Being the owner of a new 06 Power Wagon, I was surprised that you can only lock the differentials in 4 low. I am looking for the best way to override this feature to allow them to lock in 4 hi.

 

Why do you feel it is necessary to literally "LOCK" the diffs in high range.
It would be different if you had LSD's on both ends, but they actually lock together. I'm sure it could be done by wiring around the computer, or putting in an additional actuating switch at the relay, but I don't recommend it at least until it is out of warranty. Then you might want to look into some beefing on the driveline system in general.

 

There are a lot of people who see the benefit in loking the diff's in 4 high or even 2 low/high if you can rewire your truck that way but, as said before, I would wait until out of warranty before messing with the wiring. I'm assuming the setup is similar to the Rubicon and there are ways around it but I don't know what they are....

 

Ya Mon!
I ordered a wirirng diagram manual from DC Tech Authority just for this reason...
I'll post when it arrives if I can figure out how to do this.

(I have an uphill twisty road to my house, If there is snow/ice while I'm driving up in 4HI and I find the need to lock the rear diff, I would rather not have to stop/slow uphill and manually shift my T-case into low range first.)

 

locking the diffs in snow will be ok but locing on ice will send you sliding.



Of course it takes a lot of those little cubes out of the fridge to get the jeep sliding (I'm in Texas if you're wondering what that means)

 

I received the 06 Ram Truck Wiring Diagram manual yesterday.

There is no easy way to do this, that I can tell.
There is an electronic "black box" (Final Drive Control Module) located on the "smart bar", the electronically controlled disconnecting front stabilizer bar.
It appears that the solenoids for the front and rear lockers get their power signal from this module. This module must get a signal from the tranfer case position sensor, and disconnecting or modifying this would probably give an error to the computer/PCM.

They don't give schematics of what's in these modules, so I'm not going to fiddle around with it.
Hopefully, SuperChips or somebody will figure out a way to do what we want with software.

 

Thats some great info concerning the sensor! I'm thinking of checking the wires behind the rotary switch. I would assume that there is a switch that gets actuated when the transfer case is placed in 4low (maybe just below the shifter). When this switch shuts it sends a signal to the rotary switch which inturn will now send a signal to the diffs and the sway bar disconnect. The black box confuses me. Without the previous knowledge of the black box, I would think that it controls the speed limit on the sway bar (15 MPH). ????

 

I understand the why part now, and it makes sense. If the solenoids are fired through relays, then if the voltage is correct, and its not some sort of double action solenoid, meaning energized "in" and energized "out" for the diffs, then it should be a simple matter of mounting a rocker switch somewhere convenient on the dash to energize the solenoids when you want 4-high "locked". Kind of a work around for the computer and rear module.

 

In order to "work around" the black-box you would need multiple switches and lots of wires routed from the smart bar back to the dash. And even this may end up throwing a computer code.
If you don't have the wiring diagrams don't even think of trying, and you could still end up frying the black box, locker solenoids, or PCM computer, that's an expensive (non-warranty) proposition.

 

There aren't any relays except the solenoids themselves. The signals are controlled by transistors. If you push current through backwards (due to applying a reverse voltage) you will fry them. Since there aren't any schematics available to the backyard mechanic, you would have to disable the signals (voltage) to the control module with switches, and then re-route with even more switches to the lockers. You would need a very complicated multiple pole switch to do it with only one.