My wife and I just bought a used white SLT Durango with a 5.9/360 and 76K miles. It's our 3rd car and will be used mainly for family stuff.

I've ordered a manual off of ebay, but was wondering if someone can give me the steps for engaging the 4WD. I'm familiar with the HI/LO range on 4WD vehicles, but wasn't sure if the Durango was a shift on the fly capable model or if I needed to stop and backup to engage the system.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Dave

 

You have to be in Neutral. My 03 has shift on the fly, But you cant fly over 5mph. I have electronic shift. But you have to be in neutral...

 

What year is your D?
If it has a floor mounted lever than it is shift on the fly for 4wd Hi, however most people prefer to go slower or be fully stoppedto make sure it fully engages properly. To shift into 4wd Lo, you have to be rolling at about 3MPH with the transmisison in NEUTRAL. On the floor mounted shifter, firmly shift into Lo without pausing in neutral. Don't be afraid to be forceful, it's designed to be engaged firmly and quickly.

 

NWG:
Since your D is an 02, then you have the dash mounted switch which started with the 01 model year (like mine).
You can switch to 4 high at speeds up to 55mph, but all the wheels must be going the same speed ie not slipping or spinning. Remember also that a part time system like your NV233 transfer case should not be driven very far at all on dry pavement with the 4x4 engaged as it will cause tire scuffing and/or drivetrain bind that can get real expensive really fast.

It is true however that you have to be pretty much stopped to switch to 4 low. I think you will find as I have that 4 low is good for pulling stumps and off road crawling as max vehicle speed is 25mph.
I find that I need to put my 01 into neutral to get it to accept a 4 low shift.

Congrats on the D purchase, and welcome to the family.

Don

 

Thanks for all the help guys.

The weather here in the eastern panhandle of WV was 75 degrees on Wednesday and 60 degrees yesterday. Today, we've got about 4-5 inches of snow. 2 hours of sleet came down before the snow, so it's pretty slippery. Nothing I couldn't have handle in my Caravan, but I was itching to try out the 4WD. I started off in 2WD to see how well it would work.

It needs new tires, so the 2WD traction was so-so.4WD worked smoothly and I engaged/disengaged a copule of times based on different road conditions with no problems.

Thanks

Dave