My transfer case shfter feels a little "crunchy" when moving between settings, which I know is a bigger issue to get to eventually; but given that it works fine once selected, I'm more concerned that about once a month I manage to bump the stupid thing with a bag of groceries or whatever and then spend an entire afternoon trying to figure out why the truck won't move or is making a horrible grinding noise before thinking to just slide the thing back into 2 high. That's a little trickier said than done because of the weird crunchy-lumpy feeling, like gears rubbing against each other- i have to start from one end and count over, 2 high is a substantially smaller target than the others, and easy to overshoot because it takes a little effort to get it out of anything but neutral.

Does anyone make a shift lever that works like an automatic shifter, with a locking button? Or a gate shift, or a dial instead of a lever or or or or...? I looked at B&M and Hurst along with 17 pages of search results here and couldn't find anything.

 

i dont have that problem... is your truck an auto or manual? if its a manual, just double clutch it and see if that helps it go into gear. if its an auto, just put it in gear for a second, and then try it.

 

Sounds like you might have some drivetrain bind going on, backing up in reverse 10-15 feet is usually enough to "free" it up.

 

yeah, i think hes makin more a reference to bein able to find and keep the truck in 2wd...

 

Mine's not nearly that easy to shift. I don't think I could inadvertently shift mine at all, I definitely have to mean to do it. Maybe it's time to rebuild the shifter, lol.

 

you got it. it'll go into any of the 2/4 hi/lo/neutral settings, but the click between them can be sort of masked by this other kind of resistance. it'll stay in 2wd no problem unless i (or a passenger, or loose object in the cab) accidentally hits the lever, which seems to happen pretty easily/frequently.

seems to me like there should be a floor shifter option like most modern automatic cars, where you can just lock in whatever setting you want and it'll stay there until you press the button or whatever.

i'll try to shoot a video tomorrow, but i'm not sure if it will accurately illustrate the issue.

will attempt the reverse thing too, i figured since i was able to shift between them this wasn't the issue. even if it is, i'd still like to find a way to lock down 2wd for most of my driving.

 

do you have carpet in your truck, or are you on bare metal like many of us?

 

new carpet, installed by the PO. it's an auto.

 

dang. if it was open, i was gonna suggest takin the transmission hump off, (the bolt-on section where the shifter holes are) and A: cut a zig-zag pattern in a piece of steel and weld it on there, or B: put a spring underneath to pull the shifter to one side, and make slots for it lock in to.

 

There are no idiot proof tcase shifters that I have ever heard of for these trucks.

 

well im pretty sure i just suggested a pretty good idea for an "idiot proof" 4x4 shifter...

 

I would think it would take less time to remove the shifter and clean it up and lube it and it would last maybe another 30 years. maybe this is the reason the newer ones went to the electronic ones, but I have driven 4X for over neary 30 years and all my kids grew up riding in them and none ever had to be told twice to not mess with the shifter. I worked for a construction co for several years that had a water truck with a set of boxes and every time it came on my job it would have a chain welded to the stick for the back tranny so you couldn't shift it. Evverytime I would get the torch and cut it loose. I quess that was there cheap way of idiot proofing. lol

 

i'm thinking i might try a variation of this idea. replace the shift boot with a box that has a slot with scalloped edges. not putting a lot of pressure on the shifter, but at least serving as an indicator and adding a little bit of resistance against accidental impacts. still wish there was a bolt-on solution, but might see what happens w/ this idea.

maintenance/repair/rebuild is on the list, but i have some bigger unrelated issues to tackle first.

 

I had a problem with my shifter being a pain to move so I pulled the shift box and made a twin stick shifter, I have one stick closest to me which is 2wd or 4wd and the next stick over is my range lever which lets me chose between hi, N, low. I also used two 3/8ths inch ball bearings with springs behind them that fall into Detents when my shifters are in what ever position I select

 

Wow, sounds awesome. Any photos/tips?