Hey everyone. I've got a 95 Dakots SLT 4x4. I love this truck though I've only owned it for a few months already.

I knew when I bought it that the transfer case was screwy, but for the price i didn't really care much. The dealer's mechanic said it was an extended rod or stretched cable??? or something like that. I honestly don't remember. But his estimate was a $150-$200 fix. Didn't sound too bad. The dealer even offered to have it fixed while he still had but he couldnt hold it for me. It was a deal so I didn't let it wait, I didn't want this to get away from me.

However, the transfer case got worse recently, without me really using the 4x4. I used it maybe 6 times throughout winter for 10 seconds at a time, just to get up a drive way. Anyways, it's making a loud rattling noise. Literally ratting, the perfect word for it. I got underneath and I can rotate the shaft from the Transfer Case to front axle about a quarter inch back and forth, this makes the rattle. The rattle sounds like its coming from the first few inches of the transfer case. It only does it when I'm driving and its annoying as hell.

I was wodnering if anyone knows
1. What it is.
2. If I can fix it or if its better left to a pro
3. If there's a temp fix to stop the rattle until I can afford to have it fixed. I wont need 4x4 until winter again, but I did want to do some offroadin this summer.

Thanks
-Justin

 

just bumping, any suggestions are better than none....