Worn out T-case chain

[The Dark Side of Will]

ZF didn't make the E30 chain, borg warner did. :)

Did the Prowler guy but up BMW's stock, ZF's or BW's? (Or all of them?)

We tried to cross-reference BMW's part number on ZF's web catalog, but nothing came up.

[The Dark Side of Will]

i saved this link after someone posted it ,never used them but they do have a listing ,might be worth a call, i know when this was posted a few years ago people were amazed how expensive the chains were then

http://www.drivetrain.com/parts_cata...se_chains.html

Awesome! Thanks!

[nando]

ZF didn't make the E30 chain, borg warner did. :)

[Nisse Järnet]

Check with ZF directly, i got a price quote for a brand new E34ix TC chain a couple months ago. It was around ~450$
A factory rebuilt TC was around 3000$ btw :D

[nando]

there are two types of chains, they are matched to the sprockets. that's why they want you to buy them as a set, although you don't need to. you just need to make sure you get the right chain.

also, the chains are not being made anymore by BW. I know the guy who bought them all up, apparently he uses them in the rear diff of a Plymouth Prowler to build shorter ratio diffs. He and I talked about it for a while, trying to find alternatives. there aren't really any good ones. Best we could do is get two smaller chains which is what they do now anyway (and why you can't get wider chains anymore). they still make the links, the issue is the longer pins that hold them together.

BMW has chains available but they are $900. if that drivetrain.com place does indeed have a replica chain it's probably worth investigating.

[spdracrm3]

i saved this link after someone posted it ,never used them but they do have a listing ,might be worth a call, i know when this was posted a few years ago people were amazed how expensive the chains were then

http://www.drivetrain.com/parts_catalog/transfer_case_replacements_and_parts/transfer_case_chains.html

[The Dark Side of Will]

My dad's '91 iX automatic (Lasurblau 4 door) recently started clunking with heavy throttle like it had stripped splines.

We snagged Jute91's replacement shaft fitting and had a local machinist make/weld a BMW 4 bolt flange onto it (pics to follow).

I tried to change it out yesterday, and found that the splines on the driveshaft and in the sprocket were in fantastic shape and basically not worn at all... uh-oh. I re-greased the splines and reassembled.

It looks like the chain is shot in the T-case.

RealOEM says that the chain should be replaced with both sprockets. I have my doubts about that, as the chain wears out by the pins and pin holes wearing and wallowing out. There's high contact loading on those parts, so that's expected. The sprocket should have much lower contact loading where it touches the chain, so I would expect that the sprocket could still be fine while the chain might be worn out.

Searching for the part number finds listings from the usual suspects in the range of $950. I @$$ume this is just the chain, as one of the sites said 4.4 lbs shipping weight.

Is that really what new chains cost? How hit or miss is a used chain?

From what I've read on R3V, I thought that the chains almost never wore out, but stripping the splines was more common, BUT cases of chain wear are more common if the T-case oil is low. I've heard through word of mouth that the chains wear out commonly also.