Need help with 4x4

[Chris Bowles]

I have a 99 ranger 3.0 motor. It wont go in 4x4. When i turn the switch it goes in 4x4 but the front wheels aren't engaging. The front drive shaft will start spinning though. So its not the t-case. Any ideas?

 

[Chris Bowles]

oh and the hubs are locked in too so its not the hubs either. ANYONE?

 

[4x4junkie]

How do you know the hubs are locked in? (are they manual hubs?) Are the CV shafts behind the wheels NOT turning (but the front driveshaft is)?

 

[Chris Bowles]

i made them all time locked in. and the shafts from the front pumpkin are moving also.

 

[4x4junkie]

If the shafts from the differential to the wheels ARE turning, but the wheels themselves are not, then it's clearly a hub issue. I would suspect one side has come unlocked somehow.

 

[TwoTrackMind]

Review..

I question how do you see the driveshaft turning. If you see it turn while the truck is driven, know that the wheels may be turning the driveshaft while the transfer case is not actually engaged for what ever reason.

Just to verify, you can jack the rear wheels off the ground, CAREFULLY engage the tranny, and NOT drive off the jack. IF your not going to go anywhere, then look at the front driveshaft. If it and the two axleshafts are turning then you have locking hub issues. If no motion up front then you have transfer case issues.

The only thing between the axle shafts and the wheels is your locking hubs. Are both axles turning? If only one is, then only one hub is unlocked and you will not have power to either front wheel (assuming you have no posi in front).

If both are turning I'd suggest reviewing your attempt to make them all time locked in. Did they previously work ok? Maybe one or both have gone to lunch. While jacked up as before, you can verify all this by taking off your lockout hubs and watch the axle shafts turn through the hub bearings from outside the wheels.

Let us know what you come up with...

 

[Chris Bowles]

so it only takes one side to not work for both to not work? because when i did the all time lock in conversion one hub seemed like it wasnt locked in. How much do new hubs cost? and i jacked up all four wheels and put it in drive and the front wasnt moving untill i put it in 4x4. once i put it in 4x4 the front drive shaft moved and the two other shafts going to the wheels started moving. i didnt check it jacked up after i made them locked in.

 

[TwoTrackMind]

Id guess the lockin did not work. The manual lockout hubs you buy are around $150. I finally bought some and love them. There are several ways to make the factory jobs fulltime locking though. The simplest is (if they are working at least some of the time) while they are engaged, remove the vacuum lines and plug them.

 

[Chris Bowles]

well i already did the conversion thing from the tech library. IM thinking manual hubs. THe hubs on it are shot anyway the plastic is broke in some spots. Also this is unrelated but alot of the time it take 2 or 3 trys to start the motor in it. like it cranks for a while then i let off and try it again and it starts.

 

[TwoTrackMind]

I looked at that tech thing too and didnt like it. I figured out how they worked and developed several work arounds. They work similar to a ballpoint pen except vacuum is applied from the back instead of pushing it with your finger. And you dont "press" all the way for lock, just half way. So you can apply half as much vacuum for lock, etc. For a couple years I had a vacuum line running from the hubs to inside the cab with a guage attaced. I could vary the amout of vacuum to switch the hubs where I wanted. I also rigged up a pressure regulator (with the pressure source from the spare tire) and applied it to the hole on the outside of the hub. This would work when the bearing seals got leaky which allowed vacuum to excape and not operate the hubs. I also determined that one could pry off the outside screen, tear a hole in the exposed rubber diaphram and poke a thin metal object (screwdriver) and operate it, deeper or not so deep, to get them to lock or unlock. But in all, I like the ones you buy better... I understand they tend to fall of sometimes, maybe cause theyre a little heavier. I put a hose clamp around the plastic fingers to help stop that, just a thought.

 

[Chris Bowles]

alright, i think ill buy them. The right hub had water in it so does that mean that ones vacuum was bad causing it to not go into 4x4? So you think its just the hubs and nothing major like in the pumpkin?

 

[TwoTrackMind]

The right hub had water in it

There should be no way for water to get inside, unless the diaphram or the o-ring does not seal properly (and you drove it in water or washed it, etc). If either did not seal then yes, the vacuum could not operate a stock (not modified) locking hub.

does that mean that ones vacuum was bad causing it to not go into 4x4?

The vacuum signal to the hubs is complicated. It is pulsed. More or less pulses to lock or unlock the hubs. The pulses come from a magical little box behind the passenger headlight that gets is signal from the computer. Add to the fact that it has to go through the hub bearings and not leak out. So yes, the vacuum could be bad. If the vacuum is bad for what ever reason, it wont climb the big hill...

So you think its just the hubs and nothing major like in the pumpkin?

Im Guessing its hubs. Review all the above, apply common sense and think things through. If the pumpkin was bad, the driveshaft would turn independantly from the axle shafts, and probably make a hella noise. With the transfer case and the hubs unlocked (or off the truck) you can crawl underneath and turn the driveshaft by hand and watch the axles turn. Have a buddy hold one axle still and the remaining axle will go twice as fast. Switch axles to test the other side. Then you hold the driveshaft still while he turns one axle. The other axle will turn backwards. You've tested your pumpkin. BTW this all assumes you dont have a posi!

 

[Chris Bowles]

i guess that hub conversion didnt really work so i jerry rigged it and they are locked in now and the 4x4 works. This is going to be temporary until i get the manual hubs. Thanks for the help though

 

[RumpRanger98]

get those hubs yet?