Unless it's frozen because it hasn't been actuated in 10 years...

 

It's not frozen. When I first got it it, shifting it to the left took some time and since then I make sure I shift it left high/low a few times a year.

So I'm cornfused then. Mine is an 04', so are you saying the guys with older trucks need to crawl underneath their truck to put it in 4 high/low?

 

Answered my own question on the nip after doing some reading on the boards. As I understand it, some years have the CDL but not the shifter inside the cabin. So some guys can just add the shifter, or crawl underneath each time to lock the CDL. Then, I'm reading some don't even have the "guts" for the CDL.


Back to topic: so after I pull the front prop shaft, aren't I just leaving the CDL shifter in the high, unlocked position of the shifter?

 

as lf changed to d2 in 99 they left the feature and made it an upgrade. they left the nipple on the case until later (I think somewhere in '02, could have been late '01) brought back the complete feature in the '04.

 

No, it needs to be in the locked position otherwise you won't move at all. With the CDL locked, you will be applying power to the rear wheels.

 

Once you remove the shaft, pull the CDL shifter to the left. That will activate the CDL and leave it in high gear.

It's good that you got it loose and have kept it functioning. I got a D1 cdl shifter to put in my 01 (which had the nipple but no shifter), and it was completely frozen. Major PITA.

 

Thanks for all the info and help. That was my next question, was there any order of this. Wanted to make sure I could lock it after pulling the shaft.

Does the shaft only fit one way, or is there anything I need to watch when pulling the old one to when I install the new one. It won't be here til next week.

 

You should mark the shaft position on your old shaft and on the transfer case and the front diff before removing it. If you rebuild your current propshaft, you should also mark all the components so that when you reassemble it, it will go back together the same as it was before. This could save you some vibration issues since the shafts are balanced. It's not an issue with the new shaft as it will have been balanced by the manufacturer. Years ago I spent a lot of time chasing down a vibration issue after replacing a u-joint in my 1973 Jeep pickup. I could have saved myself a lot of effort.

 

This is a new shaft with 5 greaseable parts, including the centering unit. So does this mean I don't need to mark anything as it comes balanced from the fatory?

 

correct. only thing you can do wrong, is put it in backwards. it is balanced unless you separate, then misalign at slip joint. or not get it tight with new nyloks