The 2003-2004 New Venture NV273F transfer cases were built at the New Process Plant in Syracuse NY and use the industry standard, round, 6-bolt mounting flange.They were used for both manual and automatic transmission equipped Super Duty and Excursion 4x4s. Effective with the 2003 model year, a new 34 spline input shaft replaced the previous 24 spline part used for trucks with 6 speed manual transmissions. The 34 spline input is also used in vehicles with the 5 speed automatic transmission. For base model trucks with a 4-speed automatic, the 31 spline input was a carryover from 2002.
The NV273F was the optional Transfer Case for the 2003-2004 Ford Super Duty® F-250, F-350, F-450, F-550 4x4 trucks and as the base Transfer Case for Excursions. The NV273F is a fairly reliable unit that underwent a number of design modifications during it's production life. The NV273F is an electric shift, chain drive transfer case with synchronized 4x4 high range, 2.72:1 planetary driven 4x4 low range and aluminum case castings.
For shift on the fly 4x2 to 4x4 operation, a multi-piece synchronizer set is used. The electrically shifted mode fork engages a sliding clutch ring with the sprocket carrier. At the same time, the vacuum operated front hub-locks are engaged for near instant power transfer to the front wheels. For low range operation, the electrically shifted range fork is spring loaded to allow the fork to move even if the range hub clutch teeth are momentarily out of synch with the planetary. The spring loaded fork does increase wear on the plastic range fork shift pads, however a more robust fork and pad design was introduced late in the 2001 model year.
