OK, Im looking for enough help from here and advice from here that I can fix my 4x4 myself rather than pay someone $75 hr to fix it.

Here's what's going on: I have a 2004 (new body) xlt 4x4 with 211,xxx miles. Awhile after I got it I was in a muddy field and got stuck in 2wd and put in 4x4 and it came right out. The bad part of that is that every couple seconds I would hear a horrible clanking sound from the transfer case area. Although note that the front wheels would pull.
I finally got it back in 2wd and just left it there. This is my first 4x4 f150 and Im no expert on the push button type system. Anyways I needed to re-gear because I have 37s and the truck had 3.55's and a newer transmission and I didn't wanna destroy it. So I had 4.56's put in the REAR ONLY. I took out the front driveshaft just to be safe.
Anyways I want my 4x4 fixed now before I spend all that money to regear the front and here is a summary of everything that is wrong so that maybe you can help me out:
*Vacuum lines have NO suction at all. CVs are locked in with wheels.

* Will go into and pull in 4x4 but with loud clanking from transfer case area.

* I found 1 vacuum line off at the end awhile back and may have dirt in it. How can I flush my lines?

If I put it in 4x4hi with NO front driveshaft will I be able to actually engage it IN and OUT ?
Any help would be appreciated and like I said I would like to so all this myself if possible. Im open to anymore questions. Thanks

 

Bump

 

Please describe the vacuum line in more detail? Where did the end of it go. Both ends please.

 

The line was off where it connects to spindle and goes to the actuator, if thats what your asking.

 

And I'm not sure where the other end of the line went, I'll have to look.

 

Ok, so I disconnected my IWE solenoid and checked the lines from it. The line that was coming from the vacuum had some suction and the other one was full of sand along with IWE solenoid! So looks like I will be buying a new IWE solenoid and I need to flush my lines from there down. Any tips on flushing them? What's your input about this guys?

 

Your problem is that if you had the 3.55 in the front and a 4.56 In the rear the tires are spinning at different speeds. Your transfer case is probably shot then. But if you had 3.55 in both then you should be fine. What did the truck have on it when you put it in 4x4? A 3.55 in the front and a 4.56 in the rear? Or 3.55 all around?

 

No, the last time I used 4x4 it had 3.55 FRONT and BACK. After I had 4.56's put in the back I took out the front drive shaft to eliminate screwin up my transfer case so I know that cant be the case. I was wantin to fix the front before I spent the dough to have the front regeared too.

 

This might be a shot in the dark. But maybe your gears up front are worn down. At over 200000 miles maybe that's a thought. Maybe new gears might work. But I have no idea

 

Check the oil level in the t-case. If it is low it may have damaged the t-case. The vacuum line coming off the front actuator will just leave the front axle engaged. In case of loss of vacuum the default is engaged. Are you sure the noise is from the t-case and not the front?