High, Low and Declutch levers...

[Oddjob]

High, Low and De-clutch levers...

I'm reading my manuals as I scan them and PDF them and if I'm reading correctly my two levers should be pushed forward to disengage the front wheel drive and be in High...

One question I have in regards to this is will I feel any detents moving the levers into these positions and secondly there is a block of aluminum that has a bolt and appears to swing out of the way if a person were to want to go into Low and all wheel drive was this a device to keep the personal from using low and all wheel drive...

[Lifer]

I'm not sure what you mean by "de-clutch lever" unless it's the power take-off engagement lever. That would be installed in the "with winch" models.

There are two levers controlling the transfer case. When both are all the way forward, the front axle is not engaged and you are in "2-HI." When the rearmost lever is pulled all the way back, the front axle is engaged and you will be in "4-HI." When you pull the forward lever back, the front axle will still be engaged but the gear ratio will be changed and you will be in "4-LO." (There is no way to shift into low range without already being in 4-wheel drive, so there is no "2-LO" option.)

The transfer case should only be shifted from one mode to another while the truck is at a dead stop. It might be possible to go from
"4-HI" to "2-HI" while moving, but there is a good chance of messing up the t-case internals if you do it "wrong."

If there isn't any excessive wear, you may be able to feel when the gears mesh, but I don't recall feeling any "detents."

I don't know about the "aluminum block" thing. Maybe someone else can enlighten us on that.

[MSeriesRebuild]

There are detents in the shift rails.

The aluminum block is someone's add on, it should not be there. There may be an internal problem, thus the block may have been added to simply block out a position.

[Oddjob]

I may be getting the declutch thing mixed up but I think they used that term in the manual... Not a 100% on that...

What manual should I track down if I find out I have problems with shifting the transfer case... It felt like everything was engaging but until I can take it out of the driveway I won't know...

Here's a picture of the device they put on the high low mechanism... Looks like it had a wingnut on it at one time and I think basically they did that so they were not running in low gear and or 4 high on the street... The truck was an Air Force Truck Later turned over to the California National Guard Thanks for the replies fellas...

[Lifer]

Charles: Thanks for the enlightenment re the detents. It's been 40 years since I drove one of these trucks on a regular basis, and I never got my own truck on the road before selling it, so I couldn't re-educate myself. This "old-timer's" disease sucks!

Oddjob: That thingie in your picture looks like it was installed to keep someone from "accidentally" engaging the front axle. He or she would have to purposely loosen the wing nut and open the "gate" before engaging the front axle. It also served as a reminder that someone in authority didn't want the driver(s) utilizing the truck's 4-wheel-drive capability.

[SierraM37]

I have my truck, Frame off (and freshly blasted and painted) and have dropped the drive train in her and just completed hooking up the levers so my knowledge is fresh. As Charles mentioned, there are detente notches in the rod's the levers attach to. You can physically feel if the lever was moved enough to fully engage into 4WD or 4W Lo. If they are not fully engaged, you will hear either the gears grinding or a slight whine.

I have the option of putting my truck up on stands to run the drive train. You can also remove the front and rear driveshafts and see if the Xfr case outputs are turning. If you have the wrong rod on W4D engage lever (it is slighty bent and allows the lever to move back further), it is possible that the 4W Lo lever will not move back far enough to engage.

[Oddjob]

I crawled under the truck last night on the creeper and saw that bent rod your speaking of mine seems a little canted... Also felt it hitting the detents...
I was going to remove that block but as long as it allows it to go into 4 high and 4 low it can stay....
I had a feeling it was something done to the truck to keep those gears locked out... When I get the truck into the side yard I'll put it up on jack stands and do a test... as it stands it's sitting in the slanted drive way that much weight that high no thanks... I haven't had anything come off of jack stands yet...
I can't wait to get it out on the road...

[cuz]

Just jack one front tire off the floor. Put transfer in 4 WD and tranny in a forward gear and try to turn the tire by hand and if it is in 4WD you can feel and see the front drive shaft trying to turn against the locked up transfer.

We all know the stock differential will allow the free wheel to spin a bit but you can feel the difference. If unsure turn the wheel by hand in both 2WD and 4WD so you can feel the difference.