hello all, I have a 98 durango, 5.2 liter V8, 4wheel drive, no locking hubs but with manual gear shift lever for the 4wheel drive. the problem is when I shift into 4wheel drive I can feel and hear the transfer case clunk into gear, but the front axle does not engage..(found this out on the trail and was lucky to get it home) when I tried to engage the 4wheel drive after this on the road by my house the weirdest thing happened..put into 4wheel high, shifted the tranny back into drive and drove a few hundred feet, stopped and tried to start moving forward again and no power to any wheels, forward or reverse.. and only got it to move again after putting the transfer case back into 2wheel drive..my question is WTF is wrong? does the durango have an actuator to engage the front axle? vacuum line problems? possible transfer case issues? I am going to be replacing the front output shaft here soon and would like any suggestions on what may be worth looking at while up on the jack stands? also on any easy solutions or tips for output shaft removal and installation? thanks for your time

 

does the front driveshaft turn when you put it in gear? if so you should take a look at the front differential, if not, then the t-case is busted

before throwing out the big bucks check to see if the shift-linkage going to the t-case slipped loose and is just not moving the internals all the way (a loose linkage can move the parts, but not quite far enough to engage the four wheel drive)

 

You have manual engagement only on that (no actuators). If it is not shifting then you could have broken the chain and it's rebuild time.

Get under it and check your manual linkage first!!!!!