The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network - View Single Post - 1968 Rockwell Transfer Case....is this rare?

martindc1 · 07-13-2009, 10:03 AM

The Rockwell is par for the course on the 67 and 68s. They are strong and if you make sure they have fluid you will be good. If they get low on fluid they have issues with some of the bearings. I don't think you can get many new parts for them now other than seals. Yours probably leaks some, I know mine does. I am not sure about the rock crawler guys, but I would think they would look for the NP205 over the Rockwell T221, which is the T221's successor. Not that the T221 isn't a good case, its just there are more parts out there for the NP205 and more transmission options. The NP205 was made from 69 through around 92 or so and was used on both automatic and manual transmissions, is found in both passenger and drivers drop configurations, both divorced and married configuration and was used in Fords and Dodges in addition to the GM trucks.

My 67 K20 is essentially the same setup as yours with a 250, sm420 transmission, and Rockwell T221 transfer case. Tough mine is a 3/4 ton and therefore has the ho52 rear axle with 4.57 gears. Interestingly it had a factory option of a PTO shaft coming out of the transfer case, though most of those parts have been lost somewhere along the way. With the PTO it has a factory tach and a hand throttle.

Oh and as far as finding these cases, they are around. They were also used on the 60-66 trucks independent of the transmission.

07-13-2009, 10:03 AM	#2
martindc1 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: La Crosse, WI Posts: 218	Re: 1968 Rockwell Transfer Case....is this rare? The Rockwell is par for the course on the 67 and 68s. They are strong and if you make sure they have fluid you will be good. If they get low on fluid they have issues with some of the bearings. I don't think you can get many new parts for them now other than seals. Yours probably leaks some, I know mine does. I am not sure about the rock crawler guys, but I would think they would look for the NP205 over the Rockwell T221, which is the T221's successor. Not that the T221 isn't a good case, its just there are more parts out there for the NP205 and more transmission options. The NP205 was made from 69 through around 92 or so and was used on both automatic and manual transmissions, is found in both passenger and drivers drop configurations, both divorced and married configuration and was used in Fords and Dodges in addition to the GM trucks. My 67 K20 is essentially the same setup as yours with a 250, sm420 transmission, and Rockwell T221 transfer case. Tough mine is a 3/4 ton and therefore has the ho52 rear axle with 4.57 gears. Interestingly it had a factory option of a PTO shaft coming out of the transfer case, though most of those parts have been lost somewhere along the way. With the PTO it has a factory tach and a hand throttle. Oh and as far as finding these cases, they are around. They were also used on the 60-66 trucks independent of the transmission. __________________ Currently truckless, previous trucks: 67 K20, 87 K10 aka V10 & 72 C10 Last edited by martindc1; 07-13-2009 at 10:04 AM.