newbie four wheel drive question

[jeremy92555]

This may make me sound stupid but I have to ask. I have owned my bronco for 2 years and never have put it in 4 wheel drive. To make it worse I have never owned a 4 wheel drive that was not push button. So today I wanted to try 4 wheel drive. Please tell me if these were the correct steps. I put in park and got out and turned hubs to the lock positon. I put the trans in neutral and proceeded to try to shift the T-handle to what I was to believe would be 4wd. I wasnt sure of the shift pattern but I tried multiple positions and I could not get the front tires to turn. At one point I got paranoid cause the tranny was in 1st and it was acting like I was in neutral. Trying to make a Long story short I am asking if I am doing something wrong, or could it be a linkage problem. Thanks

 

[1970mule]

the t shift is notorious for being hard to shift, what i used to do was after you locked the hubs put truck in 1st then slowly start give it gas if it does not go push the handle into 4w while you give gas it should pop in, may have to muscle it a little. that should do it.

 

[LilRedBronco]

No, stupid would be not asking and then doing something that caused damage to your Bronco. That would be stupid. I have yet to see someone chastised here for asking a question. I have never been to a website on any topic where people are more helpful than this one and that is the God's honest truth.

Firearms, sport kite flying, politics, precision long range marksmanship, IPSC, 3 gun, photography, old Harley questions, welding forums etc., etc. I have been to a lot of places and topics online and honestly no where are people more helpful and genuinely good to others than this site.

Good vendors who have taken time to answer my goofy questions and help from other owners the whole deal is here.

 

[jeremy92555]

one last question. Does the t-case need to be in neutral for regular street driving or 2 wheel high? I have never touched the thing until yesterday.

 

[Viperwolf1]

one last question. Does the t-case need to be in neutral for regular street driving or 2 wheel high? I have never touched the thing until yesterday.

It needs to be in 2 high. If it was in neutral you wouldn't go anywhere.

 

[BuffDragon]

Firearms, sport kite flying, politics, precision long range marksmanship, IPSC, 3 gun, photography, old Harley questions, welding forums etc., etc. I have been to a lot of places and topics online and honestly no where are people more helpful and genuinely good to others than this site.

x2
gun boards are full of self-righteous know it alls. koolaid drinkers, the lot of them! lol good people too, but not the same percentage this board has.


OP: when you put your tranny in gear and acted like it was in neutral, its because your transfercase was in neutral.
very simply:
transmission puts power out from the motor in forward (up 1, 2, 3, and maybe 4, 5) and reverse (1 gear only)
transfer case puts (splits in a 4x4) power from transmission (and therefore motor) to the axles via the driveshafts. rear turning, nothing turning, front/rear turning. with a twin stick, you can have just the front turning too.

easy as pie......!

 

[Skiddy]

yes if you roll a little it will go right in (gear to gear mesh) same way when taking it of 4x4

 

[DirtDonk]

Hey Jeremy, just for our info, what year is your Bronco? And is it an automatic transmission, or manual still?
Reason I ask is that the T-shift type case was on Broncos from '66 and changed to the later J-shift in the '72/'73 era. And even though automatics were only available in approximately the '73 and later Broncos, lots of conversions out there.
Since you're a relatively new owner, and there can be differences in techniques between an auto and manual tranny equipped transfer cases, I thought I'd ask.

Thanks

Paul

 

[jeremy92555]

it is a 1970 and is a automatic with a C-4. It was originally a stick, I just removed the clutch pedal finally that was annoying me.

 

[Smokeater11]

Jeremy your shift pattern for the t shift case will be:
4LO(all the way forward)
2LO(one click back ONLY if you have removed the locking plate on the shifter mechanism. Otherwise you won't have 2LO)
Neutral
2HI(this is your normal running gear for when you're NOT in 4WD)
4HI(this will be your most commonly used 4WD gear and usually easiest to get it to shift into since your pulling instead of pushing the shifter)

