Midnight Metalworks Rockbox D300

P man said:
Tera-


Dont forget tera-low..I bought one needing a "rebuild"..inside was fucked..no parts to be had. Went right into the scrap pile.
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I helped someone who was running a Tera low. A buddy was selling one and he had a spare planetary. I did my best to convince the first guy to buy them for spare parts, the complete conversion and the spare planetary. Nope, too much money, don't want to spend it. I explained that the day will come when that will seem like a pittance when the Tera has to come out, go in the trash and get replaced with anything but a stock 231.

He isn't happy about what an Atlas costs, or the 2500 that the used 241's are going for.
 
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Wildman said:
I never considered TeraLow in the same book as these custom cases & boxes. But yes when TeraFlex stopped offering the TeraLow box you were SOL. But no different than like when Warn stopped offering the full floater kits.

My old TeraLow is still in service on a friends YJ. She had the t-case resealed a few years ago but other than that it's fine.
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I guess my point was this..I always look at something based on longevity. Am I going to be able to repair or replace parts when they break? Am I spending a ton of money on something that may fizzle out in a year?

I understand the midnight design is based on a d300 but there has to be custom parts involved at some point.

I will always try and go for tried and true before trying the new and best but that's just me
 
P man said:
I guess my point was this..I always look at something based on longevity. Am I going to be able to repair or replace parts when they break? Am I spending a ton of money on something that may fizzle out in a year?

I understand the midnight design is based on a d300 but there has to be custom parts involved at some point.

I will always try and go for tried and true before trying the new and best but that's just me
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And my point is that 90% of the parts going into the any of these custom cases that are styled after production t-cases either the D300 or NP205 can be found easily.
STaK's made a replacement D300 case and I know guys who are still running one. So I'd argue that buying one of these cases isn't the same as buying a complete t-case. But that's just my opinion.
When I was buying I wanted multiple speeds and the new 4 speed Atlas wasn't due out for 8-12 month so I bought the STaK's instead. So now when it breaks Iv'e got a $3000 paper weight. Until then I'll continue to run it. And as has been discussed I'll keep my eyes out for a NP205 for a GOOD price. And then when the STaK's takes a shit on me I'll build a NP205 & crawler box.

You've got to take a chance now & then... And yep I got burned for doing that.


Edit: Look at our TJ's. stock replacement parts are becoming harder and harder to find. How is that any different?
 
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P man said:
I guess my point was this..I always look at something based on longevity. Am I going to be able to repair or replace parts when they break? Am I spending a ton of money on something that may fizzle out in a year?

I understand the midnight design is based on a d300 but there has to be custom parts involved at some point.

I will always try and go for tried and true before trying the new and best but that's just me
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I always think these start-ups like MM et al really miss the boat due to their fascination with turning giant hunks of solid aluminum into billet cases. That is cost prohibitive, doesn't really add that much value to the product and certainly doesn't add enough to overcome the pile of scrap aluminum in the barrel.

If they would go into it with a good casting engineer, pay for some molds and start off with a high quality cast case in some heat treated aluminum alloy, they would be money ahead, deliver product in a very timely manner and be a lot more successful. They could probably do the D300 case for 12-1500 bucks retail that way.
 
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RINC said:
I remember something about the shift fork being redesigned to work better.
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A Modern Dana 300 Replacement Case: The Colossus abandons outdated and easily bent shift fork technology from the 70’s. The D300 Colossus is a fully modern transfer case utilizing billet shift carriers machined from half inch thick steel to ensure performance and smooth shifting control in the most demanding applications.

Gear Compatibility: Our DIY Builder case is compatible with both stock Dana 300 gears, or you can upgrade to the JB Conversions 4:1 LowMax gear set to get the most unbeatable, unbreakable transfer case available. This listing is for a DIY builder case, allowing you to install your own gears.
Behemoth versus Atlas: Unlike an Atlas case, the Colossus is machined from a solid raw block of aircraft grade 6061-T651 billet aluminum and is not cast – contributing to a substantial reduction of weight plus the added strength that billet has over cast aluminum.

Enormous Weight Reduction: The empty case weight of a Dana 300 Colossus Replacement case with all fasteners, retainers and shifters installed is 25 pounds. Fully geared with 4:1 LowMax gears a completely geared Colossus weights in at only 72 pounds, substantially lighter than the Stock Dana 300 weight of 85 pounds.






 
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Here's the latest from MMW.

Midnight Metalworks​

·
I started MMW as a way to share my passion and love for the off-road industry with people, this has and always will be a passion thing, nothing else. My sincerest apologizes for the lack of communication while I have been struggling with how to fix the current issues Midnight Metalworks is and has faced.
It is sad and unfortunate that the business has taken some large economic hits throughout the past year. As with many small business’s including MMW covid and the economy has effected the entire supply chain including, price increases, cost of labor, ability to source components etc… with all this uncertainty and our failure to properly communicate to our customers we know there’s been a swirling of rumors that I intend to set right with some truth of our current situation.
I am and will continue to fill and ship orders from the current component inventory. it’s been incredibly hard to keep up with all forms of communication as 1 guy machining, assembling and shipping. I have NOT taken any new orders for sometime now and will absolutely NOT take any new orders until I am caught up on all existing orders.
I am actively working on ways to make this right with everyone, whether it’s getting product to you guys or offering up refunds. Currently refunds will be available as funds become available.
At this point the business is up for sale so I can refund everyone and make this right with you guys, I will work every day and night to make sure that this gets taken care of. This is not the position I ever wanted to be in, this situation 100% haunts me.
I do take personal responsibility as any business owner should and with that I’ve liqudated personal assets to keep machines running and product shipping I will continue to do everything reasonably possible to get the investment and trust of our customers back.
Thank you
Rob Dockler
 
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mrblaine said:
None of them are sensors, they are just simple plunger switches that have a ball that rides in the detent mode plate. The 231 switch is a N/O and the one for the 241 looks nearly identical but is reversed as a N/C. They used to all work pretty much perfectly, for some reason that changes and they are now inconsistent.
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This is definitely an annoying problem I can attest to.


I went through 2 or 3 brand new switches when I swapped mine 2 years ago. The first didn't work installed but did work when bench tested. The second one was intermittent. The third one has been installed since finally assembly with no issues.

It seemed that all 3 were inconsistent in their overall length when I measured them. The longest switch was the one that worked.
 
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Longwhitejeep said:
This is definitely an annoying problem I can attest to.


I went through 2 or 3 brand new switches when I swapped mine 2 years ago. The first didn't work installed but did work when bench tested. The second one was intermittent. The third one has been installed since finally assembly with no issues.

It seemed that all 3 were inconsistent in their overall length when I measured them. The longest switch was the one that worked.
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Did you post this in the wrong thread?
 
Wildman said:
Did you post this in the wrong thread?
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No, just catching up from earlier in the week 😂. Sharing my experiences with a 241or swap.

We just swapped another one a few months ago in a buddies tj behind an ax15. He found one in car-part.com for under 2k shipped with relatively lower miles.

Back to your regularly scheduled program.
 
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Longwhitejeep said:
No, just catching up from earlier in the week 😂. Sharing my experiences with a 241or swap.

We just swapped another one a few months ago in a buddies tj behind an ax15. He found one in car-part.com for under 2k shipped with relatively lower miles.

Back to your regularly scheduled program.
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Another one of those annoying issues when you can't see what someone was replying too.
 
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