On my 60, the 4-wheel shifter moves into 4-wheel beautifully. It’s smooth and slides right in. But then if I try and shift into low it’s nearly impossible. I literally get out of truck, walk over to passenger side and pull with all my might and even that does not work lately. Once I put a 2 ft pipe on it and it worked, but that was dumb / too much force. What’s wrong? Is it tough and “piping over is OK to do? Is there a simple lube answer? Do I just need to force a bunch of times and it will loosen up? The times I could get the shifter over to low, it moved in low just fine.
60 4-wheel shifter difficult to shift to low
- Thread starter Landschooner
- Start date
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georgebj60
SILVER Star
Whoa. I would not put that much force on things. Is it possible the drivetrain is binding up? Are you trying to do all of this on slippery surfaces, or dry pavement?
You could try backing up a few feet before shifting into 4L. Sometimes this can resolve some engagement issues.
You could try backing up a few feet before shifting into 4L. Sometimes this can resolve some engagement issues.
I bet the linkage is out of range. You need to shorten the adjusting arm. It can be done under the truck. Hold the pivot point and draw the tie rod end in. See if you gain enough range. You may be hitting the floor board with the shifter handle.
My first 60 was a little difficult to get into low over the years. It would also sometimes pop out when I was off-road. I think as the motor mounts wear out the shifter hits the shift gate making it tougher to shift or it’ll pop out of low. How do your motor mounts look?
I have the same deal with mine. I figured the previous owners didn't use it enough. I had to replace the indent spring to keep it in low, but on tough climbs it still wants to pop into neutral. I used to have to engage it by walking around to the PS door but it now I just lean into it a bit and engages fine. My mounts are old, but seem to be intact.
- Thread starter
- #6
I know the mounts have not been checked or changed since I have had the truck which has been 20 years. Good suggestions. And yes, in the past - I believe on the beach - it has popped out. Now that was scarry!
Please don't use a cheater bar on the lever, you may cause serious damage. Far better to remove the transfer lever boot and have a look to see if any of the linkage is binding or hitting on anything. As far as I recall, you can drive it without the boot on, and see if anything is interfering with the shifting lever or linkage ( because of bad engine mounts etc) while under road conditions. Then go from there...
Yes, I remember now! The old inner boot seems to have gotten stiff over the years. With the boot removed the problem went away. I did clean it and softened it up a bit using boat cleaner for inflatable rafts followed my 303 protectent. It was a PITA getting that boot back on. Stiff inner boot and old motor mounts was what I determined but didn't actually fix it as it was working fine after cleaning up the boot.
I've found soaking old rubber components in a 1:3 mixture of methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen) and isopropyl alcohol is amazing at softening and rejuvenating them. I googled it years ago for old motorcycle rubber components and found it works amazingly well. Perfect for old cruiser boots that are NLA.
My 60 has had a problem shifting OUT of 4wd since new. Driving forward or backward slowly and preferably not on pavement, while shifting, always works.
Yes, they can be somewhat touchy about engaging/disengaging for two reasons, you are shifting helical gears (with no synchro) which need to be in the correct position to mesh correctly, and it is a fully geared transfer case which has far less slack than most other vehicles chain driven transfer cases, therefore more difficult to engage/disengage if there is any driveline strain, or "wind-up". They are however, much stronger and have a much longer service life than a chain drive.
