You do not need to tear apart the interior of the truck to view the nipple on top of the transfer case. Taking everything apart and drilling out the rivets is a pain in the *** and not worth the time. If you want to be certain about the nipple, grab a flashlight and a smartphone, crawl under the truck and use the flashlight to illuminate atop the transfer case and use the video feature on your smartphone to inspect atop the transfer case. Thats how I located the nipple on my transfer case so I could manually engage it. Takes a couple minutes and you dont need to tear your truck apart.

 

^smart! I never thought of that.

 

I'm curious, what was the production date? Supposedly 6/2001 and before had the CDL.

 

I actually got the cdl light to come on I had to get out of the truck and lay across the drivers seat and physically pull with everything I had it moved over to the left just a little and the cdl light illuminated.

 

It sounds like you had the same issue I had with the linkage getting stuck from lack of use then. However I would not recommend using full body force to engage a stuck linkage. You could break the linkage. I DID read a thread on here about a guy who accidentally snapped the linkage while playing around with the hi/low CDL. Like I said above, if the linkage gets stuck and wont shift, get under the truck with a wrench, find the nipple and manually engage the CDL. That will losen up the linkage without the risk of breaking something.

Engage the linkage maybe once a month to ensure it does not get stuck again and you should not have to worry about the linkage getting stuck anymore.

 

Or just reach up on top of the case and feel for the nipple.

 

Or alternatively use one of these Résultats Google Recherche d'images correspondant à http://www.toolstop.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Ridgid-micro-CA-100-36738-Hand-Held-Inspection-Camera.jpeg essential in all toolboxes. Cheap too.

 

Says 06/01...I thought it was just the 02's but oh well. It's a one owner with only got 56k on it which is why I wanted it. I'll prob leave it alone for a while. I'll just grab one with a cdl when I find a good deal on it and save it for a rainy day.

 

Is the nipple what the linkage is attached to? and do lubricants such as pb blaster have any affect loosening it up since its cable actuated?

 

Getting any kind of lubricant into the cable is tough. It is hard to get to the ends of the housing and it gets plugged up pretty well from rust when it gets stuck like yours. I would doubt the issue is at the lever on the nipple. It is most likely the cable. If you can get it to move, then you are in better shape than some. I try to shift mine into lock every few weeks to make sure it's available when I need it.