Am I missing something. My front drive shaft should be rotating freely while the truck is sitting on the ground and still, right? I mean, I crawled under there and just spun it around with my hands pretty easy with both front tires on the ground. It acted like there weren't any gears in the front diff.

Correct me if I am wrong.

 

well thats right if its in 2wd lock it in 4x4 and see if you can do the same

 

How doest the transfer case disengage the front diff? I thought that the front axles and driveshaft spun freely with the road speed, but didn't have any drive to them. I just don't get how being in 2wd allows the front diff to spin freely when I don't have manual locking hubs.

My jeep is different. When I spin the front drive shaft, the front axles spin.

 

our front axles are vacuum actuated by the transfer case....look on the far passanger side of the front diff and you will see the cad unit

 

Thanks, man.