Im thinkin of replacing the stock 5 speend in my rig before ording drive shafts due to a motor/sas/chevy 3/4 ton axels swap runnin 38s maby upgrading to 40s soon. So the stocker is chain drive and I found a w56 off an 87 with marlin crawler box for 1200 bucks. I think thats a little steep and goin to try and low ball the guy for $700-800. I did a 4.3l chevy swap so I doubled the hp and was told the chain driven t case was my weak link and so Im wanting to replace it. I already bought the advanced addapter bellhousing and motor mount kit. So all that bein said Would this be a good upgrade or sould I find something else? When I go to look at this trans and t case what are good things to look at for wear and tear on it to make sure its not junk and already worn out?

 

i think you need a stronger tranny

 

like what?

 

Like a 700R4.

 

The w56 should hold up fairly well as long as you arnt to hard on your rig.

If you want to be sure it holds up to the power go with a newer chevy transmission.
You will need to get the advanceadapters tranny to t-case adapter. And a gear driven t-case. I have never heard of one of them failing. Maybe with a v8 or something, but it should be fine with a 4.3.