LS bellhousing stiffener rods

[K5Rob]

On my K5 when it had its original 350 and 700r4 there was a stiffener bar running from the bell housing to the side of the 208 transfer case and also a stiffener bar on each side running from the bell housing up to the motor mount area. So a total of 3 rods. Not sure if they have a specific name or not.

Now that I have a 5.3 and 4L60E in place of the old running gear are these stiffener bars necessary? I believe I sort of asked this in another thread but my real question here is should these be in place on an LS and are there any LS guys running these or not running these and how is your rig holding up. I am not entirely sure what the purpose is other than they came on the vehicle originally. I would have to modify them to make them work if they would even fit at all. I should mention I dont plan on doing any heavy wheeling with this truck if that matters.

 

[Rusty Nail]

Worth money to a k5 guy.
U got the hardware and everything?
Bling bling!

 

[CalSgt]

I don’t recall seeing any bell housing support bars on the L92 I just disassembled, IIRC most of the LS motors use the back of the cast aluminum oil pan to support the bell housing.

 

[Chevy 88]

If the engine and trans didn't come with them from the factory, then you don't need them.

 

[K5Rob]

If the engine and trans didn't come with them from the factory, then you don't need them.

Eng and trans did not, but they were out of a 2wd truck. I am not sure what the 4wd configuration looks like in the newer trucks other than i believe the tcase is driver side drop

 

[K5Rob]

I don’t recall seeing any bell housing support bars on the L92 I just disassembled, IIRC most of the LS motors use the back of the cast aluminum oil pan to support the bell housing.

Yes the bellhousing on this truck is a full circle as opposed to the sbc bell which only goes around 2/3 or so. So i think for that reason the forward two bars that tie to the motor mounts are redundant. My main concern is the bar that goes from the t case up to the bell housing

 

[bruisedbanana79]

I was able to use the T-case to bellhousing bar with no issue, I figured might as well use it since I have it vs leaving it off.

 

[TotalyHucked]

Eng and trans did not, but they were out of a 2wd truck. I am not sure what the 4wd configuration looks like in the newer trucks other than i believe the tcase is driver side drop

T-case is driver side drop in the newer stuff. There's no support rods or anything on the newer 4wds, you don't need them in your K5. There's not really a good way to utilize them anyway since the oil pan is cast aluminum. The bellhousing is fully supported on an LS, bolts to the block up high and then also bolts to the oil pan, so it's got 360* of contact. The old stuff that came in that blazer had a removable inspection cover, so the bottom 3rd of the bellhousing wasn't supported/bolted to anything and that would let it flex. That was the reason for those rods.

 

[K5Rob]

T-case is driver side drop in the newer stuff. There's no support rods or anything on the newer 4wds, you don't need them in your K5. There's not really a good way to utilize them anyway since the oil pan is cast aluminum. The bellhousing is fully supported on an LS, bolts to the block up high and then also bolts to the oil pan, so it's got 360* of contact. The old stuff that came in that blazer had a removable inspection cover, so the bottom 3rd of the bellhousing wasn't supported/bolted to anything and that would let it flex. That was the reason for those rods.

Thank you for the detailed explanation. I’ll buy this. Do you know, on the newer stuff, is the transfer case supported in any way? My 208 hangs off the back of my 4L60E with really no type of support.

 

[TotalyHucked]

Nope, it just hangs out off the back of the trans. But these are aluminum housings, if that one's cast iron, I might think about coming up with some sort of cradle/mount for it. Here's a picture of my '05

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[SquareRoot]

If the engine and trans didn't come with them from the factory, then you don't need them.

 

[K5Rob]

Nope, it just hangs out off the back of the trans. But these are aluminum housings, if that one's cast iron, I might think about coming up with some sort of cradle/mount for it. Here's a picture of my '05

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Thanks for the pic, is it not sitting on the crossmember with the oval slots? And when you mention aluminum/cast housings which piece are you referring to? I believe my 208 is aluminum

 

[TotalyHucked]

Thanks for the pic, is it not sitting on the crossmember with the oval slots? And when you mention aluminum/cast housings which piece are you referring to? I believe my 208 is aluminum

No, that's the torsion bar crossmember. The tail housing just floats above that.

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My whole Tcase is aluminum on my '05, I have very little experience with squarebody 4x4s, so I wasn't sure if your case was cast iron or aluminum. If the whole thing is aluminum, like the newer trucks, I would image it would be fine to just hang out. I went outside and checked out our '86 Blazer to see what it's T-case was like. If it were me, and my truck had a crossmember close like this one is, I might think about making up my own support rod to go down and pick up that crossmember (with bushings of course, hard mounted can crack the case), but I'm Mr Overdo Everything. Though there's only a support rod on one side, so I'm not sure if that would be beneficial or not. I just don't have enough experience with these to say for sure.

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[K5Rob]

No, that's the torsion bar crossmember. The tail housing just floats above that.

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My whole Tcase is aluminum on my '05, I have very little experience with squarebody 4x4s, so I wasn't sure if your case was cast iron or aluminum. If the whole thing is aluminum, like the newer trucks, I would image it would be fine to just hang out. I went outside and checked out our '86 Blazer to see what it's T-case was like. If it were me, and my truck had a crossmember close like this one is, I might think about making up my own support rod to go down and pick up that crossmember (with bushings of course, hard mounted can crack the case), but I'm Mr Overdo Everything. Though there's only a support rod on one side, so I'm not sure if that would be beneficial or not. I just don't have enough experience with these to say for sure.

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Yep mine looks exactly like that. Except mounted to the 4L60E

 

[K5Rob]

No, that's the torsion bar crossmember. The tail housing just floats above that

So unfortunately I tossed the bar that was on the transfer case, not sure how that happened. But i found one at the scrap yard but apparently it’s different as the holes dont line up with my 208. And thankfully I had some round stock on hand although it was larger diameter.
I had to throw a kink in it for exhaust clearance but this is what I ended up with.