Questions re: steering, transfer case and bid

Hello once again. Need some input from you all on a couple of things...

Visited a local jeep builder today to give him a look at my steering and a glance over the '80 CJ5 we just got. He seemed impressed, however a couple of items caught my eye.

After a quick glance at the transfer case, he indicated he thought it might be a Dana 20 case, I thought the '80 used a D300. Afterwords I looked at the case number...can anyone confirm what transfer case I have, the number appears to be 0300-15-2 on the rear side.

We were exploring re-doing the steering, on this beast we have a factory tilt column with a worn upper u joint (and plastic bearing race). His bid for a replacement column, bearing (including retainer and clip) using a heavy duty column from Quadratec (page 220 of the 2006 spring addition) was $409.98 (which includes labor to install). Fair price? Anything better?

($229.99 plus $12 shipping, Labor $150 and misc. parts @ $19)

Since I only plan offroading only light to moderate...can this be overkill? We are considering it since this would appear to be a longterm upgrade.

So, do I have A Dana 300 transfer case, and, does the bid appear fair/good or not recommended?

Thanks for your input.

 

As for the bid; I do all my own mechanical work,but considering the cost of pro mechanics it doesn't seem too bad. Have you considered doing the job yourself? I think the upgrade is a good idea because the rag-joint at the lower-end of the stock steering shaft is a known weak link & the one you're looking at is a better design.
As for the xfer case; 1980 CJs came from the factory with a Dana300....Jeep useed the Dana20 from '76 to '79. I don't know the serial# pattern off the top of my head(if I find it I'll get back to you) but the shift lever on the 300 is about 10-12 inches long & straight. It comes out of the floor just behind & to the right of the xmission shifter. The shift lever on the 20 is shorter & comes out of the floor almost under the dash. The shift patterns are also different with the 4hi position on the 20 being farthest forward,then 2hi,then N,then 4lo. The
shift pattern on the 300 is 2hi farthest forward then N,then 4hi,then 4lo.
Hope that helps.

 

the dana 20 x-fer case went into cj's beginning in 1972, not 1976.

 

The easiest way to tell a 20 from a 300 is by the output housing. The 20's is iron and the 300's is aluminum.

"The 1980 Dana 300 features a shorter tail housing which allows a slightly longer rear driveshaft." http://www.jeeptech.com/xfer/d300.html That may be what's misleading your mechanic - an '80 300 will look different.