Dana 20 help

R Q

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2005
Location
Charlotte
@Granny and anyone else who knows the 20 well. Today at the Flats at the end of the day while I was helping to extract a rig from tank trap I pulled down nose first into an area to help straighten his front wheel as he had lost steering and a couple ball joints... as I was backing out my front tires weren't pulling. I checked to make sure it was totally in gear and it was (Twin Sticks on the 20). I got out of a bind and the front started pulling. I had to push him again and same thing happened and onlookers said that my driveshaft was turning when the wheels weren't. And then after we all got out of there I asked them again and they weren't sure if the driveshaft was turning or not. The fronts worked fine while going forward.
I have SM420 trans and Dana 20 case. No grinding anywhere. Hubs are Warn premium and were gone through and had rebuild kits installed last year. Front end is a Dodge Military Dana 44 with 4:88's and a Detroit that I installed two years ago. all bearings and such were checked and replaced as needed. I've had no chance to test further or pull any covers because I just got home.
My main question is; Is there a chance that the Dana 20 could possibly slip while under heavy load in reverse but not at other times? Or what else could it be?
Tomorrow I'll be pulling front diff cover and oil pan/cover on the 20 to have a look.
Thanks
 
The D20 is nothing more than a bunch of gears. There is no way anything can 'slip' unless you have broken teeth or bad splines somewhere. Maybe the lever for the front wasn't engaged? They don't like to be engaged when the vehicle is stationary. Ive had that happen before
 
The D20 is nothing more than a bunch of gears. There is no way anything can 'slip' unless you have broken teeth or bad splines somewhere. Maybe the lever for the front wasn't engaged? They don't like to be engaged when the vehicle is stationary. Ive had that happen before
I know, that's why I'm perplexed. It was definitely engaged. It worked in every other situation before and after. Its almost as if the Detroit was slipping.
 
Are we all going to trust "onlookers" at the flats?

My bet is the front popped out of gear under heavy load.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Are we all going to trust "onlookers" at the flats?

My bet is the front popped out of gear under heavy load.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
They were my club members but all were pre occupied with the other rig. I'm doing my own checking now. Without grinding of gears or other destructive sounds it has to be the shifters even though I checked them and pressed the front stick hard into position.
 
Are the detents still in the shifters? If removed, may be looking out. Pretty sure this is very close to a d18. Straight cut gears.

I would drop the case pan and see if fully engaging gears.
 
I rebuilt/twin sticked my D20 last fall..I don't see how you can have any slippage with the gears without grinding or some sort of bad sounds.

If you pull the cover off the tcase, make sure the fork is still tight with the shift rail. The 2 are held together with a set screw and if that screws gets loose, the rail (& shifter) can move without the fork moving.
 
So I posted initially when I was perplexed about the issue. I know that the 20 is all gears. From there its driveshaft, Detroit, gears, axles, and hubs. No slippage allowed. And no clashing noises.
What I didn't do when it was failing was to LOOK at the shifters when the issue occurred. So today I crawled under and looked. Both motor mounts are smoked, totally separated into two pieces. So that explains how it could go out of gear while under heavy load, and I didn't look at the shifters when it was failing, only afterwards when I had clutch in and nothing was in a bind. So I jumped the gun in a panic because I'm leaving out soon to Windrock for the Jeepster Jam. I'll post a pic of Chinese motor mounts shortly...
Thank you all for thew input
 
Motor%20mounts_zpsm2ahntqc.jpg
 
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