Troubles with 4lo...

For those of you who were able to make it for our February Run at Rausch you may remember that I was having difficulty with my transfer case staying in 4lo. It kept wanting to slip out of 4lo when I was driving over obstacles. If I need to back up while on an obstacle it was like I had it in 2lo... the front axle would not engage at all! It was almost like it was not fully in 4lo. The trunnion screw is all the way back on the shift rod... I have installed a "shift linkage" drop down plate... I have tried cussing at it, too! Yet, all I get is "click, click, click, clunk!" sounds when I am trying to get my crawl on! Tico had mentioned that I may need an extension that screws on to the shift rod itself. Yet, I can not find anything about this 'extension'. I will not make the next run unless I get it fixed... Can you all give me some insight on this problem. If you need to see my Jeep to get a better idea of what the problem may be, drop me a line and I will see what I can do. Thanks in advance for any input what so ever.

On the side of your t-case you will see the shift linkage. Have someone sit in the jeep while you are under it and have them shift 2hi thru 4 low. You will have to loosen up the bolt on the shift rod and push it further in the direction its going for 4 lo. Tighten the bolt back up and have the person shift through the ranges again.

You can mark where it was prior to backing off the bolt just in case its not the linkage causing the problem..
Unless you have put a lift or t-case drop its probably just out of adjustment.

while under there check all your mounts for excessive play..

Thank you for your reply. I have adjusted the trunnion screw and slid it as far back on the shift rod as possible while my brother sat inside the Jeep and went through the shifting motions... I will get underneath the Jeep again and take another look at all the linkages. Do you have any other ideas what it could be? I want to get back on the trails!

a couple of us changed the mounting bracket all togetther instead of just dropping it. skyjacker and a few other copanies make a bracket that gets rid of the bracket that mounts on the body and mounts it to the trans. At the time I replaced mine I wasnt having isseus with shifting but the bushing wore out, and knew I was going to need it later for , body lift and raising trans.

didnt someone else just have this problem??? look on the meetup site.. I know I saw someone else with linkage issues..

http://jeep.meetup.com/201/boards/view/viewthread?thread=2556772&listpage=20

rockdw72 wrote:

a couple of us changed the mounting bracket all togetther instead of just dropping it. skyjacker and a few other copanies make a bracket that gets rid of the bracket that mounts on the body and mounts it to the trans. At the time I replaced mine I wasnt having isseus with shifting but the bushing wore out, and knew I was going to need it later for , body lift and raising trans.

I believe I have seen the skyjacker bracket you are talking about. I down loaded the instructions for it and it stated that I have to remove the skidplating and seperated the transfer case from the transmission and it mentioned something about having to use the bracket in conjunction with their low profile skid plate... It seemed a bit much for me.
:oops:

UPNOVER wrote:

didnt someone else just have this problem??? look on the meetup site.. I know I saw someone else with linkage issues..

I just went through the Meet-Up forum and did not come across anything concerning the 4lo issue... Perhaps I over looked it. Do you know of anybody who has a shop where I can bring the Jeep to them and Have them take a look at it? I am willing to pay for their time. I do not mind going as far as Va or Pa to get help from a club member!

Chuck,
This is a shot in the dark, but it may work for you. When I installed my body lift I did not instll the linkage adaptor plate that came with it. After I got the pucks in place and the tub bolted back down I ran the transfer case through 2, 4h and 4l and it shifted just as smooth as it did before. I haven't had any problems with it popping out on the trails. What if you just removed the plate that came with the BL and went back to the way it came stock?? Maybe it would work, maybe it won't, but it wouldn't cost you anything to try.

Try Jim Jennings Transmissions on Eastern Ave in Baltimore. I believe the managers name is Doug. Mudslinger just posted the phone number under Danny's thread about his clutch problem.. These guys are really nice people..

If they can not help try Ron at Perry Hall Power Equipment in White Marsh Maryland. Now before you call keep in mind this guy knows his crap but he is not the most personable person in the world. If you can get him to look at it, he will fix the problem but he does alot of business and doesnt always want to look at little stuff.. I wouldnt let anyone but him do rears and driveline repair.

I did the skyjacker one and did it in a night after work. only thing I had to remove was the linkage and 2 or 3 nuts on the transfer case and transmission. I did it like 5 years ago when I first got the jeep they may have changed. Novak makes one too and I am sure there are others.

UPNOVER wrote:

p try Ron at Perry Hall Power Equipment in White Marsh Maryland. Now before you call keep in mind this guy knows his crap but he is not the most personable person in the world.

Thats funny cause I work less than a mile from there and stopped in to ask about the rebuild kit for my Lock right, and left there thinking that he was a pretty grumpy guy. He basicaly told me that if I did not have dana44's I was just wasting my time anyway. I thought it was just me.

A little late for a reply because I hope it is resolved by now...

Rich Althouse (in the Yellow TJ) is the one who wrote about the shift linkage problem.

I am not sure what he called the post, but he is the one who started it, about the same time he wrote one about the tie rod he replaced...

Hope that helps, and I hope your troubles are over.

As for me... I got a drop plate with the JKS body lift I put on... knock on wood it works better than stock with no issues...

I say better because before the conversion it was a royal pain to shift into 4lo... took 2 hands sometimes and would not go back out... now with the plate it is a well oiled machine... I do not know the complexities involved with the install though... Danny and Ryan handled that while I reassembled my sepentine belt/fan assembly that did not need to be removed... stupid instructions...