I noticed since I've had the truck that the 4X4 shifter seems to rattle at speeds above 60. I've noticed it getting worse recently. Starting at about 50 mph it rattles obnoxiuosly, sounds like something is loose in the linkage. If you grab onto the shifter and put a little pressure on it in any direction the rattling will stop, but you can feel it vibrating. I know these trucks aren't the quitest out there, but this is starting to worry me. Anybody had any similar experiences? I'm going out to take a look now.

 

Yah my truck actually just recently started doing this too, about a week and a half ago I noticed it and now it bugs me. I haven't looked at what is causing it yet, does anybody else no what could solve this.

 

Pretty common. If you find a good solution post it. Lots of us would like to stop that rattle.

 

Check your Ujoints. Mine were little nubs under the caps when I had the rattle problem. Haven't had another problem since.

 

There are a few threads around that discuss this.

Here is my experiences.
I put some sound insulation on the floor. Helped a bit.
I put some stuffing in the shifter boot and taped the hole around the shifter to make it a bit smaller. Helped a bit.
Sprayed rubberized undercoating crap all over the linkages and bushings. Helped a bit
Put a piece of rubber hose on the shifter linkage. Helped a bit.
Heavy leather glove over the shifter. Almost stopped the noise completely.

-Steve

 

That was my solution. I recent'y had the getrag rebuilt and new seals joints ect put int the transfer case and front driveline. Still does it.

I have thought of putting a golf club bootie on there

 

thanks for the responses. I hung my coat over it the other day to stop the annoying sound, but I want a more permenant fix.

Looks like the bushing at the red arrow is the problem, wiggles around a lot. Also the spring at the black arrow could be worn out. I'll see if I can rig something up and let you know how it works.

 

Super common problem....

Lots of people talk about adding springs and stuff to the linkage, the natural thought is that the problem stems from the pivot point that you point out in the picture, I tried that, but replacing the likage did the trick for me.

I ended up replacing the bent cotter pinned rod with a couple of those cheap spherical joints(hiem joints) and some all thread, and then bolted the spherical joints to the T-case and shift lever.... works like a charm.... also gives a much better feel for the T-case shifting... no guessing what position its in.

Another popular thing is a twin stick conversion that lets you use front/rear high and low independantly..... there are a few companies that make these for the 205,,, cant remember their names right now though.

 

I thought the rattle was standard on 4wd's. I've seen more that have it than the ones that don't.

 

I had a similar noise on my 1997 4x4. I’m not sure if they are the same, but I used a carburetor spring between the frame rail and the shifter linkage. Worked like a charm.

T-Bone
Here is a pic of the linkage end...
[IMG][/IMG]
Here is a pic of the frame end...
[IMG][/IMG]

 

I to had this rattling noise and my coat worked the best of all the thing i tried including the foam tubes on the shifter

I rebuilt my transfer case and i found that the shifter bushing was shot, replace.
when i got it all disassembled, I found a roller bearing that had put chatter or roller bumps on the once smooth suffice.
I don't remember which one now. but it was one of the outer caged roller bearing that holds the outer part of one of the shafts.
used emery cloth and smoothed them down the best that i could.

This is also when i installed my Gear Vendor Over Drive unit, that replaces the extension housing and yoke with the over drive unit.


Now i don't know if it's the GV over drive unit, holding the out put shaft solid, or if its the plastic bushing that i replaced in the lever or the smoothing of the bearing suffice but, it is quiet............NO seriously, there is no noise that you can here over the normal diesel noise.
and i have had it back together for..........at least a year now.
Its still quite.

Flash

 

flashgordon, where did you find a replacment bushing? I haven't really looked yet, but I don't think my local parts store would carry it.

 

www.offroaddesign.com is one source for the twinstick kit

 

my truck started this about a year ago, and it got worse and then so bad it couldnt get any worse ... and then because everyone here knows dodges have the best trannys... NOT mine blew overdrive and 2nd gear, i had a tranny shop rebuild the tranny 4000$ later, and it never did it... but they didnt do anything to the transfer case other than drop it to get the transmission in and out, so i have no idea what it was.

 

my tranny doesn't have 10 k on it since the rebuild, its always made that noise, since the day it came home from the show room floor. not sure what it is?