NP205 and SM465 rebuild/reseal kits

[zac]

I’m redoing a ‘70 K10 suburban. Nothing special, weekend driver, no real off roading, stockish engine. Trans and transfer case work fine, leaky. I have a spare of each that are in the same condition from a ‘72 that I was going to redo and swap in. Wondering where you recommend buying kits for them from. I see them on ebay and lots of other places but assume the quality varies widely. And should I buy a full blown rebuild kit with bearings, or just get a seal kit and replace what needs replacement. I assume there are things that wear out and things that last forever. I know the 10 spline output shaft on both my 465s are worn. Thanks in advance.

[57taskforce]

I did all the bearings and seals in my 465 and 205 both. I had to replace the gear bushings in the transmission as well. The bearings weren’t terrible but since I was in there I went ahead and did everything. I used the kits from eBay for both and have 10,000+ miles with no issues. I would replace the coupler parts between the two as well especially the sleeve. The seal for the coupler wasn’t included in either of my kits FYI. I used a series of videos on YouTube for reference as I was going thru it all. I’ll see if I can find them. They are pretty easy to build if you have good lock ring pliers and a good press.

[Honest Bob]

I had two np205's and tried to piece together the best parts from each. I bought the reseal kit and ended up buying all the bearings separately (not smart).

I also had to purchase new shift collars, forks, and shift rails. I regret not replacing the shafts because low keeps popping out (the area where the shift collar engages with had the tiniest bit of wear that I didnt think would matter, it does.).

So to sum it up both of mine were pretty shot. Your going to have to tear it apart and see what your working with.

[zac]

Sounds like good advice. No point in doing anything I guess until I see what’s inside. The ‘72 I took the spares out of was also a burb. Both trucks came to me as stock, tired originals. They didn’t seem to have been abused. But this stuff is 50 years old...

My main concern is the poor quality of replacement parts I often get, even when I delude myself into thinking that paying more makes a difference. I get nothing but Insta-Warp rotors anymore it seems

[57taskforce]

The kits I used both had skf/timken bearings and skf seals fwiw. Everything seemed to be of decent quality and I’ve had no issues to date.

[zac]

Good to know. If you’re anything like me you probably don’t remember, but if you have any idea who you bought your kits from I would be interested in knowing.

[Short 3/4]

I've had good luck with Torque King 4x4 in the past. Good parts and nice to deal with.

[57taskforce]

Originally Posted by zac

Good to know. If you’re anything like me you probably don’t remember, but if you have any idea who you bought your kits from I would be interested in knowing.

Let me see if I can dig up the old invoices. I’ve saved some and thrown some away thru the build. I’ll do some digging. They 100% sure came from EBay.

[Honest Bob]

I got most of my stuff from https://www.offroaddesign.com/transf...205-parts.html

[mattshea125]

Torque King, Off Road Design, and Novak conversions have been my go to for driveline parts.

[zac]

I found the 10 spline output coupler I bought several years ago. The old one was in the box as well. The original is very sloppy on the output/mainshaft. Still a little play with the new one, but much less. Is this wear on the shaft splines, or something that’s normal, or both? Mainshafts are a little pricey and I’m not going to do anything too radical.

[57taskforce]

It’s pretty likely that the splines on the shafts are worn a bit too. Mine were but not too bad. I ran what I had and havent had any issues yet. If the slop seems excessive I would replace it while it’s out.