OK will do tomorrow. At the fd today. Thanks for all the input. I will report back with my findings and more questions im sure.

 

i have a new thought thanks to my buddy stripping the splines on his lifted jeep. Since you have a 8" lift and I'm probally right thinking the previous owner didn't have the drive shaft lenghtened..... 8" lift lifts the truck causing the front drive shaft to be short so the drive shaft pulls apart just enough to still be hooked but just barely. Now Ive read your last post where you sunk this truck with what 38" tires correct? Now you've said that both times it felt like the truck slipped into 4wd correct? It sounds like to me that with minimal front drive shaft engagement that the little bit of spline that was engaged might have finally stripped out and now the drive shaft is just spinning freely inside of itself. i would remove the drive shaft from the front axle (four bolts) and pull it apart. This will let you check the splines, grease the splines and let you see how much of the splines are engaging, then you can determine if the drive shaft is too short or not and at least grease the splines since they go dry ALL THE TIME ON FORDS

 

No I never swamped it and never had 38. Just put a different set of military 37 on it. OK so today I jacked it up and put it on 4 jack stands. The right front hub seems normal free knuckle doesn't spin and locked it does. The left front knuckle is turning in both free and locked. But in locked I can put a pry bar in the knuckle and I can still spin the tire with some resistance. It does not seem to be locked it. The other side will not spin with the pry bar in. Would this hub not locking in cause the truck to not go into 4wd or even 3wd? What do u think? I have not looked at the drive shaft yet. Does not spin in 2wd and spins in 4wd.

 

if the front driveshaft spins while the dash lights read 4wd then something is wrong with the t-case motor or t-case itself

 

my bad you had your 37's half buried in your last thread... so lets just say 18" of water plus the mud? Since you stated you have Warn manual hubs if the hub is in the FREE position and you still cant turn the axle shaft something is wrong in the hub assembly. Remove the six screws and make sure everything is ok in there the dial could just be dry or maybe packed with mud, or the needle bearing that holds the stub shaft could be seized to the shaft causing the problem in the hub. Now to fix the t-case i would unbolt the motor and have someone turn the dash 4x4 switch and you watch and see if the motor turns if it does then the motor is working. Then i would turn the shaft that the motor goes on and see if the tcase locks into 4wd if so turn it back to 2wd reinstall the motor and see if the motor will put the tcase into 4wd. If its doesn't and the tcase works when you turned it the tcase motor could just be old/weak and not have the power to turn the tcase shaft into 4wd mode..... If the dash light reads 4wd and you hear the motor turn the tcase the front shaft should not turn while in 4wd, and since yours isn't something is defiantly wrong

 

Isn't the the front drive supposed to spin when in 4wd? If one of the hubs is not working (locking in) would this cause the entire 4wd system to fail?

 

If one hub is not engaged the front differential will send all the power to the unlocked hub, so the effect will be zero drive to the front axle. Unless you have a locking front diff, which you probably don't. If you put the transfer case in 4wd and in gear/engine running with the front tires off the ground, the front driveshaft should turn. If it does, the transfer case is at least engaging. (the rear wheels should be off the ground, too...)

Brian

 

yes that is what's happening the rear tires are spinning of course and the fronts are not in 4 wheel drive but the drive shaft is. it's sitting on for Jax right now completely off the ground. It sounds to me like I have a problem with one of the hub not engageing especially since the knuckle is not locking in. I will try to rebuild learned from this website and go from there. Does the hub rebuild usually solve the problem or do I have to Get a new hub you think. They are aftermarket warn

 

I would just buy warns but that's just me