I'm wondering if it is normal for the stock transfer case to get so hot that the shifter is rather hot to the touch and the entire console area above it radiates heat? I get it in summer on anything longer than a 30 mile drive, and especially when towing.

5 speed tranny in front of it; fresh Mobil 1 syhtetic oil about 20k miles ago in all boxes (which really helps here in the winter, highly recommended).

 

my dual cases get warm especially when in double low, but not so I can feel it on the shifter. just how heavy of a load are you towing? These trucks shouldn't be towing much more than 2k IMO...

how is the gear oil level? you changed it 20K ago but is it still up to the bottom of the fill hole? if it is getting that hot some of it is probably gone...

i would recommond pulling the transfer case and checking the input shaft (where it goes into the transmission) and the two out puts (you can do that with out pulling it) to check your bearings..depending on how many miles you have on this thing and how well the previous owners have taken care of the truck it might be time for a rebuild....it

 

My tcase shifter gets hot when I'm offroading. No forced convection to cool the housing down when you're crawling slow!

 

towing a motorcycle on a medium trailer - total weight maybe 1500 pounds, and no more than 100 miles. Oil level is fine, Mobil 1. It gets just as hot on the freeway at 65mph in the summer without towing, just takes more miles. Bearings - well, things are running nice and smooth, I get 22mpg and have no vibrations or leaks. It's just that heat starts building up on long trips, but it seems to get to a threshold that's hot but not too hot. I have done 4000 mile trips with it and other than being hot, it worked just fine. This has been going on for more than 20,000 miles, probably since I bought it 120k miles ago. I just never really noticed until I started towing and was somewhat more attentive to how the truck was doing. Then I noticed that it also does it when not towing. I doubt it has anything to do with the load, though, since an empty truck on a 80 degree day will get just as hot after 50-100 miles of freeway cruising in top gear at 65mph.