2000 Dakota 4x4. I was driving along in city in 2wd and heard loud noise followed by something banging around. I see the handle to engage 4x4 went loose and is moving around. It is totally disconnected. I pulled over and didn't see anything hanging. Truck still drives, got me home with no more noise. I held the handle so it wouldn't move around. So what happened?

 

sounds like your transfer case exploded

look here https://dodgeforum.com/forum/esp_sea...loded&type=gcs

 

There are rubber bushings in the shift linkage for the transfer case. They do dry rot and then fail and when that happens, the shift linkage can hit the driveshaft.

I just went through this 2 months ago.

The original part number was: 05015837AA

Replace both as the other one can't be far behind and when it fails you'll lose part of the linkage. You can see the linkage crawling under the truck but to change the bushings I found it easier to go through the top. I didn't have enough room to press the bushing in from underneath.

Good luck.

 

Here's a picture of the t-case linkage. The grommets are item #11.

 

Thank all, I appreciate it