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stuck in 4wd 01 ram

I have an 01 manual quad cab ram and have noticed the last couple of times that I have put it in 4wd it has had a tough time disengaging. To disengage the 4wd I have had to back up. I have never had this problem before, I use to be able to push in the clutch and shift it back in to 2wd and it disengaged fine. A friend suggested that I may have a vacuum leak and I could possibly hear it if I put on the break and crawled under the truck but he admitted he know very little about Dodge. Any suggestions to what the problem is? Is it something I need to get fixed promptly to avoid damage. Thanks for any info. With winter on the way I will probably be using 4wd more.

Reply to
anrosenb
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If the lever tough to move, or does the lever move fine, but the 4x4 light just stays on (meaning the front axle is still locked)?

Reply to
Tom Lawrence

The leaver moves fine and the light goes off however it is still in

4wd. The first time it happened I moved the leaver into 4 and out of 4 about 15 times before it disengaged (light stayed > >I have an 01 manual quad cab ram and have noticed the last couple of
Reply to
anrosenb

Are you trying this on dry pavement? 4WD will be difficult to disengage unless you are on a loose, somewhat slippery surface. Also, are your tires of roughly equal diameter? Unequal tires can cause this also.

Mike

Reply to
Mike Simmons

Yep - that's where I was going.

To the OP: Any kind of bind on the front axle will prevent the shift collar from disengaging. I'd be hesitant to blame a vacuum leak, because that would affect engagement, as well (unless it was a leaking line from the transfer case to the CAD) - even still, there's enough vacuum there to move the shift fork somewhat, that's why the 4x4 light disengages.

I'd remove the CAD, and check for proper operation (a hand-operated vacuum pump would do the job) - making sure there's nothing preventing smooth operation of the shift fork back and forth.

As far as causing any damage, no - it just means that your front axle will be engaged for a while until it eventually disconnects. This does NOT mean you're still in 4WD, with potential damage to your drivetrain on ard surfaces... it's no different than the 3rd gen trucks with no CAD who's front axle is "engaged" all the time anyway.

Reply to
Tom Lawrence

Thanks guys.

One time I was on dry pavement when I tried and the other I tried to disengage on wet grass.

This does NOT mean

I am guessing that it is engaged since it tends to be tough to turn and tears up the grass like it does when I know it is in 4. Unfortunately I live in a town house so there is not any grass for me to see if it is just a dry pavement issue. I will give it a try tomorrow when I know I will be on grass

Thanks for the suggestions

Oh, yes the tires are the same size. Two are new so they could be slightly larger due to lack of tread wear but currently they are paired up so that the two old are on the front and two new on the rear.

I will reply with what I find on the grass issue

Tom Lawrence wrote:

Reply to
anrosenb

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