D.D. doubler install

[93chico4by]

Well, there isn't much info on here yet form the guys that have installed duffy's doubler for the 1350/1354 t-cases, so i guess i will through up as much info as i can. I have only driven it up and down the street a few times in double low, it is very cool

The rig i put this in is an 84 bronco 2 with the carbed 2.8, 4 speed manual and a manual shift 1350 originally. I used the original 1350 as the doubler, and i bought my buddies old 1354 auto for $40 as my main case. I had the block off plates done at Bent and Twisted.


I started the assembly by putting the plate on the back of the doubler first so the RTV would have time to dry a little. I don't think it is possible to use too much RTV here.


The assembly of this doubler is different than the old T&M in that you first bolt each of the adapter plates to their t-case and then bolt the two plates together from teh inside of the first case. This requires feeding 10 little allen head bolts down inside and right next to the edge of the case, and two of them even end up behind the shift fork which makes it fun. If you don't already have one, go buy a long 3/16" allen wrench. It makes it so much quicker the be able to turn the bolts from outside instead of having to reach down inside. The pic kind shows it:

Then i put the shaft and shift collar in, I greased everything up, just incase it takes a while for the oil to get everywhere once it starts turning.

Again, apply a good amount of sealer to the front of the case before installing the front cover with planetary. It took me bout 5 minuted of messing with the planetary set to get everything to line up, don't force it, once you get it right it just slides on with no effort.

Now, with it all together, it was time to install the cases, it becomes significantly heavier than a single case, so a tranny jack or a buddy might be a good idea, i had neither and i was able to get it with quite a bit of work.

Becuause i have the short 4 speed and very little lift i was able to just shorten my rear shaft and be done. I am using a 1330 non-cv shaft from an explorer with a factory tow package, the operating angles on the u-joints are about 11-12 degrees and the shaft is 30" flange to flange. A later model b2 with a FM series tranny or A4LD wil probably require a cv shaft if you have any lift. If you have a ranger, gas tank clearance will be a problem with your second case, i know it would be if i tried to install this on my 93 supercab.

I hope this helps someone out, if you have any more questions feel free to ask. I want to say too that the D.D. machine doubler kit seems very high quality and if anything goes wrong or breaks in my setup it will not be any of the parts form the kit.

[glfredrick]

Thanks for the info. I'm looking at one of the DD doublers myself.

[wanderer-RRORC]

looks good man!!

I bet those allen bolts sucked!!

and a little hint...if you dont have a buddy...or a tranny jack...a ratchet strap hooked in the body and used as a sling to lift it REALLY make it easier

just wait till ya throw it in double low..and it crawls up stuff at idle!!

[FbOmRxD]

very cool man, nice write up.

[oppy]

Looks great. That seems like a really top notch kit. I was under the impression there was some aluminum welding required??

I bet a double cardan type driveshaft would work a bit better for a lifted rig.

[Kirby N.]

Where exactly is the case required to be cut? Any info on the cut and the welding in of the block would be appreciated.

Thanks

[bigerikt]

Originally Posted by Kirby N.

Where exactly is the case required to be cut? Any info on the cut and the welding in of the block would be appreciated.

Thanks

The front of the 2nd t-case is cut at the base of the gear housing. You could weld the adapter plate to 2nd t-case, but it looks like he simply put a good amount of RTV sealant and bolts. I think I would prefer to bolt-on, incase of any maintainence issues.

the whole thing looks incredibly simple. Good write up, but give us a couple more pics.

[93chico4by]

Originally Posted by bigerikt

The front of the 2nd t-case is cut at the base of the gear housing. You could weld the adapter plate to 2nd t-case, but it looks like he simply put a good amount of RTV sealant and bolts. I think I would prefer to bolt-on, incase of any maintainence issues.

the whole thing looks incredibly simple. Good write up, but give us a couple more pics.

By second case do you mean the doubler case? You would not want to weld the adapter to the case, if you did your shifter linkage would be permanently sealed in the case, and that could potentially be a problem down the road.

[Kirby N.]

Originally Posted by bigerikt

The front of the 2nd t-case is cut at the base of the gear housing. You could weld the adapter plate to 2nd t-case, but it looks like he simply put a good amount of RTV sealant and bolts. I think I would prefer to bolt-on, incase of any maintainence issues.

the whole thing looks incredibly simple. Good write up, but give us a couple more pics.

Thanks for the info. Do you get a machine shop cut the case on a mill or is it easy enough to do with a sawzall or a cut off wheel? I bet the cut surface is a sealing surface so it needs to be milled, eh?

[d.d.machine]

The block off plates fit down inside the case were its cut. one could cut it with a grinder and a cut off wheel, hacksaw etc.. I mark were the edge of the plate is then cut it about 1/4" large and after fitting the block off plates I just grind the case down flush with the plates. The case is only about 1/8" thick and cuts like butter.

( Great write up )
Thanks
Duffy

[1badb2]

good writeup...if you'd like this weekend i can add more to it for the people with different trannys/axles ect.

i as well used a 1350 as my front case and a 1354 for the rear..my B2 also had the 4spd but i swapped out for a FM145...my rear shaft which is the same as yours swapped directly into the front by swapping the rear output flange onto the front and front output yoke onto the rear. i then took the explorer front CV shaft and had it shortened to about 25.5" to bolt onto the rear....i have also built new tube tranny mount and in the process of getting the parts waterjet cut to bolt onto the very back case for another mount. the problem i ran into was my flowmaster being under the passenger floor..i found the rear case sits right in its way.

as far as cutting it..i used a long ass blade and my sawzall then cleaned it up with the die grinder and 40 grit wheel. as for where the blocks side on the outter parts of the case...the case itself is somewhat rounded so i squared it off and trimmed the blocks to fit in there. i used Rightstuff on the rear plate half and i used JB weld for the case side...no leaks.

