Spidertrax Heavy Duty Samurai T-Case Mounts

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Tech Section Spidertrax Transfer Case Arms with Jeff Pollock

With all the choices of lower geared transfer cases on the market to choose from, the stock Suzuki transfer case arms have shown that they cannot hold up to the increased torque. The stock long arm tends to twist as one hammers on their Zook to overcome obstacles, with the short arm soon to follow. Spidertrax has developed a cure for this problem, their Heavy Duty Transfer Case Arms.

These arms are extremely well built and very stout. The long arm is made from 3/16 thick steel and then boxed to make a rigid mount that resists the temptation to twist. Not only is it boxed for strength but it also has an added tab that creates another mounting place for the transfer case. Now the long arm uses six bolts to hold it in place instead of the normal four. The transfer case now resists movement front to back as well as side to side. This arm also allows the Zook enthusiast to use the Spidertrax E-Brake system without any special modifications to the arm.

The short arm has also been redesigned to help keep the transfer case in its proper position. It is just as stout as the long arm and it has been boxed to help it retain its shape. This bracket still mounts to the transfer case with four bolts. These are all new heavy duty components, not ‘strengthened’ stock components.

The components that come with the transfer case arms include:

Long arm

Short arm

(1) M8 1.25x40mm bolt

(1) M8 1.25x50mm bolt

M8 Lock washers

(6) M8 Flat washers

G8 (shims)

Although installation may look simple, there are some tricks to getting it go smoothly.

Locate and remove the two bolts from the left side of the transfer case directly adjacent to the long arm mounting boss.

Dry fit the long arm to the transfer case to see how the bolt holes line up and how many washers (shims) are needed to space out the tab and locate the arm in the correct position to align the four mounting bolts with the mounting boss.

Install washers (shims) as described above using the shorter 1.25x40mm bolt in the top part of the tab, then you can use the longer 1.25x50mm bolt in the lower hole.

NOTE: Do not tighten these bolts down too tight but rather leave some play in them until you install the four stock mounting bolts.

Install the four stock bolts starting with the two lower bolts holes. You will need a wrench since a socket will not fit due to the arm being boxed in.

Once you have these bolts tightened to 13.5 20 lb-ft (18-28 N m) then tighten the two tab bolts to 9.5 16.5 lb-ft (13-23 N m).

Flip the transfer case around and mount the short arm. The four bolts are to be tightened to 13.5 20 lb-ft (18-28 N m).

After this it is ready to be reinstalled in the vehicle. The stock rubber transfer case mounts can be used, or if you wish you can upgrade to the Spidertrax Poly Mount kit.

The Spidertrax HD transfer case arms are solid components with a well thought out design to prevent the case from twisting. The only inconvenience is that the two lower mounting bolts for the original mount location is a tight fit, requiring the use of a wrench instead of a socket. This makes it a bit hard to set the torque correctly. These components will hold up to the abuses of wheeling and they have been tested and proven reliable by the crew at Spidertrax for sometime. Source: