I went out the other day and at the top of the trail I needed to go into 4-lo. It shifted in just fine, but when I went to take it out after the hill, it was stuck. Like stuck stuck. We pushed the lever so hard I worried about break it. Finally, I got underneath, found the linkage, and, with the help of a hammer, was able to get it to release. Now when I shift it between 2 4p 4f n 4l it is difficult and sounds funny. Think I'm going to have to replace it? Have it rebuilt? Is it cost effective to rebuild it myself? Thoughts?
Also I was looking for a good write up on swapping it out. Couldn't find one though.
Thanks Guys

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2005 Liberty CRD Limited Loaded, GDE Hot Tune, Rear Suspension Air Bags, ARB Bull Bar, OME 790 front springs with Nitrochargers, Rancho 9000s in the rear, 245/75/16 Duratracs, Magnaflow exhaust, K&N filter, Red Samcos, HiLift, Smittybuilt X2O 8,000 lb, Solid Rear Diff Cover

Chaperoned by the dog pack - Bobby Seale, Abbie Hoffman, and MJ Pride

Geez a hammer! Did you try to rock it out a little, into reverse to take th bind pressure off then into neutral and shift it out? Sounds like it was just bound by the climb. I'd be very surprised if the transfer case was broken (unless it was done with the hammer). That transfer case is pretty strong and used in other Jeeps as well. The shift cable however, is a known problem.

the other problem tends to be mismatched tires front/rear
wear/ tire pressure ect - mismatch will stress the gearset and make shifting difficult
(backing up a bit tends to relieve pressure)

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2005 CRD
stuff
Skeptic quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur

I only bought the jeep in February, but since then I can say for sure all tires have been the same size and kept at the same psi. And I tried backing up a little, going forward, tried to shift it while moving forward, backward, tried it in n, d, 1, r, p. I tried it going up a hill, parked on a hill facing up, going down a hill, parked on a hill facing down. Tried it on level ground forward, backwards, and n. Played with it for about an hour before I just put the jeep in neutral and let it just kind of roll off the trail. At the uphill parts I just kept it in low and went really slow. Finally got cell reception and googled how to get a transfer case out of low. Got under it and found the linkage. The piece off of the case that the cable attached to luckily needed to be pused up to get out of low. So I got a stick about 6" long and fat and put it against that lever on the case and tapped the other end while my buddy pushed the handle down inside the kj. After about 5-6 taps it came free. I feel pretty sure I didn't mess it up with the hammer.

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2005 Liberty CRD Limited Loaded, GDE Hot Tune, Rear Suspension Air Bags, ARB Bull Bar, OME 790 front springs with Nitrochargers, Rancho 9000s in the rear, 245/75/16 Duratracs, Magnaflow exhaust, K&N filter, Red Samcos, HiLift, Smittybuilt X2O 8,000 lb, Solid Rear Diff Cover

Chaperoned by the dog pack - Bobby Seale, Abbie Hoffman, and MJ Pride

I will say this though. My Duratracs are about half life on them and I got a flat on the front drivers side about 3 weeks about. I put a plug in it because my spare is brand new and didn't want a brand new one on one side with a 50% on the other. I wasplanning to buy another new tire and replace both fronts so as not to put that strain on my gears. But From what I hear you saying, having 50%ers on the back and brand new on the front will cause damage? Or are you talking seriously different sized tires? Am I going to need to replace all 4 or just live with one patched?

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2005 Liberty CRD Limited Loaded, GDE Hot Tune, Rear Suspension Air Bags, ARB Bull Bar, OME 790 front springs with Nitrochargers, Rancho 9000s in the rear, 245/75/16 Duratracs, Magnaflow exhaust, K&N filter, Red Samcos, HiLift, Smittybuilt X2O 8,000 lb, Solid Rear Diff Cover

Chaperoned by the dog pack - Bobby Seale, Abbie Hoffman, and MJ Pride

Aren't you supposed to shift into (and out of ) 4lo when the vehicle is moving (slowly) and the transmission is in neutral?

Not to go too off topic, but am I the only one the rotates through the spare? I figure, why have a spare on the back just dry rotting away.

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2006 Sport, GDE FT Eco Tune, Custom Trans Tune
2015 Ram 1500 Big Horn EcoDiesel, GDE Hot Tune

If you use full-time 4x and your 5th is the same type, then you absolutely should rotate through all four. I'm getting 5 new tires in the morning and will be beginning my rotation.

Having slight differences in your tire diameter if you shift onto a seldom used spare won't "damage" your driveline in full-time, but it will make your abs behave like you're in a turn and can be dangerous on-road in an emergency stop condition. I have an 05 so esp isn't an issue but I understand 06 crds really don't like dissimilar tread levels.

Sent from my subdural android implant using Tapatalk 2

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2005 Silver CRD Limited
245/75R16 GoodYear Duratracs
Fumoto drain | ProVent CCV Filter
Stanadyne FM100 filter | Cummins fuel pump
GDE Eco | SEGR | BoulderBars | FrankenLift | Frankenskids

That is the preferred way to do it. But you can do it standing still, you just have to first put the transmission in neutral, then move the transfer case lever, and finish by (still stopped) putting the tranny into both D and R while holding the brake.

