NP 208 to NP 205 swap

Aug 29, 2007 1 Replies

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I have A 1981 K-20 8600 GVW LT-9 5.7 350 cdi M465 4 speed manual Dana 44 front 3.73

14 bolt full floater rear 3.73 yea I know the 3.73's suck with the 35" BEG Mud TA's NP 208 TC Warn HD lock out hubs
4" Rancho Lift

I have found A NP 205 TC and A TC adaptor that will bolt up to the M465 the NP208 has 200 k + with no trouble's but it's life span is ????? A buddy told me that the NP 205 TC was the work horse I do use my truck not abuse it Has anyone done this swap will the front drive shaft bolt up? will the TC adaptor bolt up to the cross member? I know that the 208 shift linkage will not fit the 205 Would this be worth the swap I know I need 4.56 gears with the 35's but one thing at A time!

Thanks for your input

Dave S. Las Vegas NV. Home of the "Dry Mud" they call it SAND!

Quite honestly Dave you are beating the wrong horse here. You need gears more than a different Tcase and not just because of tires but altitude to at times. Also, the 205 has a 1.96 low range and 208 about

2.7 so you will loose about 30 percent of your low range performance with swap as well. I am not anti 205's because I actually owned several in "new" trucks when they were still original equipment. Your effort woulf be far better rewarded with a gear swap to 4.56 or possibly even 4.88's. A 208 can live a very long time if you change fluid in them regulalrly and keep torque loads down on them (like not 35 or so with 3.73 gears) I would have changed gear ratios long ago. BTW, the 14 bolt has a carrier break at 4.10/4.56 but you can get thick gears and use 4.10 carrier at 4.56 and above. The D44 has a carrier break at 3.73/3.92 but Yukon Gear makes a thick 4.56 for that carrier too so you can skip carrier change there too.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

NP 208 to NP 205 swap

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