One other bit of knowledge that will be useful for you once you get it into 4WD.....sometimes, if not every time, to get it out of 4WD you might have to put the truck in reverse and roll it backwards while pushing/pulling on the shifter to get it to come out of whatever 4WD gear you happen to be in. These old t-cases can be quirky and you'll have to spend some time playing with your particular set up to figure out it's quirks. Sometimes mine gets in a bind and I have to do this, sometimes it'll pull right out of 4WD with one finger%)

With you having an auto I'm not gonna be much help in teaching you the proper/best way to get it into gear since I have a manual but I would imagine that if you pulled the tranny all the way down into 1st gear and slowly let it roll forward while pushing or pulling(depending on which 4WD gear you're trying to get into) on the shifter that it'll slide on into gear. It might grind a little but don't let that scare you as long as you're moving slowly.

 

[DirtDonk]

One other think to thing about too Jeremy, would be to change all the fluids if you haven't already. Most PO's of old Broncos tended to ignore everything but engine oil. And in some cases (like mine), they even ignored that!
If your transfer case lube is too old, or too thick, or both, it could be hard to shift no matter how you finesse it.
And it never hurts to look up underneath (or through the floor) to check the condition of the shift rails. They can get caked up with gunk and mud and snow/crud over the years and that can have an effect as well.
Wipe 'em clean, lube the pivots and change the oil and you'll at least know it was done.
Unless you've already done it, that is.

Correct lube for the transfer case is a 50wt NON-DETERGENT motor oil. But you can use, and many of us do use, a thinner grade of gear lube.
A lot of us like the 75w/90 synthetic lubes.

Paul

 

[Viperwolf1]

You have to be careful while shifting the tcase with an automatic. With an automatic the trans output shaft is always capable of spinning unless it's in park. Even in neutral it will spin if it doesn't have a load in the driveline that prevents it from spinning. That load is there when the tcase is in gear. When the tcase is put in neutral (like when shifting to or from low range) the trans output shaft starts spinning and it will cause some gear clash when you finally get the tcase in gear. To prevent this put the trans in park BEFORE shifting the tcase through neutral. If you get the tcase and trans both stuck in neutral and can't get the tcase to go into gear, turn the engine off. If you try putting the trans in park to stop the output shaft from spinning you are likely to break the parking pawl off.

This is one little advertised case where the twinstick shifter really helps. You can use one side to create a load to keep the trans shaft from spinning while you shift the opposite side into the gear you want without causing the clash.

 

[Smokeater11]

You have to be careful while shifting the tcase with an automatic. With an automatic the trans output shaft is always capable of spinning unless it's in park. Even in neutral it will spin if it doesn't have a load in the driveline that prevents it from spinning. That load is there when the tcase is in gear. When the tcase is put in neutral (like when shifting to or from low range) the trans output shaft starts spinning and it will cause some gear clash when you finally get the tcase in gear. To prevent this put the trans in park BEFORE shifting the tcase through neutral. If you get the tcase and trans both stuck in neutral and can't get the tcase to go into gear, turn the engine off. If you try putting the trans in park to stop the output shaft from spinning you are likely to break the parking pawl off.

This is one little advertised case where the twinstick shifter really helps. You can use one side to create a load to keep the trans shaft from spinning while you shift the opposite side into the gear you want without causing the clash.

I knew someone smarter than me would chime in!! See now I'm learning something new too. If I'm correct what Viper is talking about is for getting the tcase into 4LO because getting into 4HI doesn't require passing through neutral. So is he safe to do what I had suggested to get it into 4HI?? Pull it all the way down into first and ease forward while pulling on the shifter until it drops in.

 

[Viperwolf1]

I knew someone smarter than me would chime in!! See now I'm learning something new too. If I'm correct what Viper is talking about is for getting the tcase into 4LO because getting into 4HI doesn't require passing through neutral. So is he safe to do what I had suggested to get it into 4HI?? Pull it all the way down into first and ease forward while pulling on the shifter until it drops in.

Going from 2 high to 4 high (and back) is no problem because the tcase doesn't pass through neutral. It can be done in any trans gear as long as the hubs are locked. Sometimes it's easier if moving because the splines don't always line up when stopped.

 

[jeremy92555]

Thanks guys you gave me much more response than I ever imagined I would get. I love this site.