bad batch of gears, and it was a defect in the input shaft gear. Brent told me this. He offered no help, just told me I could buy replacement gears at less then retail if i wanted them"

Then the original Poster called Trail Tough

"I talked with Brent as for why this happens. I didn't pursue any refund or discount as no warranty was implied and I honestly feel like I should have known better. But what he said happens is the higher gearing you have (numerically lower), the t-case gets more stress put on it. He said if it is daily driven he recommends replacing the shaft that runs through the center of the case and the bearings every year. He said if they wear only a thousandth.... and it will, the gears will start impacting slightly until one cathes a corner........... and BOOOOOOOOOM!"

Just a heads up.

The intermediate shaft wear as a cause of gear failure is interesting and stands to reason. However, i've seen some intermediate shafts from high KM sierras with lots of wear on them and no problems with gear damage. The effect of high gear reduction at the input gear though? I think it woudl be miniscule and far more related to the torque of the motor.

It is a good reason to run high quality oil and check the level frequently though.

Steve.

This response from Sean at Aftermarket4x4

"I am not defending or flaming anyone, but I have seen MANY, MANY blown up T-cases over the years including a RRO 4.16 T-case, Calmini 5.14 T-case, Calmini 5.8 T-case (no longer in production), Petroworks GRS2 T-case, TT 6.4 T-case, Trail Gear 6.5 T-case. I cannot say as to why any of these T-cases failed, but almost ALL of them had bad input shaft bearing and idler bearing issues and all had input shaft and idler shaft teeth chewed up.

Again, this is what I have seen over the past few years and I cannot say as to which are from abuse, just that this does happen and with all the stresses we put on these little T-cases it is amazing that they last this long at all. I HIGHLY recommend for customers to go with axle gears which helps split the stress between them and the T-case gears. This will lessen the stress on the T-case and driveline and then the T-cases will last longer.

Sean"

It would be nice to have the gears properly inspected to know the cause of failure as to wether it is a manufacturing, design, wear or abuse issue.

Makes a Vit auto, twin cases and diff gears look like a good option. All factory parts as well, so when they eventually let go you can buy them anywhere.

There seems to be a lot of 4WD manufacturers and workshops who hide behind a screen of "no warranty due to the nature off road use/abuse". Why bother building a gearset clearly designed for off road use then not back it up??

Who does supply warranty with their gears?

sierrajim wrote:
Who does supply warranty with their gears?

Trail Gear which I have gone with have a lifetime warranty

I wonder what life time actually means - once they are dead there's no warranty ? ( only playing with words.... )