Ok, I will try to be as detailed as possible.

I bought a 98 Ram, 1500, xcab, 4x4, 5.9L, AT. It was a theft recovery, rear driveshaft removed. Got it running and had to put it in 4Lo to at least have front wheel drive to move around my yard. I went slow and it seemed at each wheel revolution the truck went "clunk" then drove, then "clunk", etc. I lifted up the front endand put it in drive to see what was going on. Bothfront wheels spun good, no clunking was heard, but I could go up the drivers wheel and stop it with little effort while the pass side was hard to impossible to stop. At first I thought drivers axle, I turned off truck, (now that i think about it, it was in park) and kept in 4Lo, i removed the front diff plate. no guts laying down inside, looked clean.Spun the wheels to hear/see what was going on. Seemed that at times i could get the driveshaft to move while spinning the tires, other times it didnt move. Then I decided to listen to the transfer case when i spun the wheels. the driveshaft was turning and it was making faint clicking noises, and would go away when i put thetransfer casein N. I am thinking transfer case, but I dont know enough about the gearing/transfer case/transmission operationto say that is the answer. Was being in park an issue, Low in fluid, just a simple fix? etc?. Thanks.

 

check the a/t fluid in the tc. see if there is any metal shavings/pieces in it. if there is, a rebuild will be a good idea.

 

Went to drain the TC and no fluid came out (except a few burnt tranny fluid drops). Only a little more than a quart would go in before it overflowed. When test driving slow in yard, still has the clunking noise. I am thinking the TC is bad, what part may be shot inside? Is it an easy rebuild? A local junk yard has a TC with a cracked case, but good internals for $100. Where can I get a manual to rebuild it? maybe I only need to replace one bad part, so I am not knee deep in S%"& with this rebuild. I am a decently compitent car guy, but I may not have all the tools to do this rebuild. Any suggestions. Thanks.

 

The transfer case on your truck is an NP231HD that uses a slip yoke at the exit to the rear driveshaft. When you remove the driveshaft,most ofthe fluid pours out of the slip yoke seals (the driveshaft seals the fluid inside). Driving it without a rear driveshaft allowed all the fluid to drain out (this likely happened before you even bought the truck). A rebuild/replacement is going to be required.

Considering you don't know how much it was driven w/o the rear driveshaft before you, I would say all parts should be replaced....might be able to save the main shafts. Bearings, chain, and all high friction parts need replacing. While your at it, you should probably upgrade to a slip yoke elminator for the rear output, especially if you have to buy a new rear driveshaft anyway.