I've had the same problem myself. The Dodge's HAVE to be turned off or you'll break your arm! My '83 GMC K2500 I had 9 years ago worked fine,...but my '87 F-150 was the same, arm breaker...had to switch her off and then no problem shifting out.

 

i always come to a complete stop and shift neutral.. then do what ever i need to...

 

Is it bad in anyway to turn the engine off and do it? I've heard of people going from 4L to N and shutting it off, then turning it on and finishing the rest of the shift to 4H.

Mine grinds sometimes going either way. Sometimes it goes in just fine though. Is it ok to shut the engine off to do it every time either way? If thats the case - Just put it in N, shut the truck off, go from 4H to 4L (in one solid motion), then turn the truck back on? I just want to keep the 4x4 running as good as I can. If it means shutting the truck off for a minute and looking like a retard, that's fine.

 

I'm glad I took a look at this thread. I've only put my truck in 4L twice. Once to pull a jeep out of a ditch and another time to pull a Dakota out of a ditch (on the same road lol). The first time, I had no issues. The last time, I had to wrestle and grind to get it where I wanted. I thought I had done something wrong. I guess its just some more Dodge shenanigans.

 

Mine has been a hard shift from 4L to N and N to 4L since day one.Never seemed to hurt it.I'll try the shut off metheod next time I think about it.

 

Seems like LOTS of people have problems with their Rams coming out of 4L. I will have to "practice" turning the engine ....... as suggested above. I go in some pretty desolate places in the West..... and would hate to have to walk 30 miles or so just to get help.

 

i have only used my 4lo once and all i did was coast bout 4 mph and shift it into neutral and the go to 4hi then n then down to 4lo and then when i was done wheeling i just did the same thing back to 2hi and i never had a problem.