I'm looking at buying a 02 Durango sxt it has 2wd and 4wd lock when coming out of 4wd lok it clunks like a ****. Just wondering If thats because it's not 4x4 on the fly (I was moving) or if it's actually the 4x4 screwing up

 

as far as I know all durangos were shift on the fly under 25mph (might be higher but 25 is sticking out in my mind). Is is full time 4wd (has 4wdFT and 4wdPT on the selector) or part time 4wd. Just "a clunk" is a but vague and hard to know what it is for sure just based on that.

 

It has 2wd and 4wd lock no 4lo and it feels like a large bump while deiving

 

are you giving it gas when you shift, you're not supposed to give any gas when you shift the transfer case

 

Yes it did it while I was giving it has but it didn't shift out right away so I couldnt just roll forever... No I wasn't spinning I'm not quite that dum (my forte is my 86 Daytona c/s

 

first off, I'm not in any way saying that you're doing anything stupid or doubting your intelligence. I'm just giving you my honest opinion based on past experience and what I've read/been told both on the forum and in life.

I'm not entirely familiar with the electronically shifted transfer cases and their shifting procedures (my 99 has a lever), but I do know that giving it gas when shifting is bad, and is most likely why it is clunking. It shouldn't take more that a few rotations of the wheel to complete the shift, unless there is binding in the drive-line. This is caused from driving on hard surfaces while in 4wd lock. If you drive it on the road in 4wd lock the drive-line is under bind and could take longer for the 4wd to disengage fully, if at all.

 

No I just want to make sure that I am not a variable in that situation :P why would it take so long to disengage then? It doesn't take anytime to engage?

 

the clunk is not normal however all durangos have shift on the fly t-cases, limit is 30mph on shifting iirc, and shifting while on the gas is very bad.

the delay in shifting is most likely caused by driveline bind (usually referred to as axle bind) you drove on a hard surface with it in 4lock and made a turn, this causes the front and rear driveshaft to want to turn at different speeds but since they cant it puts a torsional load on the driveshafts. now you go to shift out of 4lock and the mechanism in the t-case releases the t-case from the 4lock position but the torsional load on the drivelines hold the drive shafts together until the torsional load is reduced enough that they pop out, that is the clunk you are hearing. try doing it again, if it clunks while rolling very slowly, or when shifting while stopped (this should also work just fine) then there is something wrong with the t -case.

 

wait, this is new to me, so when I am rolling in the mud or rolling in the sand, (usually 2wd to start) if I start feeling myself get stuck or I see I am going to need 4FT shortly, I can shift while still rolling?

Reason I ask, is because the other day I was out in the mud, bottomed out on a hill, kicked it in reverse and rear wheels were caked so they just spun, so I flipped the normal shifter into neutral and kicked my 4wd lever into 4FT. Put it back in drive, light is on saying it is in 4FT but I was still just spinning my back tires, and front tires had no power going to them. So, from past experiences, I went ahead and kicked it into reverse and then back into drive and voila, my front tires had power, seemed as though my 4wd has to be shifted into reverse before it engages, any thoughts? I know some vehicles are like that. 4runner and Trooper are the 2 that come to mind.

 

nope the shift to reverse is not necessary, you can shift while rolling, although if you anticipate trouble the correct thing to do is shift into 4wd before you get stuck