2001 Ram Magnum, 5.9 club cab. To shift into 4 lo, I have to turn the engine off, and put it in neutral, and hope it goes into gear. Once into gear, I dare not try to put back into 2 lo or 4 lo, as the trans parking pawl will grind. What up? Adjustment or otherwise? Once I (can finally) get it into 4 lo, it does what it supposed to. Getting in and out of it is a bear, though. Perchance my Blazer (electronic switching) spoiled me. I can switch on the fly, at any speed, from 2-4. 4 lo, though, I have to be, also, in neutral. Any folks out there with ideas or similar problems (if this is actually a problem....if it is, it sux, because Dodge could have done better). No owner's manual, so I am on the fly here.
Thanks,
Chris

 

You shouldn't have to turn your engine off. Just put your transmission in neutral, shift t-case into neutral, then throw it into 4lo. Some suggest doing this while rolling about 3-5mph. You will here it grind if you shift to slow. Honestly you shouldn't use 4lo enough to make it an issue, unless you do a lot of serious offroad work.

 

you should be able to shift between 2h and 4h while moving, up to 50 mph, although i'd never shift at that fast of a speed.

if yours won't do that, then you need to check for vac leak, and/or fix the collar or axle splines where the CAD fork and collar move back and forth.

for the 2LO to 2HI shift, you must push the shift all the way through the neutral position. do not shift slow, do not pause, stop, think, or dawdle. with trans in neutral, stopped or barely rolling, you have to slam it from one position to the other. do not stop in neutral. the reason is that there are no synchronizers in the t-case. its not the parking pawl in the trans thats grinding... its the t-case.

see this for t-case and cad operation.
http://dodgeram.org/tech/repair/4X4/4x4_engagment.htm