1st and second gear are buttery smooth - if I wind 2nd gear higher than I should (where I should be in 3rd already) it starts to vibrate some, but it only gets REALLY bad in the middle / high end of third and the begining of 4th. Once I pick up a sufficient amount of speed in 4th, it goes away as well - or it used to; now it does the roaring thing.
I can stick my finger in the transmission fill hole and see if there are any gold flecks - or should I just go ahead and drain it and check that way?
As far as being sure about the transfer being fully 2H, I honestly didn't think to check that. I'll go mash on it and see if it is hanging halfway or something...
Edit: As best I can tell it's properly in 2H - I put it in neutral and pushed it up, down, left and right and it seems to move really easily and seemed like it was where it should be, not half in / half out or anything...