Okay, go ahead and laugh but I know nothing about 4WD trucks.[sm=dontgetit.gif]
The truck I am looking at - the '05 SLT QC, has 4WD, hence a shifter on the floor. It says 4-N-2L-2H (I may have the letters mixed up).

What and when are each used and how and when is it shifted? When you are moving or at a stop?

Do you just pull on it as you would an automatic transmission shifter?

When you shift is it noticable?

I have heard of electonic shift and shift on the fly. What is the difference? How do I know which one I have?

A brief education on how to test it and use it would be appreciated.

Thanks much!

 

Well i'm not sure about the 2L.....But if your truck is like my dads, you can put it into 4H when you are driving, up to 30 MPH i believe. Just pull back on the lever. as far as 4L, you have to stop the truck, put the transmission in Park, then pull the lever to put it 4L.....then put it transmission back in Drive. Same thing for getting it out of 4L.

To test it, ive always put it into 4H and make a turn, you will feel the truck will not wanna roll around the corner because of the other two wheels pulling. It may chop a little in a turn. This is just to test....Do not leave it in 4wd on dry ground, you will break something....

 

You can go faster than 30 while in 4Hi. You can go as fast as you want, just dont turn. 4Low, your speed is limited by a govorner. Electric shift on the fly is a **** on the dash. If you have the shifter on the floor, you dont have the ****. **** bad, shifter good. Dodge no longer offers the shifter on the floor, just the **** bull****, which is what my truck has. It sucks. I hate it. I am sure in a few thousand miles or so my 4WD shift actuator will give out, they are pieces of ****. You are lucky. You can shift in and out of 4Hi whenever just pop the tranny in nuetral while you do it. The shift pattern probably reads 2-N-4H-4L.

 

So the floor shift is a good thing?

I understand the transmission as the indicator points to park, reverse, neutral, etc. but is there an indicator on the floor shift?

"2" - that means you are in two wheel drive, I assume.

What is the "N" (neutral?) for?

Why can't you turn in 4WD?

I assume that it was in 2WD when I test drove it... how can I be sure?

 

theres pros and cons with the **** on the fly vs the floor shifter, you do hear of hte SOTF going out, but not often, but rarely have any issues with a floor shifter.
Cons to a floor shifter is you have to be completey stopppped to engange it, that can be annoying, when theres traffice near my house i get on the dirt side and then go up and down and through an over pass and then up again, its always muddy and nasty but beats literally waiting 30 min in traffic, but so anyways i just engage my SOTF around 10 mph. other than the the floor shifter is better, but you cant have the captains chairs with the nice console in between you have to have a "bench seat"

in 4hi you can go pretty much as fast as you want, 4 low generally throws more torque to the rear wheels and wouldnt recog going more that 20, pref 10-15 as your rpms will be pretty high.

think AZ as well as myself read SSchevys post wrong at first " you can put it into 4H when you are driving, up to 30 MPH i believe" i believe hes meaning that even while youre driving you can throw it into 4h, this i did not know..........

 

Leave the model with the automatic push button shifter alone! It not only is something that could fail,and MANY aftermarket mods don't work or are a pain with it.
Manual floor shifter=good push button 4wd selector=bad.

The positions for the manual are 2 hi, 4 hi, neutral and 4l (low).
You can switch between 2 wheel drive hi and 4 wheel drive hi at any speed up to about 60 mph. Do not use 4wd on dry pavement, especially if making a turn.
For 4 low, you need to be stopped and have the tranny in park or neutral. The gearing is lower so you'll start "winding out" in the 25 mph area. You need to stop and put it in N to get out of 4Low as well. The neutral setting is used if you intend to tow your truck with the rear wheels on the pavement.

 

I believe you can shift from 2wd to 4hi on the fly with a floor shifter...

 

Thank you all for your input. When I take my final test drive, I will leave the 4wd alone.

 

if you're thinking about buying the truck, I would definitely shift it in and out of 4wd a few times to make sure it engages properly and works... you don't want to deal with those headaches

 

When you take your final test.... take the truck some where you can turn the truck around in 4Hi and 4Lo like a dirt parking lot... or a field... doin't do anything illegal like tresspassing... Make sure there are no odd noises.... might save a costly mistake.... listen for poping and clicking...