New Rancho box - sticking in gear.

[autohausdolby]

I've just put a brand new Rancho box in my '67 and it's the first time I've ever used them. I install plenty of recon boxes in customer's cars but this is the first time we've used Rancho. Obviously the box was completely dry when it went in, but post filling with oil it turned out to be very stuck in 1st gear. Some enthusiastic tugging of the gear stick eventually got it out, and further tugging got it into 2nd, then eventually 3rd and 4th. Reverse is yet to be found - the neutral part of the gate is very narrow, and 1st and 3rd are very close to it compared to 2nd and 4th, which are a normal distance back. The linkage is free and in excellent condition, and shifting was factory perfect with the old box.

My question is has anybody had this with a new Rancho box before? I note that the hockey stick has a new phosphor bronze bush in it so I'm assuming it's tight and that some movement and oil circulation will help matters, but some hindsight from others with experience would be nice before I pull the box again to take the nose cone off.

As an aside I will call Rancho and talk to them if necessary but syncronising call times between the UK and California is a ballache.

[Udo]

I would call them . The best gearboxes i had for our race cars came from Rancho....

Udo

[Fastbrit]

but syncronising call times between the UK and California is a ballache.

4.00pm our time is 8.00am SoCal time - not that difficult surely? In fact, you could probably call at 3.00pm our time and get an answer as most US businesses start far earlier than we lazy Europeans.

[andy198712]

not sure its the same but when we installed a late box in the oval, we couldn't get gears and was as you describe.

in our case the hock stick wasn't lined up right, and we needed to retate the hockey stock in the coupler under the rear seat will we could only see half the locating hole, then tighten, then it worked.

it was trying to move two of the legs (wrong term) at once which it won't allow...

[Bruce]

, and further tugging got it into 2nd, then eventually 3rd and 4th. ..........., and shifting was factory perfect with the old box.

I think I know what's happening.  It is common to find the bores for the two forward shift rods to be badly worn out when the trans core is opened up.  Especially if your gearbox was built from a core that lived it's previous lives in the land of perpetual summer.  To correct this, the gear carrier is machined to accept bronze bushings.  After the bushings are installed, they are honed to fit.  The fit just has to be a light slip fit.  You likely have a gear carrier like this, and the shift rods are just a little stiff.  Once lube gets on them, and they get some usage, they will be fine.  Your old gearbox shifted easy because it had more wear.
It also sounds like you are just tugging and pushing on the shaft that protrudes from the nose cone.  Once installed, you have quite a large mechanical advantage when you hook up the shifter.  

... the neutral part of the gate is very narrow, and 1st and 3rd are very close to it compared to 2nd and 4th, which are a normal distance back. ....

The distances you describe are not adjustable in the gearbox. The distance from neutral into any gear is exactly the same for all gears.
Different shifters will change the throw.

[autohausdolby]

I meant to reply to this a while back - the cause was really obvious when I found it but I've never personally experienced it before so didn't even think to look for it. The box had taken a heavy impact to the hockey stick, presumably as a result of it coming as hold cargo on a passenger flight. The hockey stick had bent at its weakest point and been knocked into gear when it happened. A new hockey stick and all is well.

Sam at Rancho was very helpful also.

[youngnstudly]

I had the same issue on TWO swing axle trans I bought a few years back, one from Rancho and the other from a competitor. Neither supplier bothered to do more than tape a piece of PVC pipe over the hockey stick and throw the trans into the shipping box without using packing materials or wrapping anything up. Both times the hockey stick punctured the box during shipping and got bent enough to not allow me to line up the neutral gate. Once I pulled the nose cone off and located the issue, all was well. And both times the supplier acted like that was the first time they had ever heard of that happening when I notified them of the damage during shipping!

 Glad you got that issue figured out.  Would have been a real bitch to find the issue after the trans was installed! 

Andy