If the OP took a hammer to the shift mech, I'd not be surprised if it did need replacing.

The 242 transfer case pushes a spring that pushes against a gear - it there's any mismatch front to rear the gear won't engage if its disengaged, nor will it disengage if it's engaged - the front and rear shafts have to turn at the same speed - normally backing slowly will find that same speed at some point.

personally I killed a tire at Moab (less that 4K on the set) - but my spare was different - best of the last set, the shop at Moab didn't have anything that matched - so I bought 2 new ones to fit one axle - same size - different manufacturer.... and it wouldn't go into 4wheel part time or 4 low - until I put 4 new tires on it. I could shift into 4 wheel fulltime - but there's the differential with that.

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2005 CRD
stuff
Skeptic quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur

I recall reading that Tire Rack can shave the tread down on a tire to whatever legal depth you like, so if you did not want to buy all new tires you could order one new one from them and have it shaved.

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2006 Liberty CRD Limited

Provent @ 43,000 km
SEGR in progress
SAMCO Sport hoses @ 48500 km
Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac LT225/75R16

Yes, that is what it says in the manual. And that's what I have always done. This time it did not budge no matter if I was moving or not.



I bought them from a friend shortly after I got the jeep. He put a lift on his Jeep and went bigger. But he only had four. His spare was just a street tire. So we got the 4 from him for $250 and they were a little better that 50% back then. And just bought a new one as a spare.



I mean you make it sound like I got under it with a mallet and used the ole,"it's not broken, I just haven't hit it hard enough yet" mentality. On the trail I got a signal on my phone and I read here (one of the first links to pop up when you google stuck in 4lo) http://pgh-offroad.com/forum/showthread ... k-in-4-low a guy towards the bottom suggest tapping the linkage with a hammer to get it unstuck. So that's what I did. And it worked. At least so far as to get it back into 2wd. Other people talk about rocks being thrown up in the linkage. I didn't hit it anywhere near as hard as a rock would. So I feel fairly certain that didn't cause it. But it seems like that is the number one answer as to what is causing it. So I will accept responsibility for being the force that broke it. What do I do now though? It still shifts. Just not as smooth and it makes some noise. Should I leave well enough alone for now and see if it gets worse? Or if it does go out, will it take something else with?

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2005 Liberty CRD Limited Loaded, GDE Hot Tune, Rear Suspension Air Bags, ARB Bull Bar, OME 790 front springs with Nitrochargers, Rancho 9000s in the rear, 245/75/16 Duratracs, Magnaflow exhaust, K&N filter, Red Samcos, HiLift, Smittybuilt X2O 8,000 lb, Solid Rear Diff Cover

Chaperoned by the dog pack - Bobby Seale, Abbie Hoffman, and MJ Pride

With 242 t-case you need 4 tires withing 3/32" tread depth of each other and all at the same psi of shifting failures will occure.It's not a direct shift t-case and you do not want it to get stuck in part time 4wd when you gotta drive on pavement.Just because the shifter is in the 2wd spot does not mean the 242 t-case is in 2wd since it's not a direct shift t-case.To keep the t-case shifting better,1st change the fluid,then once a month(at least) go find a large gravel lot or grassy fleld and shift into all the 4wd ranges and drive in each for about 10mins.Keeps things well lubed and the shifting smoother.Or swap in a 231 t-case from a Gas KJ,loose fulltime 4wd but will actually shift right.

Would it be a true statement that if you are not shifting and you keep the transfer case in 2wd that you can have tires with depth differences greater than 3/32"?

Yes but what would be the point? Might as well gotten a 2wd vehicle then.

He can put the taller ones on the back for a little while (and stay off the tough stuff) until the treads are more even, making 4x4 without binding a reality

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2005 Silver CRD Limited
245/75R16 GoodYear Duratracs
Fumoto drain | ProVent CCV Filter
Stanadyne FM100 filter | Cummins fuel pump
GDE Eco | SEGR | BoulderBars | FrankenLift | Frankenskids

Unless you are doing some burnouts the fronts will always wear faster.

I put my brand new spare on the front of my vehicle because my tires were getting worn and cupping and I was sick of the noise. I am getting new tires in the next couple of months and generally only use 4wd in the winter months towing my snowmobile trailer into the mountains. I will have new tires before that happens...

Burnouts it is then.

Did you replace both front? Or is one worn out and the other is a brand new spare? Because that will screw things up even if not in 4wd.

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2005 Liberty CRD Limited Loaded, GDE Hot Tune, Rear Suspension Air Bags, ARB Bull Bar, OME 790 front springs with Nitrochargers, Rancho 9000s in the rear, 245/75/16 Duratracs, Magnaflow exhaust, K&N filter, Red Samcos, HiLift, Smittybuilt X2O 8,000 lb, Solid Rear Diff Cover

Chaperoned by the dog pack - Bobby Seale, Abbie Hoffman, and MJ Pride

Just one. It is an 05.