Easier 4x4 swap? trying to think outside the box

[AKbrener]

Was curious if there was a possibility to rig up a transfer case to just have an high, low, off mode? Why do you need a light and stuff on the dash to tell you whats going on? just wire 3 buttons to control the transfer case and roll out...


Am I missing something major here? Thinking outside the box on a 2wd to 4wd swap other than needing a transmission, xfer case and front axle...

Seems that the wiring is complicated even from the factory, blinking 4x4 lights etc... just bypass all that junk and turn it on off and low range.

OR, have it always 4x4 then have a switch to go low/high range...


Thoughts?

 

[Ronin8002]

The reason I think it's so complicated is because of the way the 3rd Gen drivetrain is designed. The way its set up is there's no locking hubs in the front at all, so the stock transfer case allows some slippage between the front driveshaft and the transfer case until the system detects wheel slip (i.e., auto 4wd) or you manually lock it into 4Hi or 4lo. To get all this to work together right is why is it's so complex. Your idea could work, but I think after doing all the hard work of swapping in the 4wd tranny, transfer case, front differential and front CV shafts, you might as well go with doing the wiring too.

Or maybe you could see if a manual transfer case could mate up with the transmission (like the manual BW1354)...that would at least take the wiring out of it and let you put a shift lever in instead of all the electronics.

If it were me though, I'd try and find a truck already equipped with 4wd and buy that.

 

[BigRondo]

If it were me though, I'd try and find a truck already equipped with 4wd and buy that.

Do to the amount of work involved, ^^ that is exactly what I was thinking! ^^

 

[Limited02]

Do to the amount of work involved, ^^ that is exactly what I was thinking! ^^

Another vote for finding one already equipped.

If you really insist on being different, you could look into a divorced xfercase and make that work(NP 205 would be plenty stong) You'll have to manually shift it, so rigging up a shift linkage would be fun...