Shift on the fly!
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 934
Likes: 4
From: Alabama
There was a thread somewhere a couple months ago about this. I don't remember if the thread was here or on another site, but I do remember that there were all sorts of folks yakking about "electrical stuff breaks" this that and the other. Everybody had a story about how they or someone they knew had a problem with non-mechanical transfer case shift setups...on a ford or chevy. Despite all the screaming and hollering against using anything other than a mechanical linkage, NOT ONE story ever surfaced about the current dodge electrical shift setup causing any problems at all. So no, if you have an electric transfer case in a 3rd gen dodge, rest easy.
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Joined: Nov 2002
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No problems at 40K and 2+ years. There was a post somewhere where someone was thinking they were stuck in 4wd but it turned out they had bad axle joints at the front wheels. I've heard of no failures, just random talk about people trusting mechanical over electrical. If I'd had the choice, I would have chosen the old-fashioned lever too for that reason. Nonetheless, the electric version has been working fine and takes up less space.
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 15
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From: Lewistown, MT
When I was shopping for my truck I didn't want the electronic 4wd, mostly because of what others here have mentioned: my experience has been that mechanical linkage is more reliable/durable than wires, electronics, and rubber hoses are. But, when I found a truck in my price range that had all of my 'prime directives' (CTD, manual trans, quad cab, long bed, 4x4) it had the electronic 4wd. Oh well I thought, the other stuff is more important.
However, one day I was working under my mom's 2000 CTD (fixing the 5th gear nut problem). It has the manual 4wd, but I noticed that the front axle has the same non-mechanical (I think it works on vacuum but I don't know that for sure) coupling for the front axle that my 2003 has.
Understand that to actually drive the front wheels the t-case must be shifted AND the split right front axle must be coupled together. This applies to both the manual and the electronic 4wd models. If the t-case is shifted, but the axle coupler fails to connect the front tires will not be powered.
So, the long and short of it is even the 'manual' 4wd system isn't truly manual. It has the same 'weak link' axle coupler as the electronic system (which actually has two 'weak links', but the axle coupler IMHO is the more vulnerable of the two since it's down on the front axle in the mud/snow/sand/etc)
Now don't get me wrong; you bet I'd prefer old school manually locking hubs and two shifters on the transfer case (one for 2wd/4wd and one for hi/low...there's times when low 2wd is pretty useful). But, the electronic system in my truck so far (frequent use over 30k miles) hasn't workeed flawlessly. And, my mom's truck has over 150K with no 4wd related problems. She doesn't 'off-road' per se but frequently needs 4wd to get to her house and so she uses the 4wd quite often. Both systems work perfectly well.
However, one day I was working under my mom's 2000 CTD (fixing the 5th gear nut problem). It has the manual 4wd, but I noticed that the front axle has the same non-mechanical (I think it works on vacuum but I don't know that for sure) coupling for the front axle that my 2003 has.
Understand that to actually drive the front wheels the t-case must be shifted AND the split right front axle must be coupled together. This applies to both the manual and the electronic 4wd models. If the t-case is shifted, but the axle coupler fails to connect the front tires will not be powered.
So, the long and short of it is even the 'manual' 4wd system isn't truly manual. It has the same 'weak link' axle coupler as the electronic system (which actually has two 'weak links', but the axle coupler IMHO is the more vulnerable of the two since it's down on the front axle in the mud/snow/sand/etc)
Now don't get me wrong; you bet I'd prefer old school manually locking hubs and two shifters on the transfer case (one for 2wd/4wd and one for hi/low...there's times when low 2wd is pretty useful). But, the electronic system in my truck so far (frequent use over 30k miles) hasn't workeed flawlessly. And, my mom's truck has over 150K with no 4wd related problems. She doesn't 'off-road' per se but frequently needs 4wd to get to her house and so she uses the 4wd quite often. Both systems work perfectly well.
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 934
Likes: 4
From: Alabama
Originally posted by Tony Montana
Understand that to actually drive the front wheels the t-case must be shifted AND the split right front axle must be coupled together. This applies to both the manual and the electronic 4wd models. If the t-case is shifted, but the axle coupler fails to connect the front tires will not be powered.
So, the long and short of it is even the 'manual' 4wd system isn't truly manual. It has the same 'weak link' axle coupler as the electronic system (which actually has two 'weak links', but the axle coupler IMHO is the more vulnerable of the two since it's down on the front axle in the mud/snow/sand/etc)
Understand that to actually drive the front wheels the t-case must be shifted AND the split right front axle must be coupled together. This applies to both the manual and the electronic 4wd models. If the t-case is shifted, but the axle coupler fails to connect the front tires will not be powered.
So, the long and short of it is even the 'manual' 4wd system isn't truly manual. It has the same 'weak link' axle coupler as the electronic system (which actually has two 'weak links', but the axle coupler IMHO is the more vulnerable of the two since it's down on the front axle in the mud/snow/sand/etc)
My Bad!