[93chico4by]

Originally Posted by d.d.machine

The block off plates fit down inside the case were its cut. one could cut it with a grinder and a cut off wheel, hacksaw etc.. I mark were the edge of the plate is then cut it about 1/4" large and after fitting the block off plates I just grind the case down flush with the plates. The case is only about 1/8" thick and cuts like butter.

( Great write up )
Thanks
Duffy

That is exactly how i did my cutting, i used a big sawzall blade.

1badb2- please add as much info as you can, this thread is for all stuff about this doubler.

[SirMrManGuy]

Any pics of how you did the shifters?

[sammeeks351]

inform me here fellas whats the DD doubler? i have an 83 ranger shortbed with a 2.3Ltr and 4 speed,not sure on tcase...most of the time its my gofor truck...lol "go for" jeep parts again!
i dont read the ford forums much...

[93chico4by]

Originally Posted by sammeeks351

inform me here fellas whats the DD doubler? i have an 83 ranger shortbed with a 2.3Ltr and 4 speed,not sure on tcase...most of the time its my gofor truck...lol "go for" jeep parts again!
i dont read the ford forums much...

Well, your truck has the borg Warner 1350 t-case. The D.D. machine doubler is a set of adapter plates that allow you to attach the reduction planetary from one 1350 to the front of another 1350 along with a brand new output shaft for the doubler.

[mjlogan88]

How is the doubler working out for those of you that have put some miles on it?
Thinking about getting this setup for my Ranger. Couple questions-

How are your stock motor/tranny mounts holding up with the added reduction?

Would it be possible to run the 1354 as the crawl box and keep it electric shift?

Am I going to need to hammer on my gas tank to get this thing to fit in my ranger?

Thanks for the writeup very helpful

[4x4junkie]

I just got done putting one of these in mine, everything went together pretty much as described above.

My BII has the FM146 trans. The doubler case was a 1350 manual, the rear case a 1354 manual.
The rear driveshaft ended up being 27" flange-flange (rear axle (8.8") is also pushed back 2.75")
Using a dual-cardan shaft, no vibration at all (3" susp lift)

Without a bodylift (on a BII anyway, not sure what's needed on a Ranger), be prepared to do MAJOR floorpan modifications. Even as it was with a 2" bodylift, I still had to make some more clearance for the rear case due to a structural support member right above it (it may clear with a 3" BL however).


Something that concerned me a bit on it though was the fill hole location is too low to have the planetary gear submerged in the fluid well (the gears would just barely dip in the fluid). Because the fill plug ended up inaccessible when the case is assembled anyway (the drain plug remains accessible), I just took out the original vent tube nipple, and rethreaded the hole with a ¼" NPT tap, and used that as the fill hole instead. This puts the fill level to maybe just under halfway up the planetary assy. (I relocated the breather fitting to the top of the case).

Originally Posted by mjlogan88

Would it be possible to run the 1354 as the crawl box and keep it electric shift?

You can use an electric shift case for the doubler, but it's not near as easy as using a manual, you'll have to use a cable or something to attach directly to the shift fork inside it (which then presents the issue of keeping it from leaking).
In this link, a guy used an S-10 CAD vacuum actuator.

Manual shift 1350s are relatively easy to find however (unlike 1354 manual cases), so I'd just try to find a manual one.

[Joel H]

Junkie looks like you clocked your rear case, front output, up quite a bit.

You got pictures of this x-member you had to modify? Maybe if I have time I may toss mine up under the truck for some quick measurements.

[4x4junkie]

It's clocked up one 'click' from the normal position, yes (guessing about 1.5" up at the output).
Clocking it I don't think impacted the clearance by more than about ¾" or so, it hit kindof toward the center-top of the case (I had to trim back part of the exhaust heat shield on the other side for it to clear over there as well).

The support member runs across right under the rear brackets for the front seats (sorry no pic).
I only needed about one inch more clearance, so out came the sledgehammer

[RockRanger]

Do you have a bigger picture of the shifter setup you did that you can email me? I like how yours came out much better then mine did. I need to redo my shifters.

[4x4junkie]

Originally Posted by RockRanger

Do you have a bigger picture of the shifter setup you did that you can email me? I like how yours came out much better then mine did. I need to redo my shifters.

Click on the pics.

If thats still not big enough, then yeah, PM me an email addy and I can give you the full-res one

[Joel H]

The best setup I've seen is the one Matt did with his stubbler. Mine will be very similar.

[alexyz450]

When im taking the doubler apart to cut it, is their anything I should be wearied about, like gears falling out springs shooting out any thing like that?

[alexyz450]

Hey Duffy I just finished sending u the money for a doubler hope to get it in the mail soon Thanks

[mjlogan88]

Originally Posted by 4x4junkie

I just got done putting one of these in mine, everything went together pretty much as described above.

Manual shift 1350s are relatively easy to find however (unlike 1354 manual cases), so I'd just try to find a manual one.

Thanks for all the help. I ended up getting a 1350 for free.

You running a stock tranny xmember?