complete rebuild or not?
 

I am in the process of rebuilding a transfer case. I had to buy a reman half (back half) because mine had a crack. This TC needed a rebuild, so I bought a 6 gear planetary gear, new chain and a rebuild kit complete with bearings, seals and all the parts you need. I am not sure I should replace the bearings from both halves because the bearing seem to be rolling free without any binding. I need pullers that I can either get from a friend or rent from auto parts store. If everything seems alright shouldn't it be ok to leave those bearings in and move onto to rebuilding?

not from a mechanic's view point, but after having to do all that work, wouldn't it be advisable just to replace the bearings just to be sure?

If youre gonna have it apart you might as well do them. That way everything is nice and new.

Tcase
 

Do it once, do it right.

The consensus says to rebuild it completely. I guess I will get the tools to replace it all. The parts I ordered were just the regular replacements. I did not go for a larger chain or other parts. I probably would have done that but when I took it into the shop for regear they had to rebuild the rear drive shaft. I didn't see the point in buying the upgraded parts since the shaft was already upgraded. Although I did buy a 6 gear planetary, maybe down the road I will rebuild it with an SYE and wider chain. Has anyone ever built a doubler? Or do you know of anyone who has done this? They don't seem very common.

I am in the process of rebuilding. I got the two halves back together. I saw on a YT vid a guy put the bearing in the nose cone where the speedometer gear is along with the snap ring. Installed the brass oil gasket on the other side. I did that but I dry fit it and dont see the groove for the snap ring, I know there's two. I am not sure where to go from here. All the rebuilds I see on YT, they are all doing SYE's and I did not go that route. I only did the rebuild kit and the 6 gear planetary. My rear drive shaft was recently rebuilt so I decided I would drive it like that for a while or until it broke. Two shops agreed that an SYE would not get necessary with my current lift. We'll see when I flex it out!