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HELP Twin Stick Stuck

Lhofkamp

Jr. Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2015
Messages
78
Loc.
Santa Monica
Hello everyone,

First I hope all of you veterans are enjoying your veterans day.

The last two days my twin shifters have been stuck. On the left I can move it to what I believe is all the way forward and one back. The right stick is dead stuck in what I believe is the middle. I bought the bronco from the previous owner so I am unclear on which twin stick I have. I'm running a 289 with a C4, B&M floor shifter and what I believe is the stock transfer case to Dana 20's.

If anybody has had any experience or has and any advice or input I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you!
 

bronconut73

Bronco Guru
Joined
Aug 7, 2012
Messages
9,919
Sometimes you may have to rock it while you are trying to move the sticks. This will probably require you have some help.
 
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Lhofkamp

Jr. Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2015
Messages
78
Loc.
Santa Monica
From side to side? Also please excuse my ignorance but should the left be all the way forward and the right in the middle or what is the pattern?
 

bronconut73

Bronco Guru
Joined
Aug 7, 2012
Messages
9,919
You are rocking/rolling the the Bronco back and forth while in gear to unjamb it.
 

El Kabong

Contributor
Driving stuff Henry built
Joined
Oct 8, 2009
Messages
1,559
From side to side? Also please excuse my ignorance but should the left be all the way forward and the right in the middle or what is the pattern?

Forward & backwards. You're trying to turn the wheels (& drivetrain) a little to take pressure off of gears inside the t-case.
 

Viperwolf1

Contributor
electron whisperer
Joined
Aug 23, 2007
Messages
24,448
Left (rear axle) back (high).
Right (front axle) middle (neutral)

This is backwards. Front axle is driver side stick. Rear axle is passenger side stick. The middle position is neutral, rear is high range and front is low range.
 

Pa PITT

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 15, 2005
Messages
11,300
Loc.
Stephenville TEXAS
I'm going to answer your question with some Bronco thoughts . YOU may not even know you have yet ..
... But with 14 post .. You may have had 10 4X4 BEFORE & This could be your 1st Rodeo.
Mine got stuck one time .. I finally got it back to the shop & Picked both axles ''tire's'' off the ground . I got a very loud pop & Then it shifted out of 4X4 VERY EASILY.
... ANOTHER thing is don't drive it on pavement HECK EVEN HARD GROUND IN BOTH FRONT & REAR drive. Only in soft dirt. Mud. Snow. LOOSE STUFF.
I start trying to get mine out of 4x4 before I stop moving . But as the others said Drive forward & back several times . Then you may have to do the same thing to get your Hubs to unlock.
.... I have an old 1980 Bronco but with a NP205 I never have any kind of issue with it. It's just now broke in.. It has 386000 mile on it. & I have it at a shop for just a little TLC.
My son loves it because He grew up in it.
 

jw0747

Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
2,434
Loc.
San Antonio, TX
My '73 has C4 and twin sticks. Sometimes with engine running I have to shift the C4 from Park to Neutral and vice versa a couple of times for the transfer case to shift. If the Bronco is stopped and the front end is pointed uphill there is too much bind on the driveline for the transfer case to shift. Bronco has to be stopped on level ground or pointed downhill to shift the t-case.

Normal city and highway driving 2wd is right stick back and left stick in neutral. 4wd is both sticks forward for low range 4wd and both sticks back for high range 4wd. It's important to know that you can't have one stick in high range (forward) and the other in low range (back) at the same time. Just doesn't work...
 
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Broncotj0

Sr. Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2009
Messages
380
Loc.
Mankato, MN
I have to put the transmission in neutral (while the engine is running), put a little pressure on the transfer case shifter (towards the gear you want to go into) then put the truck in drive. It pops the transfer case out of gear every time. Welcome to the world of 40yr old trucks. They need to be persuaded once in awhile. ;D
 

JB Fab

Sponsor/Vendor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Mar 21, 2004
Messages
1,516
If you are still having problems, I'm happy to help (even if they are another brand of shifter).

Contact me directly jonb at jbfab dot net
 
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Lhofkamp

Jr. Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2015
Messages
78
Loc.
Santa Monica
Got it to pop out today with the help of some friends. Thank you everyone who replied. I cannot thank you guys enough.
 

eBronc2

Contributor
Full Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2015
Messages
263
When you move the shift levers for a Dana 20 transfer case, you're sliding the shift rails forward and back inside the case, which moves the shift forks, which slide the sliding gears on the input and output shafts. They are internally splined to drive the output gears - since there are no synchronizers, the splines in the sliding gears and the teeth on the output gears have to line up so the sliding gear can slide all the way on the teeth and drive them.

If they aren't lined up, no amount of forcing the sliding gear forward or back with the shift lever is going to get them engage, but just turning any of the shafts (input or output) just a few degrees is enough to get things lined up and get the gears to engage. Rocking the truck back forth or putting the trans in gear and engaging the clutch slightly will almost always do it.

When I was putting my drivetrain together (ZF 5 speed, Dana 20 T case, custom twin sticks) I had everything out of the truck and assembled on my worktable. While I was fabricating and adjusting the twin stick linkage, I would clamp a small Vise-Grip to the snout of the transmission input shaft and turn the transmission by hand while I selected gears on the trans and shifter positions on the T-case - as long as the trans output shaft was rotating (even slowly), the Transfer case would shift into all modes pretty smoothly. If there was no rotation, the Transfer case could be really stubborn. Just a little rotation of either the trans output shaft or either output yoke on the T-case and it would click right into gear.
 
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