How does wheel drive shifting work?

I was toying around w 4wd I wAs not moving just put it on drive and put in 4H then put truck in neutral then shift to neutral then drive and then clunk! For 4l. After that I went in reverse order and it would not shift back to 2h and it made a clunking noise and truck would not go on drive or reverse and it just acted as if it was on neutral. So I put e brake and shut off ignition then was able to put it in 2h. Started it up again and it would reverse n go on drive. What s this about? Is this a transmission issue or t case? Or simply bc of my stupidity bc I wasn't moving while doing all the shifting?

Sounds like your TCase linkage is out of adjustment.

There are enough spelling mistakes and shortened or missing words in your post that I'm not entirely sure what you're talking about, but it sounds like you weren't following the proper procedure while shifting the transfer case.

2hi to 4hi and vise versa: any legal road speed, don't have one set of tires spinning and the other stopped though.
4hi to neutral: don't have your foot on the gas, probably a bad idea while moving over 3-5mph because it'll be annoying to get back in
neutral to 4lo and vise versa: 0-5mph AND TRANSMISSION MUST BE IN NEUTRAL. If you are not moving at all, you can put it in Park too (if automatic) but neutral's probably better.

Sometimes it will get a little bound up trying to get back out of 4hi into 2hi because the mode fork (selects 4x4 vs rwd) is only spring loaded, so if the front driveshaft is torqued relative to the rear (going around a corner, tire pressures not perfectly matched, etc etc) the gears will have enough pressure on them to simply stay in 4x4 with the lever in 2hi. Usually putting it in reverse and barking the tires or backing up about 10 feet will persuade it to finish shifting out of 4x4.

Ok! Sorry for spelling I'm using my phone.
Does it matter that my linkage looks like this:

that is your transmission shifter

Yea I figured that out after I posted



A lot of things that are in driver side is filled w rust. My floor included. I can feel drive shaft when I make turns right by my seat.

cruiser54 said:

Here's how the factory suggests you shift the transfer case and I've been doing this since these things were new and I worked at the dealership. Quoted from the owner's manual.

"To engage, shift the transfer case lever from 2H to 4H while the vehicle is moving at any legal speed". I let off the gas, throw the lever, and then tap the gas and let off.

4L position: " To engage, slow the vehicle to 2-3 MPH , shift the transmission to Neutral, then shift the transfer lever to the right and pull firmly rearward to 4L".

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Thanks! I will try that! I just wanted to make sure it all worked! Is it hard to replace the rusty linkage?

JeepNovice said:

Thanks! I will try that! I just wanted to make sure it all worked! Is it hard to replace the rusty linkage?

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I don't know. I live in Arizona. LOL.

JeepNovice said:

Thanks! I will try that! I just wanted to make sure it all worked! Is it hard to replace the rusty linkage?

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From the looks of that pic, I think you are going to find that the area where that linkage bolts to your body is pretty much rusted through. Pretty common area for rust on an XJ and not a whole lot of fun to fix. I'm not sure I would want to tackle this and unless you are willing to sign up for welding a new floor in, it might be best to just douse the area with some lithium grease and plan to drive it until it finishes falling apart.....

Check out my mass floors

I'm afraid to fall off my seat! Lol