Transmissions 256 & 396

General help and support for your Lindeman through 2010 John Deere crawler
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ddaxe
430 crawler
430 crawler
Posts: 67
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2015 6:18 pm
Location: Northern Ontario Canada

Transmissions 256 & 396

Post by ddaxe » Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:24 pm

I'm not really asking a question here, but rather something I ran into while rebuilding my 440. Being that I have 3 machines, 2 later with transmission casting # 396 and one early with # 256, I decided to use the later version 5spd because of having extra parts (if need be) , but also, it had bigger bearing in the ring gear quills. The only thing I didn't realize is the later cases are 1 inch longer than the earlier version. Not a problem if you are building from one machine. It gets dicey when you mixing parts from both early and later types. 1st thing I ran into was both finals had 2 different clutch disc drums, a 6-7 config and an 8-8. No biggy since I had another set of finals to pick from that were 8-8 as well. But it left me scratching my head for a bit.. until Lavoy put me on the right track, both knowledge wise and parts wise. (Many Thanks Lavoy) So, now I ran into where the brackets on the bell housing do not line up with the frame rails. Even grabbing the brackets from the later machine got it closer, but not lined up. Makes me wonder if the other frame rail are a bit longer. Guess I'm going to find out what mods I'm going to have to make when I go to install the engine and rad. Other than that, the build is going along quite well. I have been documenting my progress and will be putting together a video and will likey post it to You Tube when I finish it.
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JWB Contracting
2010 crawler
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Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2009 10:08 pm
Location: Edmonton, Alberta

Re: Transmissions 256 & 396

Post by JWB Contracting » Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:43 pm

We have run into the same problem and had to change the frame rails. We were intentionally salvaging the complete rear end and final drives from a late model diesel and installing early model 4 speed and final drives.
Jason Benesch

John Deere 420, 430, 440 & 350C With 3 Point Hitch
John Deere 400G With Winch
John Deere 2010 Crawler Dozer
John Deere 420, 430, 435 & 440 Wheel Tractors

User avatar
ddaxe
430 crawler
430 crawler
Posts: 67
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2015 6:18 pm
Location: Northern Ontario Canada

Re: Transmissions 256 & 396

Post by ddaxe » Mon Jan 13, 2020 8:01 pm

I didn't realize that there was a difference. I do have the proper rails.. just they are buried in 3 ft of snow. I did mod things to get everything to fit.. and now I'm pretty sure the same will be true mounting the engine.. oh well. such is the fun of playing with 60 year old iron...
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