Yeap another 4x4 thread......
I searched for a while but I cant figure out whats causing this problem with my 4x4.

When trying to "shift on the fly" as ford calls it i get no clunk from the transfer case. When I put it in Neutral and shift to 4wd, no clunk, then shift for 4Lo I get a clunk from the T case. Then when shifting back up to 4Hi i get a clunk, but from 4hi to 2wd no clunk.

Also when in 4Lo the front wheels don't spin ( its stuck in the driveway now)

I changed one of the front hubs recently and used new o rings and some grease and everything seemed fine about 2 weeks ago. But im not 100% sure since the roads were dry.

Should the hubs be engaged in 4Lo?

 

Yeah the 98-2000 ranger 4x4's used the pulse vacume hub system that is very problematic. The system gets vacume leaks thats hard to pinpoint as even the hubs themselfs have vacume. The simple solution is a set Of AVM manual hubs from telico off/road fro around 100 bucks. They do way with the vacume operated hubs for years of carefree 4wd.

 

Yeah I know that the hubs are a known problem. Hopefully ill be able to jack the front end up this weekend and see if there engaging.

I think that the shift motor might be conking out on me though. I used to get a loud thud and now its not as loud and doesn't happen when i shift into 4Hi.

How would i test the shift motor? Can I take it off and manually shift it into 4Hi somehow?

 

Thats the 2 area's of concern, the PVH or the shift motor, it will be one or the other. Sometime you can pull the shift motor and just dive it a good cleaning and it will function properly, if not, replace it.

 

Thanks alot Wendell, I was looking at some guides to that and I see theres a brown wire which has to be cut, Do I just splice it back together and wrap it up good with electrical tape?

Also can I remove the motor, Manually put it in 4Hi and see if it starts to work like that? Or will that cause damage somehow?

 

No it won't cause damage to manually enagage the t-case. It would be better to go to the auto parts store and get a pack of butt conectors. There less than 2.00 bucks a pack.

 

So I shifted into 4wd today and got under the truck and the front driveshaft locked in so I guess my hubs aren't locking up anymore.

Has anyone done the permanent lock in mod to the original hubs?
Are there any drawbacks to having them locked in all the time?

 

Ive got a bigger issue then the hubs not engaging.....

Today I took the hub lockers apart and the side I didn't take apart during my wheel bearing change was rusted, water filled and who knows maybe even rusted onto the hub itself (I only removed the locker covers)

Anyway I manually locked them in and went to drive around. Theres no steering in 4wd. Every turn the thing stops, I give it a little gas and she jerks like CRAZY. I didn't go over 15mph because I was worried about breaking something in the steering system. I know there used to be a bit of jerk in tight turns before but no where near this.

However when I disengage it at the t case with the front wheels locked in everything seems fine steering.

Any ideas on what can be causing this?