Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Ok so whats everyone's thoughts on a dana 300 v Lt230. I have been pricing each up for a buggy build im wanting to get started on and these are the two transfer cases i have narrowed it down to.

Specs will be

Dana 300,
Bearing and gasket kit, 4.0 gears, twin sticks and adaptor

or
lt230 with bearing and gasket kit, and adaptor and upgraded cross shaft.

Both will cost about the same. I know the d300 you can do front digs but i dont know how often ill need them both are drivers drop. but the d300 has a lot of after market support. I know people will say just go an atlas but it would kill the budget. It will be going behind an injected 5L in a buggy and will be used for tough tracks and maybe KOTR.

Never had anything to do with the Dana 300 but the LT is good, however a rear disconnect isnt that easy.. be an extra $1200 odd for that .

why do you want to upgrade the internal shaft in an LT ?? never heard of them braking but doesnt mean they dont.. mine has coped a bit over the past few months and i find it great..

id say the lt would be stronger, and were can you get a d300 over here for same price as a lt230? gonads ran one in his single seater behind a 5l and had a few dramas afaik

id go the LT purely the fact they are redly available here. there are heaps of options you can do with the LT later on down the track. upgrades, gears and planetary sets.

have you thought about 2nd hand Atlas transfers? they pop up from time to time on pirate and freight is reasonably cheap now

evanstaniland wrote:id go the LT purely the fact they are redly available here. there are heaps of options you can do with the LT later on down the track. upgrades, gears and planetary sets.

have you thought about 2nd hand Atlas transfers? they pop up from time to time on pirate and freight is reasonably cheap now

I have thought about it and been looking at pirate, but for the price that most of them go for plus shipping your looking at only being $500-$700 off buying new. And at that price i would just spend the extra for something brand new.

Fair enough.
I don't know what you think freight is but compared to what they sell for here I thought some on pirate Are going more than $700 less than new

evanstaniland wrote:Fair enough.
I don't know what you think freight is but compared to what they sell for here I thought some on pirate Are going more than $700 less than new

I know that but most of the deals that come up on pirate are for US drivers drop and i would need a US passanger drop, i dont know if it is possible to just run it upside down? I have never actually seen a atlas except for photos so im kinda guessing. If you know of any deals on a used atlas i would be keen.

What diffs are you looking at running?

I don't know how the shift rails will like being upside down.

Top of a 4speed

MogLux wrote:Never had anything to do with the Dana 300 but the LT is good, however a rear disconnect isnt that easy.. be an extra $1200 odd for that .

why do you want to upgrade the internal shaft in an LT ?? never heard of them braking but doesnt mean they dont.. mine has coped a bit over the past few months and i find it great..

They break.

Ashcroft sell the single piece cross shaft, as do McNamara in Oz if you want to support local.

Micka wrote:

MogLux wrote:Never had anything to do with the Dana 300 but the LT is good, however a rear disconnect isnt that easy.. be an extra $1200 odd for that .

why do you want to upgrade the internal shaft in an LT ?? never heard of them braking but doesnt mean they dont.. mine has coped a bit over the past few months and i find it great..

They break.

Ashcroft sell the single piece cross shaft, as do McNamara in Oz if you want to support local.

I knew about ashcroft, i didnt know about McNamara. Do the Lt230 still run in 2wd like a normal transfer without the diff lock engaged?

I have also read that they lt230 can bind up when the centre diff lock is engaged, can anyone explain what exactly causes this?

evanstaniland wrote:What diffs are you looking at running?

I will be running Landcruiser diffs, 80 rear and hybrid 60/80 front.

I'd go the LT if it was on cost alone.
You may have some luck finding a Dana 300, but I doubt it will be cheaper than an LT.
Then add gears, clocking ring and/or adaptor, twin stick, you're nearly up to the cost of an Atlas. And it wont be as strong.

I know of a dana300 that i can get at the same price or cheaper than i can find an lt230, the person with it does not know what it is and its sitting in a shed at the moment.

The LT230 is a constant/all wheel drive transfer, it has a centre diff between the front and rear tail shafts which can have one side locked to the housing giving a locked diff. this setup is spring engaged/disengaged, which when under load(through differential) can take time to engage/disengage, hence the binding comments.
It should not be used for 2wd applications as it will lead to failure of the shims/pinion/side gears in the differential as well as the cross pins. Short term digging through this diff will lead to failure - sooner or later.
Dan

4_low wrote:
I will be running Landcruiser diffs, 80 rear and hybrid 60/80 front.

If that's the case and you find a cheap atlas that's left hand drop get your hybrid front made to suit. Not hard at all

If you can get the D300 cheap (I paid $500 for mine several years ago) and are not generally easy to find, then add the low gear set, upgraded input & outputs you do end up cheaper than an atlas but not by a huge amount especially if you pay someone else to do it. Freight from US was the biggest price killer tho.
Easy enough to do yourself tho, simple to work on & instructions are good.
I run a ford 5.0 in front with auto and no problems with front digs even with HP 8" diff in front, only running 36's tho.

If I was to do it all again, IMO go straight to the Atlas.

Thought i would up date this, i Went out and had a look at the D300 over the weekend and decieded not to go with it, It looked in real bad shape and it has been sitting without oil in a shed that has had water through it a few times. so i have decieded to either get the lt230 or if i can budget it a second hand atlas. Now i just gotta work out the best way to ship a second hand atlas to Australia, any one have any recommendation or have shipped something like this that can point me in the right direction.

PM coming your way

I had a good tip from a bloke i know whos into his Cadillacs. apparently magazines like Just Cars or hot rodders mags and muscle car mags have guys who advertise EOI in importing and all get together to group buy a container from the states. theres also guys bring in their own containers with cars in them and can usually fit some parts on the floor for beer monies.

just an idea

Thanks for the PMs and the tips on here. I have a few leads im gonna follow up im just hoping the AUD picks back up agains the USD its dropping and making things more expensive.