1999 ford ranger 4wd problem

[derek3]

So I'm new to the forum but hoping I can get Some help and maybe help some people out also. So I'm going to explain about my headache of a truck.. I have a 1999 ford ranger with the notoriously bad vacuum hubs. Well when I bought the truck a year ago the 4wd worked awesome. Then sometimes it would kick out of 4wd and then tried to use it one day and it doesn't work at all. So I figured it was hubs so I popped them off and put the after market rugged ridge manual locking hubs on and still nothing. Both 4 high and 4 low lights work the front wheels just don't engage. Sometimes if I try engaging it on the fly. (Never over 20mph) I can hear a real fast clicking/ticking noise from under the cab. And it continues to do it till I stop. When I go from 2 high to 4wd I can here it click in the transfer case like it's clicking in there. It just isn't giving any power to the front wheels. I've read it being real uncommon but people having to replace the shifting forks in the transfer case or the shift motor but I don't think it's the shift motor because from what I understand the light on my dash would be blinking or not work at all. But it tells me exactly what I turn the know to. Sorry about such a long post just scratching my head with this thing and thought maybe someone on here had a better idea

 

[RonD]

Welcome to TRS

Here is a link to see the electric shift motor:
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/TCaseshiftmotor.htm

You will see the indicator light wiring for 2WD or 4WD is on the motor itself not in the transfer case, so the motor could be moving but not shifting the transfer case.
I guess best thing would be to pull off the motor and have a look at it's shift contact point, and then see if you can manually rotate transfer case shifter to get 4WD.

 

[Dune Runner]

Buy a shiftster. Be done with that crap forever.

 

[derek3]

I crawled under the truck with it in 2nd and spun the front driveshaft had the wife click it into 4 high heard it cycle through the transfercase and the front driveshaft was locked in and wouldn't move. But the front tire I had jacked up would still spin so I took that tire off and got to looking when you spin the tire it spins the axel all the way back to the front differential? When you unlock the hub it frees that up and it don't spin anymore. So with that I'm assuming something in my front differential isn't locking into the front axels. Any suggestions?

 

[derek3]

Shiftster?

 

[Spott]

The front diff doesn't engage or disengage. If the axles are turning, the front driveshaft is turning, and if the front driveshaft is turning, the front axles are turning.

The hubs can lock and unlock from the front axle, and the transfer case can engage and disengage the driveshaft. You probably have an intermittent electrical problem with the TC shift motor or the wiring to it.

Spott

 

[derek3]

Yes but if it were the shift motor on the transfer case wouldn't the tc not even be locking in the front driveshaft? . When I stick it in 4wd and try and spin the front driveshaft by hand it is locked in. If the shift motor wasn't working correctly the front shaft should still be free spinning like it was in 2wd. Sorry if these are stupid questions this thing just has me stumped. My question is. Is there anything in the front diff. That can strip out and not catch like it supposed to or anything

 

[derek3]

I appreciate all of the advice I am far from experienced mechanic so Bare with me if my descriptions are confusing. So I'm real sure it's got to do something with the passenger hub. I was tinkering with it. Had it in 2wd but locked the hubs in. Decided to reach under and try and spin the axels. The drivers side was lock solid but the passenger wasnt. Which with the hub locked in it shouldn't spin at all right? So I figured I would click it into 4 high and see what it did then. It locked that axel up. So with the axel spinning in 2wd with the hub locked in. Something would have to be wrong with that hub right?.
Keep in mind the truck is sitting on the ground.

 

[Spott]

Yes, if both hubs are locked, and the tires are on the ground, the axles and driveshaft should not turn without moving the truck, regardless of the state of the TC.

Final test: put TC in 4wd (high or low, doesn't matter), lock both front hubs, jack up passengers side front wheel. If the wheel spins freely, the hub is not engaging. Double-check that the axles or driveshaft aren't turning, when the wheel spins.

Spott

 

[rangeron33s]

if the hubs lock in and both front wheels are on the ground you would not be able to turn the front diveshaft

 

[derek3]

Ok so I tracked it down to the passenger side hub. When I slide it on can see it put the inside of the up to like it's unlocked. I've popped it off 4 times and no matter how I do it it pushes the hub unlocked when I put it on any suggestions?

 

[derek3]

Thanks everyone . I got it tracked down to that hub being bad. Everything else on the truck is working properly. I swapped the hubs sides because I thought maybe something on the passenger side was catching the inside of the hub and unlocking it. Well the hub I had on the passenger side didn't work on the drivers side and the drivers side worked on the passenger side. So that tells me something in the one hub isn't working right. Email rugged ridge and the company I got them from so hopefully I will get Se new ones soon