NP203

im having a problem with my 203, it wont spin the front output, the chain is fine but no luck any ideas on whats going on

its broke. lol but really sounds like its not hooking the gear to lock the output shaft. check to see if all the rods and such are moving and adjusted right. if so it might be time for a new one.

the 203 is a full time case and has a differential in it. if you move the lever to loc then it should turn the front output. you can take it apart in the truck and take the spiders out and replace them with a part-time kit or new spiders. I have seen instructions for that on the web. it apears to be easy. search for NP203 parttime kit or something like that.
Beyond that I have no idea what could be wrong with it.

i got it working right now all i have to do is find some hubs

what waas wrong and what did you do to fix it?

If you are talking about locking hubs then you are going to have to drive around with the case in lock if you do not do the part time conversion.

i just centered it all, and tightened the rods down and now it works right

search for NP203 parttime kit or something like that.

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Pick up a junk yard 208. It's been my experience that, despite the aluminum housing, the 208 is actually a tougher case. 203's are notorious for not staying in gear when they start to wear out.

The 205 is yet a better choice, but a more involved swap.

If you chose not to use the 203, consider keeping it or at least the range box. The range box coupled with a 205 makes a great off road cas with multiple low ranges. As far as the 208, not a bad box either, has a deeper low range than the 203 or 205.

kenny, the only issue is that the adapter to mate the rangebox to the 205 costs around $600.

and the 208 sucks, aluminium case and chain driven. the worst in thing is the nylon wear pads on the friggin shifters (oh wait, the shift forks are aluminium) that wear out and then the case pops out of gear. My truck only has 75k on it and its been doing that for a year or so.

203 equipped 727,s have a rear output shaft about 1.5 inches shorter then 727 with a 208/205.it will still engage the 208 but will only give you half the engagement you would get with the right output shaft

I swp the NP203 in my 79 powerwagon for a np205and its a easy swp. You can use your crossmember, it lines up perfectly. you need a dodge np205 with a 23 spline input shaft. since your mounting it shaft to shaft you need the np205 coupler. You also need the adapter that connects the np205 to your trannsmission. So 4 things are needed - np205, coupler, adapter, and longer rear driveshaft since the np205 is shorter than the np203. You will also need to shorten the front driveshaft. send me a pm if you decide to do this swp.

Re: RE: NP203

CCATLETT1984 said:

kenny, the only issue is that the adapter to mate the rangebox to the 205 costs around $600.

and the 208 sucks, aluminium case and chain driven. the worst in thing is the nylon wear pads on the friggin shifters (oh wait, the shift forks are aluminium) that wear out and then the case pops out of gear. My truck only has 75k on it and its been doing that for a year or so.

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I always thought the 208 would break in half before it got a chance to wear out.....you must not be wheeling it hard enough.

mall crawler????? lol

RE: Re: RE: NP203

The NP208 is an "ok" transfer case. It works well in most stock vehicles and can last a decent amount of time with proper care. The issue I have with the 208 is shock loading will tear it up in short order. It's still a good case, but it can't compare to the cast iron case NP205. A NP203 is a cast iron case also, but is much heavier and is still chain driven. It's fulltime differential is temperamental after it some miles on it and shifter problems are common as well as complications from half contrived part time conversions. The NP205 is the best light duty stock style transfer case out there, hands down. Gear driven, 32 spline outputs, and dual stick capable with a few low cost mods. The swap to a 205 is well worth the cost and effort if you want a good, cheap heavy duty case for a truck.