Atlas vs. STaK

[House]

OK guys, I know how we all love polls...
Go ahead and pick what your choice would be, and if you have any good
reasons let me know why... It is time to ditch the D20!

[PDXBronco]

Are we looking at best bang for the buck or preference aside from $. To me I was really weighing these options well, the 2 speed cases as well as the klune and 203/205 setup and mine came down to budget and strength and cool DIY points .
I went with the doubler setup which in the end should be only about lets see
203 - $125
205 - $75
Adapter - $500
Driveshaft mods - $150
Triple stick stuff - $100
Exhaust - $100

So looks like ~ 1k but of course it is also more work than bolting up a Stak or Atlas. If I didnt need the tax return to cover my wife's maternity leave this summer I would have done the Atlas II 4.3 case to go behind my 3550.

What trans are you running? The Stak's will bolt up without adapters I believe but the Atlas requires another $400 adpater but end up cheaper if you are already running a 3550 or something more common that they build to spec to.

[House]

I, myself, am running a NP435.
I love the 6.69 granny gear...

[PhantomEB]

Myself I wonder who hangs down the lowest???

[PhantomEB]

Ok Cary, tell me how low does a BBox hang down below the C4, please?

[crawlin68]

I didn't vote yet because I have a question first. Hey Cary, so tell me about the idler bearing in the Stak. I've read some things about it not being rated for highway speed driving. Is this just internet miss-information? Or is there some truth to this? I really like to drive my Bronco on the street and to and from the trails. (usually 100 miles or more highway time each trip) Just curious.

[TBS-POPS]

Hey Pat, I've heard that your hwy days may be gone with those boxes hang'n on the ends of your big nine inch!! POPS

[crawlin68]

Hey Pat, I've heard that your hwy days may be gone with those boxes hang'n on the ends of your big nine inch!! POPS

No way dude! I'll still be driving on the highway. The only problems that people have had with driving them on the highway for any length of time is heat build up in portal boxes. BUT, that is with the stock drum brakes. In their stock form, the drum encases the portal box which causes the heat build up. The disk brake conversion eliminates the "insulating" brake drum and allows the heat to dissipate.

[TBS-POPS]

Well, It's all in a word "COOL". I want to see that thing in the "pit" at 2nd annual "POPS IS TURNING 50" bash!!! POPS

[Bronco Brian]

I didn't vote yet because I have a question first. Hey Cary, so tell me about the idler bearing in the Stak. I've read some things about it not being rated for highway speed driving. Is this just internet miss-information? Or is there some truth to this? I really like to drive my Bronco on the street and to and from the trails. (usually 100 miles or more highway time each trip) Just curious.

I have not heard about this, but I would like to know too. For I have been thinging about one of there too.

[XT700]

I went with a 3 speed B-box from CaryT, bolted up no problem behind the NP435. Price was a factor, got it during the original mass buy, also wanted the option of a reasonable range of gears for both crawling and higher speed wheeling. Haven't wheeled much but do love the choices. However, it does hang down below the frame rails a fair amount. When we installed it we cut a little out of the body brace to gain some height but expect we will be carving a hole in the floor eventually to gain clearance. The most annoying thing is the shifter setup, to say it is a joke is an understatement!!! A piece of threaded rod to hold all the shifters and this thing shifts mean, will probably get better over time(I hope). Expect that I'll need to fabricate some sort of cable shifters to be satisified, I think one of the aftermarket companies(Northwest Fab, maybe) is working on a cable shifter but will not be to market in the near future. All that being said, I still recommend the Stak. Oh yeah, with the 4.11 rear, lowest crawl ratio is 150:1. Picture is a little deceiving since I was standing slightly below the truck but you get the idea.

[KingOf_Pain]

To compare apples to apples, what kind of prices are we looking at?

[House]

XT700, do you have a body lift at all?

[Rockbronco67]

I bought a Stak 3 speed, I can't give an opinion yet because I haven't drove my rig. I know that it took me 3+ months to get shipped to my door. Also I have emailed them a few questions and no response. I agree with XT700 that the shifter setup are a joke. With the Stak you have to have some kind of body lift. I have a 2" body lift and it hangs down 2". That is with it clocked so the bottom is flat and tub support cut out.