Hi There-

New to the forum and new to Dodge Rams. Just bought a 2000 Ram Sport 4x4 with 130K miles to trailer my "project" cars to and from shops.

The truck runs strong, but the grinding noise and wheel skipping when I shift into 4WD suggests that the transfer case may need replacing.

So, where do I start in finding suppliers of rebuilt transfer cases? Or should I pull mine and have it rebuilt locally?

Thanks-

 

4 low? It's normal for it to grind going into 4 low if you shift incorrectly. I put mine in neutral and cut the truck off to shift into 4 low because I never did get it down.

 

Wheel skipping? That's normal if you are turning on dry pavement when 4 wheel is engaged. Is that what you are talking about?

 

The tires did skip on the pavement when cornering in 4WD, but my main concern was the very loud squealing, clunking & grinding noises when I shifted into 4WD, even on a stright road. Loud enough that heads turned when I pulled into a parking lot! It drives fine when 4WD is not engaged.

It also seemed like it was difficult to dissengage from 4WD.

I'm going to play around with the 4WD over the weekend to see if I can locate the issue- just seemed like the transfer case would be the likely cause.

 

You shouldn't engage 4x4 on the pavement, that can bust up the spider gears and u-joints. Well, turning while in 4x4 on pavement is what can break stuff. It may just be making a racket from doing it on pavement.
So are you going into 4x4 hi or low?
How fast are you going when you shift?
How fast are you yanking the shifter?
Have you tried it in loose dirt or gravel?

 

You can NOT use 4 wheel drive on dry pavement period, with the setup on a Ram.

 

So are you going into 4x4 hi or low?
4x4 hi

How fast are you going when you shift?
I was at a stop, shifted into 4X4 and then drove in straight line 5-10 mph

How fast are you yanking the shifter? not very fast/hard

Have you tried it in loose dirt or gravel?
Haven't tried this yet, but will this weekend.

Thanks for the help- it's been over 20 years since I've had a 4x4 and obviously forgotten a lot!

 

It does not matter HI or LOW, do not do it on a dry surface. If you have been doing this for any kind of extended period of time. You may have very well destroyed the TC. But meanwhile, check the ujoints on the front axle.

 

If you hit the gas immediately after shifting then you can hear a clunk from the shift collar in the front axle connecting the passenger axle shaft to the intermediate shaft.
Wait for the 4x4 light to turn on before punching the gas. The shift motor on the front axle is operated by vacuum so it takes a second for the 4x4 to engage after shifting.

Give it a firm shift into gear to make sure it fully engages. You can do it in gear or neutral, stopped or at any speed up to 55mph off the road for 4hi.

4x4 low requires you to be rolling at about 3mph with the transmission in neutral and you need to give a firm shift from 2hi to 4 low without pausing in neutral on the 4x4 shifter.

I couldn't get it to shift into 4 low without grinding the couple times I tried it years ago so I just put the transmission in neutral, turn the truck off, shift into 4 low and start it back up and go.

Top speed in 4x4 low is 20 mph.
Top speed in 4x4 high is 55 mph.
You can go over those speeds but that is just begging for drive line trouble.