Hi. Was hoping someone might be familiar with this problem.

85 F-250 4x4, 6.9L diesel, auto, manual hubs. Tcase replaced less than 30k miles ago (with new tcase from Ford.) Warranty, however, is now out of date.

When in 2-wheel high range t-case is noisy - clackity clackity clunk. Sounds like front drive output is not completely disengaging. Runs quiet in 4-wheel high (with front hubs disengaged.) The transfer case linkage does not seem to be the problem - not incorrectly adjusted or showing excessive "slop."

Could I be stuck with a bad shifting fork?

This is a good "desert rat" range truck but I'm hoing not to have to deal with another transfer case replacement. Thanks for any ideas as to where to start on this one.

 

check all your ujoints in the front end, they may be worn, and makeing noise at slow speeds

 

i was having problems with my tcase making a whine in 4x4 and then it was kickin my trans out of gear cuz it was lockin up in any gear 4x4 or 2wd , i searched craigslist and found one off a 460 for 100 bucks so the 1345 is pretty plentiful id just shop around and swap a dif one in ( i have a 6.9 also) and now it runs smooth as glass.. oh i replaced the u joints in the rear and front drive shafts also and that helped alot

 

Thanks, guys.

Dusty, that clearly is the first place to troubleshoot and the first thing I did do was jack up the front and check the drive shaft and U-joints. That's how I figured the noise was coming from the Tcase - UNLESS I was in 4-high. When the front Dshaft spins the noise stops. (Presently rolling in 4-high with front hubs disengaged.)

84, thanks. I'm considering the swap idea. The thing that bugs me is that this is a nearly new (as in from the factory) Tcase so if it's something simple, I may be better off with all the other new gear inside. I heard that some models had a plastic ring or bushing of sorts that the shifting fork rode on and that sometimes it pops loose. Maybe the first step would be to drop the case, open it up and look for loose or missing components. I do agree that this time I'll probably swap cases for one out of a wreck if there isn't a simple fix. BTW, VERY nice restoration job!

 

you prolly wouldnt believe me if i told you theres only about 2200 in the truck including purchase haha its a 50 dollar paint job.. check out all my pics to see wut it looked like before.. and im about to open up my broken tcase to see if i can find any problems with mine..good luck on your search!!

 

oh btw you might bump on down to the 6.9 -7.3 idi forum in the diesel section those guys know EVERYTHING about our trucks

 

Great score! Plus it looks really sharp in the avatar photo.

Mine used to go to Alaska every winter (my neighbor was a "musher") then it sat in the field next door for three years. I got permission to see if I could get it to run. I strung out about a quarter mile of extension cords, let the batteries charge for two days, checked the oil, put 5 gallons of fresh diesel in the rear tank and it fired right up. I made a deal to buy it, then had to spend a few hours getting the rusted-tight brakes free so I could move the thing. It's a heavy truck but I've put it places I thought I could only get to in my Jeep. I've about beat the door hinges to death and need to find replacements for them.

It is back on the road from the Tcase issue. Here's what went wrong with it.

The 2WD-4WD shifting fork was bad, mainly because the bushing it rides on was crappy and came apart. That caused the aluminum fork to wear against the rotating journal of the gear cluster. Fortunately all the wear went to the fork. The high-low range fork had some kind of plastic bushing that was in multiple pieces when it came out but that fork was cast iron and didn't get ground down. The dive chain also had excessive "slap."

I was pretty cranky since this was a Ford factory rebuilt transfer case that had less than 30k on it. The guy at the performance shop said that for a while "factory rebuilt" meant that Ford sent Tcases to the lowest bidder.

My advice is to take the Tcase to a well established performance shop that does drive trains and 4WD, have them identify the parts that need replacing and get them for you from the best source. Performance guys know the importance of making stuff last plus if you see what's going back into your Tcase you're less likely to be getting stuck with junk.

These are tough old trucks. The only one I've ever had that was tougher was a 1940 GMC dually that I had for a ranch truck for years. The 85 F250 is definitely more comfortable to drive!

Take care!