Hello,

So my 1995 F150 is stuck in 4wd. I am pretty sure that the common issue of the shifter linkage being frozen by years of salt & rust is the culprit.
Underside is rusty due to living in Wisconsin for a few years and driving in the winter. They liberally salt the roads and the front gas tank even started leaking this year.
The plan is to eventually solve this linkage issue and I have instructions on how to do this repair, but that is not the question.

Years ago I had a shop put Warn hub locks on this truck. They are in the "unlocked" position, but it is still in 4wd. I do not drive this truck much, but when I do it really does not want to turn without "wheel hopping" especially on pavement. Now the question:

How do I get this thing out of 4wd without tearing down the whole shift linkage?

Thanks for any advise!

Mark

 

You can crawl under the truck and see how the shift lever moves through the bracket - it might be bent or rusted preventing it from changing gears. If it is something more serious than that you can just remove the front driveshaft and that will solve the problem

 

...or pull the hub locks out & unjam them. You don't even have to jack the wheel up. You can even drive without the hub locks (assuming the Warns were installed correctly), but it's best to put some sort of cover over the ends of the hubs so the grease isn't contaminated.

Another option is to pop the t-case shifter link bar off the t-case shift lever, and shift that lever directly.

The captions in this photo album explain how the t-case shifter works, and how to rebuild it:


(phone app link)

This album explains the brakes & hubs:


(phone app link)

 

^that's what I would do. Take the linkage off and shift the t-case manually and directly

 

I like the idea of removing the linkage and shifting manually. That is a solution that is well thought out and easiest (I think)

Thanks very much for the idea!

 

It's a lot easier to do on these old trucks. I took the linkage off my papaw old '97 f150 it had popped out of place and i had to take it off to move the lever. Had to put another linkage in it and a bolt that had stripped. Yours might be a little different but same process getting it out

 

Use a prybar between the steel link bar & the steel t-case lever; NOT against the cast Aluminum (or maybe pot metal) push-down shifter.

 

I just replaced my 4 wd shift linkage. Got the Dorman replacement at Rockauto for $100 even. O’Reilly wanted $215 and Advanced Auto $220 for the same Dorman part!!! Amazon and eBay have some cheap ones anywhere from about $25-$40. I wouldn’t waste my money on them unless you can’t afford the $100 from Rockauto.

The repair is easy and access to the 4wd shift linkage is easy. Remove 4 wd shifter boot trim screws (4 screws) and pull the boot up onto the shifter arm so you have access. From inside of cab thru the removed shift boot, remove the nut that holds the shift lever in place and pull up shifter lever. From underneath truck, pry the bushing from shift bar to shift linkage. From inside the cab again, Remove the large bolt that holds shift linkage in place.

There are also videos on YouTube that walk you through it.