I was driving my 2003 Ram 1500 when the transfer case shifter control linkage broke. I see this is a common problem and there are threads to show how to fix it. My issue is slightly different because it happened while I was driving and my truck now seems to be stuck in neutral, so I can't drive it anymore - the engine just revs. When it happened, I got help pushing the truck to the curb to park it. The linkage arm fell on the ground, and the 4WD shifter is loose and floppy. Can I manually shift it into gear from underneath just to get me to a place where I can fix this? What direction should I move the arm - forward or back? Does the truck need to be running? Column shifter in neutral? Or does that not matter?
Thank you in advance for any advice!

 

You should be able to shift it from under the truck, but, as for which direction to move it? That, I don't know. I would have a second warm body with you though..... put the trans in neutral, engine NOT running, foot on the brake, and you move the range selector on the t-case by hand. Don't put it in 4 wheel drive though, (there IS an indicator for that, right??)

 

Thank you for your quick reply. So ignition on, but truck not running is what you suggest? Got it. I recently purchased this truck, so am not very familiar with it yet. The incident happened as I was one block from a service station that just changed the oil. The shifting didn't feel quite right, so I thought the truck might not be in gear properly. I moved the column shifter and it didn't help. So then I moved the 4WD shifter, it made a noise, then went floppy. After I got help pushing it, the service station mechanic went to look at it, but couldn't help, so I had to get the truck towed one block back to the service station. They told me the linkage arm was lying on the ground, and they couldn't locate the part to fix it. So I did my own research online, and this seems like a common problem that I think they should have been able to identify before towing, and should be able to locate a part. Right now, I just want to be able to drive the truck to get it of their lot so I can deal with it.
Thank you again!

 

The transfer case has detents you feel when the shifting. If you look up from underneath, you'll notice that the way it works is as you pull the shift ball towards your seat, it moves the lever on the crankcase forward. I noticed my rear bushing for that rod let go and the back of the rod was just hanging there. I ordered a set of 4 bushings from Amazon prime (next day delivery), not much more for a couple extra.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Good luck !

 

Thank you very much!

 

Mine did this as well at worst possible time, the rubber grommets just puke away…..zip tie and washer…..then other side grommet went, zip tie and washer…..been like that almost a year and it’s still connected lol