transmission brace

[Rockjunky317]

I have heard the 80's full size blazers and full size trucks came with braces that ran from the bell housing to the tailshaft to prevent the housing from breaking, I have had this issue on my SBC swap in my toyota many times, Does anyone have these braces or know where i can get them??

 

[Gravy]

I'm also interested in this. We cracked a tailcone on our trans also

 

[neagtea]

90/91 chev suburban with 5.7 and 700r4. I am sure others also

 

[Tacoma]

it actually runs from the bellhousing to the side of the t-case. And there are ones that go from the bellhousing to the motor mounts, too.

They came on pretty much every 80's truck. If anything was ever done to the t-case, they often were discarded for reasons I can't understand. I MIGHT have a spare, I'll look. PM me Saturday night, I'll look tomorrow or Sat. morning.

 

[Rockjunky317]

will do, i have made a mid engine mount, added a trans mount and beefed up the transfer case mount. just tired of getting stranded

 

[bryson]

will do, i have made a mid engine mount, added a trans mount and beefed up the transfer case mount. just tired of getting stranded

Not that the extra braces are a bad idea, but is it possible that some of your mounts are too rigid and don't let the drivetrain move like it needs to? Maybe you have to many mounts? I have seen situations where soft(er) engine mounts paired with a stiff trans mount causes enough strain on things to crack trans housings and such...

I guess my point is that if the trans/t-case is mounted more rigid than the engine, then all the stress is put through the trans case causing the failures - or at least some version of that scenario...

People may disagree, but I believe the engine needs to be mounted nice and solid, but the transmission end of things needs a bit of give so the housing survives. This theory has worked very well on my own rig.

 

[Tacoma]

FWIW, factory GM braces tie all the components to each other-- and the factory trans mounts are definitely softer than the engine mounts-- so I think your theory is sound.

 

[Rockjunky317]

Before i only had engine mounts (soft mounts) and a T-case mount (soft mount) since i re did it all i added a mid engine plate that a fabbed to fit stock transmission poly mounts (1 on each side) and then added a stock trans mount to the scenerio. I asked around about mounting the engine solid as this was my first idea but all the answers i got were the engine needs movement for when the torque comes through the drive train it needs to twist the engine some or it will just break more than what i have, another issue i noticed was a driveline angle, i was runnin a single piece rear driveline without a cv and was at a fairly steep angle, i since added the factory carrier back into the equation and cv style drive shafts, lowered the T-case 2 inches so i shouldnt get and driveline torque affecting it.

 

[mgrove1983]

The 2nd generation S10 pickups 1994 and up had them if they came with a 4.3 liter and a auto.