To the OP, you don't have to remove the lever to disconnect the cable.

 

Thank you for the suggestions. I will give it a shot this weekend. I would not mind popping out rivets and using a rivet gun and drill but i dont have neither of those tools yet. Ill try disconnecting the cabin from under the truck and try moving the lock with a wrench. If i run into any problems disconnecting or reconnecting that cable, will that prohibit the truck from normal operation? Seems like more often than not a simple tast ends up being a problem. Often times due to rusted or stripped bolts and nuts that break....

Thanks again

 

A broken cable will not prohibit the truck from movement, but a transfer case stuck in neutral will. You can run the truck in locked or unlocked mode no problems, you will just have a tougher time turning in locked.

 

Thank you! Tried this and it worked! A wrench did not work for me because i could not for the life of me get a grip on the nipple so I tried a ratchet with a 1/2 socket to actuate the nipple manually. Moved it several times back and forth then I applied generous WD-40 and now I can shift into diff lock in both high and low range. Shifter moves easier now to. Turns out I was lubricated the wrong side of the truck. There is some linkage on the driver side up between the frame and the transmission that I thought was linked to the cdl. Been lubricating it for quite awhile in vein.... my bad.

Thanks so much man and thanks everyone on this forum.

 

Don't use wd-40 to lubricate!!!!!!!!!!!!