transfer case slipping

[Pa PITT]

My Buddies Bronco has been fine for about 3 years . But he took it to the tech that works on it all the time for him.
Tech serviced it out for our trip to New Mexico & Took it out back of his shop to crawl a hill checking it out .
.. It gets in a bind & it's like it goes into neutral .. Buddy took it to the Ford house & they checked the transmission since they were the ones that rebuilt the trans & said .. NO PROBLEM Found ... They said it's most likely just jumping out of gear in the T/C .
I Agree mine jumps out of low range about every 1/2 mile but it's simple just put it back in & go onward.
Thinking on this I wondered if his axles aren't locked in completely .. That has been a bigger problem with my 1st Bronco ..
What would you Guys & Gals look for.
We lock it in gear when we get to the ranch & don't take it out until we leave .
YOU THOUGHTS.

 

[half cab]

Have they checked the Detent springs?

 

[Rustytruck]

Does he have a factory limited slip? If so I would pull the rear axles and check the splines. If the limited slip stripped the splines you get a no go situation.

 

[Pa PITT]

Yes I think he does have that in the rear. But I think his front is one of the better lockers.

 

[Nothing Special]

Does he have a factory limited slip? If so I would pull the rear axles and check the splines. If the limited slip stripped the splines you get a no go situation.

How does that work? The only splines I'm aware of in a factory limited slip are where the axle shafts go into the side gears. You'll break an axle shaft before you strip those.

 

[Pa PITT]

I was thinking he meant the Clutches would slip.

 

[Rustytruck]

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110514&highlight=stripped*splines

 

[Nothing Special]

The link Rustrytruck posted above confirms that he's talking about the splines (the connection between the axle shafts and the side gears), not the clutch packs (which are clutches, not splines). And when the clutch packs wear out you have an open diff, you aren't stranded.

The link goes to a thread where one or two people say that there's only 1/4" of spline engagement between the axle shaft and side gear in a 9" TracLock . I find it very had to believe that it's designed to be like that, and even pretty hard to believe that something like that could happen due to poor quality control. just because one or two people say it's true doesn't necessarily make it true, but just because something seems hard to believe certainly doesn't make it false either. Personally I'm not going to worry about it one way or the other (I hate clutch-type limited slips anyway). but it at least sounds like something to consider.

But going back to the original problem, anything in an axle would only affect that axle. If it "goes into neutral" when you were in 4WD, then both axles would have to quit working. So it seems unlikely that it's axles. Transfer case or trans popping out of gear seems most likely

 

[Pa PITT]

AS We were loading more stuff this evening we discussed this situation. & Both of us felt the tech is just not as used to working this transfer case like we are. We just don't feel it's going to cause problems ..
Both of us thought he just popped it into 4x4 & didn't back up & or go forward a couple of time to help the spline move in it's ''1/4'' inch . Sorry I THINK iT SPLINES UP ABOUT AN 1/1 INCH ..
...... IN MY OLD 1980 Bronco I once ruined an axle & It was twisted on about the last 1/4 inch of the axle .. I'd have called it more of burred .. But it stopped going together easily.
& I had to replace the stub & the locking outer .

 

[Rustytruck]

Just don't use a bungee cord to hold the lever in place. Using a bungee will wipe out the shift fork and its mating groove in the sliding gear.

 

[JB Fab]

Just don't use a bungee cord to hold the lever in place. Using a bungee will wipe out the shift fork and its mating groove in the sliding gear.

2X!, If the case will not stay in by itself, there is something wrong....